Just plain avarice on my part. Seeing the D50 at $270 ish is like a magnet. B & H as I say, are very clear in what you get. Century21electronics certainly are not.
By the time I had added the bat and charger, the D200 came to $1,550. Of course, the memory and essentials like a case were all to be added as well.
I agree that it's strange about the box issue. Perhaps Nikon offer all permutations to cover folk who want to replace damaged or stolen kit.
I did just check that it was the same logic for the D50 and it was. You could tell from the salesman's voice, that as soon as I asked about this, he knew that I was no longer a punter. It's a hard world...well, in NY anyway.
I had set my heart on Nikon, but as a stopgap, I'm now reconsidering the Canon XT. now with $200 of mail in rebates. (I hate that, one has to be so tenuous to get the money.) It has 8mp with well thought of processing, but it's just does not have a pro feel to it. Decisions, decisions.