1. Multi-packs containing unchanged toys that are also available individually are nothing new, we've had them since the days of Armada.

2. These are not "unsold stock taken out of the packaging and put into new packaging". Since the toys are manufactured and packaged in China and then shipped directly to the retailers, it would be economically extremely unfeasible to ship them back to China only to re-package them. Hasbro confirmed this and explicitly stated that if it's in new packaging, it's a new production run.