It has been noted that Nightprowler is being labelled as an Autobot to homage the original unreleased toy, that was intended to be released in the 2003-2004 Universe toyline... because even though that toyline was filled with Beast Wars and Beast Machines redecos, everything was packaged as Autobots and Decepticons, to keep things simple for Retailers (the Transformers Brand was a LOT different back then, with a unified marketing approach for the entire brand each year, which we saw was changed several years later as Hasbro Management and Marketing saw the need to branch out to different demographics and age-groups).

So even though that toy didn't get released back in 2003, it is likely that it would have been packaged as an Autobot, even if it (and the other three toys in the set) were clearly Beast Wars toys and characters.

It means that this new Legacy Nightprowler is more of a homage to the 2003 Universe toyline than to the character toy itself... but I think it would have made more sense to be packed as a Maximal this time, because it would have been a Maximal back in 2003 if the Beast Wars allegiances were being used.


Hopefully that answers the question that no one was asking...