Yaffa's Captain America #8: Method to the madness?

In my overview of the Yaffa Marvel editions I noted that in 1981 the price rise from $0.60 to $0.70 coincided with a change in size from a 'short digest' to a 'tall digest' format. I also noted that a typical run would include two 'tall digest' issues, possibly with an indicia date. As it turns out, the pattern which has established itself is that the first of the two 'tall digest' issues is likely to include a 1981 indicia date, the second unlikely to include a date at all.

I further noted that "Indicia dates can be perplexing and manifestly incorrect at this stage of the game." I'm not sure which issue(s) I was specifically thinking of in that regard at the time, but an issue which squarely fits in that frame is Captain America #8:

The Page Publications date in the indicia is 1977. This qualifies as both perplexing and manifestly incorrect. Suffice to say that Captain America #7, the first of the two 'long digests' in the series, duly contains a 1981 indicia date. 

I've surmised before that it is possible - even likely -  that Yaffa consciously fudged the publication dates towards the end of their licence in order to evade scrutiny. As the licence began in 1977, a 1977 date on a 1981 issue might be intended to suggest the rights to this material was in hand from the inception of their licence. If this is the case, it may be that this was tried for a short time before a change in strategy to publishing issues without any designated publication date in the indicia. 

I don't know. But it's something I'll keep an eye out for in terms of identifying an interim stage in the Yaffa Marvel editions c. late 1981/early 1982, and ascribing some plausible method to the madness.