C/P from another blog:
CCP's Marketing Department is really handout-happy with the exclusive ships. It's starting to get vexing, and I say this as a terribad roleplayer.
CCP has a bunch of reskinned ships in the database already. They should give us a means of selecting paint job from the stock ones, or linking paintjobs with LP store 'navy' versions of the ships. (IE, the Scorpion Ishukone Watch Issue has the stats of a Scorpion Navy Issue, but the Ishukone skin, and comes via the Ishukone and Ishukone Watch LP store; uses existing balance, gives a shiny ship a use, and fractures the navy market a tiny bit.)
Voila. Content. Easy to make, uses lots of 'new' assets CCP started making ages ago, and sidesteps this terrible marketing love of digital incentives. ("It's free! Doesn't cost us anything! Except the satisfaction and support of the existing player base.")
The exclusive ships-- ugh. Just, ugh. Someone needs to slap CCP marketing. They're doing a disservice to the game.