Hasbro has been doing the solid case thing since AT LEAST 2015. It was one of the earliest things they did in their big collector initiatives. They made a big fuss about it during their investor reports.As I mentioned I've got 1 Inferno in my POL, but the second one I ordered a few days after hasn't dropped yet. Seems they really do prioritize by order date.
Steevy - any evidence to back up the solid case thing? I only question it because that was never the case previously, no pun intended. BBTS was always beholden to case assortments hence why shortpacked stuff sold out quick and typical peg warmers remained. We did hear reports of Cosmos shipping in full cases overseas, but he's an exclusive.
Specialty retailers have the option of ordering solid cases of most active collector items. It's the reason we've seen the "short packed premium" all but disappear in specialty retailers.