Hey Chip-yep-your sentiment makes sense in the context of how you evaluate whether an item is truly exclusive and what you consider valuable. Retailers have been providing separate items for years (especially when different manufacturers and distributors are involved-logstically-items included in a 'bundle' don't always ship from the same company, and or/are bundled or assembled at different stages while planning for the actual sale in store-the distributor for the case may have nothing to do with the distributor for a mug, shirt, etc etc. It becomes impossible to shrinkwrap things together in those situations. There are all kinds of 'freebies' that have always been available as perks for pre-orders or to create much needed competition amongst retailers for 'new release' day, etc-and to sell multiple versions of the same movie to the same movie fan. And many times they are not packaged together.
For Steelbooks, like all other items manufactured in limited #'s, vs their amaray counterpart, say, some collectors will seek a more rare version, and others are buying the exclusive at a certain retailer, because they are proximate, or they like a certain giveaway better than another. 'Exclusive' has always meant different things, and different collectors value different things about these 'non-amaray editions-some buy for rarity or world-wide exclusiveness, and others just want something else besides the amaray-and then there are shades of gray. Everyone has seen Steelbooks increase in popularity with a variety of releases across the globe that allows different movie fans to have to choose between editions. I see no reason why people can't speak with their wallets or speak up to the retailer directly. If the SB is of no interest for personal collection, resale, just to have uniqueness-whatever the reason-there are always completely different editions to choose from (Limited Eds, amarays, etc).