I agree. Nostalgia is lovely but I think they missed a trick to make a 'better' and more practical cartridge simply as they wanted to evoke memories of the past. It's H&H, every rifleman knows them, they don't need a gimmick to attract customers.
I know why the belt was used originally, i just think they could have easily not had one with some basic revisions to the case.
At the end of the day, I'm hardly the target market for anything H&H produce so my opinion is void!