It seems to drive American fans particularly nuts when they buy a priced-down Funimation S.A.V.E. release and it has a big "you are a cheapskate" element to the design. I think it's a funny way to encourage people to buy the series they want sooner in future. With limited editions though, yeah, it's a bit more depressing, especially as some of those NISA series sold out rather abruptly (Working certainly seemed to go quickly).
I'm sort of irrationally proud when I have the ugly S.A.V.E. spines for series I didn't want that much but bought for some silly reason in a sale. Perhaps they sit on my shelves envying the neighbouring special editions, and decide to strive to be better shows in future...
R