So the mega man gold amiibo box art is absolutely stunning!!!

I think there are a lot of things about this release that few people are considering.

One, the packaging. Gold Mega Man is clearly not meant to be sold separately, so there's no reason for him to have his own card art. The box that surrounds him /is/ the packaging. Spending design resources on something that would be invisible while the set is packaged doesn't make any sense.

The reason why the card is the same shape (including the spot where it could hang from a peg) is because it uses the same die cut as the original Mega Man release. Again, this is likely a monetary consideration. It would cost more money to create a new die cut for a redesigned cardback than it would to just reuse the existing one. Again, changing this would provide zero benefit to the package.

Secondly, the Smash base. Not all amiibo bases are created equal — they aren't just flat pieces of plastic with the figure glued onto it. They are structurally unique, and have slots and holes that pegs on the bottom of the figure to plug into, in order to create a more stable overall figure. They would have been unable to just use an existing flat base (like the ones on the Mario series) for Mega Man — they'd have to tool a brand new one.

Cutting new steel tools (or "molds") or retooling existing ones can be very, very expensive. It was likely outside of the budget and scope of this product.

Indeed, I think it's unlikely that this game would have an amiibo at all if not for a Mega Man amiibo already existing. Gold Mega Man is really only here because the original Mega Man release was a year ago. This is creating an opportunity for newcomers to get a Mega Man amiibo so they can use it with the new game, at a low cost for Capcom. It's a bonus, and given the above considerations, I don't think it would have been worth the resources (both design and financial) to design and print new packaging and a new base.

One can argue "lazy" or that it's a "cash-grab" (which...everything is. Business want to make money) but I think a closer examination of what this release is and what it needs to be is important.

/r/amiibo Thread Link - imgur.com