Back in the day, it was to force people to do the quest to get the invention. Since you need to do the quest to gain access to the SE, I have unbound the three quest items he drops.
~ Grim
Thanks this is a great move to encourage people to try inventing by trading with the se hunter.
As a side note, is skaldir upgraded boots having lower stat than the base epic boots intended? I know it's main point of upgrading is stam gain but seeing all other tiered and upgraded epics this is kinda counter productive.