The Energon Pub

I was browsing in zavvi the other day and noticed a couple of the g1 season boxsets. Thing is, unlike my comlete collection set, each season was within what I call a 'cardboard-flippy-case', like the takara series were. Are they new releases, have they always been that way or did they used to be in normal plastic DVD cases, and are they worth buying (i prefer those cardboard-flippy-cases)?