It's safe to say that we already know how this promo will go down.
The pirate themed iron slug?
1-2 mill. Straight up. Players LOVE the new slug mechanics as of the gunner update. You guys did great. A+.
The pirate themed dread venom striker?
Maybe not so much but it is a neat sword and most players like those. Not exactly combuster. B-
The pirate themed big angry bomb?
110% novelty. No one uses big angry bomb seriously because it slows you down while walking, has unpredictable stun, and scatters enemies to the horizon. 2-300K after the woah cool new effect wears off. The item is literally used to troll team mates more often than it is to kill stuff. D-.
BUT- if you change it in some way along with the promo, people freak out because its "an update" and you sell stuff. Every item is an A+ when it's 100% new. You make more money, and sell more boxes, and generate more demand when what you're selling has an applicable use. It's not hard to think of a solution and implement it. It can be as simple as giving the bomb strong fire, or more damage, or making it elemental.
Seriously, if I didn't think this was the best possible thing you could do I wouldn't suggest it. That's why you don't see much from me any more.
So you mean that the original weapon gets re-balanced which would then be accompanied by the promotion selling the re-skin of this weapon. If that's the case then +1.
At first I interpreted it as you wanted the re-skin's for these weapons to be balanced and not the original, even though that wouldn't have made make sense.