The problem is that the last boxed set sold out, and its highly likely that the bulk of those sales were to established BT fans. If your fanbase stuffs themselves on boxed sets and you then pump out lance packs with the same mechs, you can't expect them to eat those packs up.
We are talking about people that reach way back to the start of the game and up until now that have grown up with the same ol mechs. I'm looking at a stack of lance packs where I have several others that are already opened and in painting hell/limbo. Of these mechs i have metal copies from over 20 years ago. the last boxed set and lance packs have bumped up my 3025 collection and filled it out, but I'm not the typical fan that may buy 1 copy of a mech that I want. I have no desire for the new boxed sets in the sense that they are new mechs that I don't have. I have more awesomes then I know what to do with and I know there are those out there that will say they have a batalliion of Awesomes. I have more then I need because I am a group builder, so I have always had a need for more minis then I need for myself while others would buy a handful...if they felt like it.
The boxed sets filled the needs of most of the players because they were great deals and we knew the last boxed set sold out. Lance packs added very little that was new, even if we are looking at it from the point of view of a new player. There were several designs that were left out of those packs, which cut down on some sales for those looking for additional hunchbacks, enforcers, and commandos. Had they announced that the mechs would all be in lance packs then it might have eased the purchases of boxed sets. They failed to do so , which may have added a percent of additional desire for the boxed sets over lance packs.
Had the lance packs been filled with mechs not in the boxed sets that would have boosted sale. The timing was also off. Had the lance packs been available at the same time as the boxed sets, and they had the same minis in each, there would have been less demand on boxed sets, which would have helped me make a few sales for a local shop, which could have expanded the playerbase. Instead I saw the interest drain from the eyes of those I had to say "no they are out of production ..but..." when asked about starter boxes. People apparently need starter boxes
Basically what is needed are a few lance packs that have new mechs in them. If you can't get them by purchasing yet another starter box, and the minis are not in pewter for 3X years, then you need to buy those lance packs. If they are mechs that are stuffed into BT history and given variants that reach most if not all eras of play, you increase the demand for those minis as its not a 3025 only or current era thing. Its not a matter of "do I really need a new sculpt of X design from 3025 that I have 30 of already?"
I like...well I Love the lance packs. It helped me go from getting 1 copy of each mini to hitting a point where I am painting in game units. As I have mentioned in other threads, that gets far more attention then randomly painted minis. Not only do more people stop at the table, but they spend more time looking, but are also more inclined to ask questions or make a comment to their friend in a hushed tone pointing to minis and making hand gestures suggesting that they are trying to analyze their likely moves even though they don't know the game's mechanics.
Hopefully CGL will include something new for established and new players in any future lance packs. A mini rules book like the CCG used to have would be kinda nice, which could be supplemented by an online addition to help reduce the printing costs.