My gut says that packages are usually packaged together because they weren't able to get enough people to buy the products to begin with....
ProFire 610 bundle:
The mic stand is utter crap. I have two of these sagging under the weight of pencil condensers. The manufacturer sells them to a bunch of different companies who put their names on them, but they're all the same junk, whether it's Musicians Gear or Nady on the package. Using this mic stand to hold any mic is a recipe for the mic falling over and potentially getting damaged. You'd be better off just hitting the mic with a hammer and getting it over with.
The cables are probably crap (not that cable quality really matters much unless you're going gigging with it), but are probably good enough.
The speakers have 100mm woofers. To translate that into U.S. customary units, that would be 4" drivers. Translation: also crap. You can't get any useful bass response out of what amounts to a 4" computer speaker, no matter how much wattage you put behind it. The laws of physics just won't allow a cone that small to have the needed excursion or displacement.
As a general rule, 6" is considered a bare minimum for any useful bass response, and even those tend to be pretty sloppy. Most good near-field monitors have 8" drivers.
The AT2020 is an okay mic, but isn't particularly good for vocals. There are any number of other mics you'd be better off with.
All in all, you'll basically be getting the same useful stuff as in
a ProFire 610/M-Powered bundle, but you'll be spending $200 on extra crap that you won't like much. It's a good deal from a strictly numbers point of view, and if you're willing to turn around and resell the speakers, the mic, and the junk mic stand on eBay, you'll be about $75 ahead if you're lucky and can get new-product prices for everything. In my mind, it's probably not worth the effort, though, particularly once you think about how much time you'll spend reselling that stuff.
MBox 2 bundle:
You can buy the interface as cheap as $245.
Same not-too-good $200 speakers.
$200 USB controller. No idea if that's in any way useful.
$20 for a metal pop filter
$10 for the mic stand (well, that's what it's worth, anyway)
$99 microphone.
Again, you're barely $75 ahead of break-even, and you have a somewhat underpowered, somewhat overpriced (IMHO) audio interface, speakers that reek, and a $99 Chinese microphone, which while usable, is the very bottom end of M-Audio's microphone line.
FIREBOX Bundle:
The FIREBOX is probably my least favorite interface out there. It doesn't comply with FireWire specifications for power drain, so some computers flat out refuse to power it up without using the external power supply. In spite of that, its pres still don't have enough gain. And it is made my Presonus. Three strikes.
The speakers, again, have 4" drivers, which just doesn't cut it, IMHO.
The MXL 990 isn't a particularly good mic.
If I added the numbers up correctly, based on the best prices I could find for these pieces of gear, it would appear that you are paying approximately $150 for two cables. What are they, spun gold or something?
The bottom line:
I don't think any of these packages make much sense. You aren't saving enough off the full price of the items (if anything) to make it worth having to deal with the poor quality of several of the pieces in the packages, nor the hassle of reselling those bits on eBay.
Based on what you said you were doing in your PM, I'd suggest:
Edirol FA-66 (with free mic cable)
$269
http://www.uniquesquared.com/servlet/the-95/Edirol-Roland-FA-dsh-66-Firewire/Detail
M-Audio BX8A pair
$339 (this is a really good deal; normally, these are about $500 for a pair)
http://cgi.ebay.com/M-AUDIO-BX8A-De...itors-NEW_W0QQitemZ270356515201QQcmdZViewItem
CAD M9
$235 (one left at this price, $50 cheaper than anywhere else)
http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=CADM9&id=CADM9&l=FROOGLE
TAMA MS205 mic stand
$55
from MF or any number of other places.
And you should also get yourself a pair of closed can headphones for tracking. I have no suggestions on that.
Also, don't forget software. If you are on a Mac, I'd say just use Garage Band and you'd be fine. If you're on a PC... maybe Reaper ($50 non-commercial license, try-before-you-buy).
That sums up to about $150 more than the priciest package you listed, but it's also a much nicer setup, IMHO.
There are places you could cut corners here if desired, though, e.g. substituting a warehouse-resealed Edirol
UA25EX from ZZounds instead of
the FA-66. That shaves about $50 off.
There are any number of other mics that are cheaper that would also be decent, e.g. the CAD M177 or M179. That'll save you about $100.
Finally, you could try doing your mixing with headphones. I wouldn't suggest buying cheaper monitor speakers; you'll probably end up regretting it, and they're not exactly easy to get rid of.
. By the way if someone ever does reply to this...can anyone tell me why sometimes people put the microphone upside down and what that does?
, I don't intend on making any beats although i do have 
