I think for some that couldn't afford/purchase or didn't want to buy the FP set for various reasons, these figs while off in terms of aesthetic, could be shoehorned in as a classics replacement which is all good. Ill be getting it since it is just awesome, regardless of the fact that I own the upgrade set.
One of the initial interviews that I read/watched on FOC stated that they chose Bruticus because out of all the gestalts, it was the best to suit Hasbro's policies of no similar vehicles in case assortments- i.e. being a tank, jeep, helicopter, etc they are different enough then a bunch of construction vehicles on the pegs.
Id say that these may be individual releases but there maybe special packs to accommodate- I wonder if onslaught is of a larger scale voyager perhaps? Or perhaps they have a new strategy- will definitely be interesting to see.
and also what combiner port tech they will be using....
It is a possibility that Hasbro may be using this to test out for potential future combiners if ever there was a suitable push for them. Maybe PCC did do well enough for Hasbro to head in this direction?
Another thing that people have stated is that this is a response by Hasbro in seeing what the 3rd parties have done... it could be, but could also be just coincidence. However if this is true, then 3rd party has done its job in pushing Hasbro towards recognizing and catering more to collectors where their previous policies prevented this.