I'd say they weren't ready to make the investment based on the uncertain success.
I think it is really sloppy. The grey all over the original releases bugged me from the beginning. Silver is not so hard. I agree that they probably had to finalise something for the market, but this smacks simply of merchandising and not true toys for their own sake.
MP-05 legal acquisition process:
www.megatron.net.au
My collection and stuff for sale:
www.csapo.com.au/ttf/tiby'stransformers.htm