Off the shelf and not being distributed anymore are two different things. If LFL and Fox aren't making any further prints of the 2004 release, then this would be what is replacing it during the time period they are also selling the PT and ROTS DVDs. It's barebones, meaning it can be alittle cheaper and might grab those parents buying Christmas gifts and getting ROTS to snatch a copy off 3 of the other films up.

Everybody does it, I don't see the big deal. We've gotten barebones releases of The Godfather on DVD and there wasn't a riot.