Duplicating item causes photos to be unassigned from variations

[TabbyTree]

I have an item that has more than 40 variations in color. I want to duplicate this item because I am going to do a pre-order sale online that I need to be kept separate from my in-store inventory. The problem is that when I duplicate the item, all of the photos in the copied version get unassigned from their variations. The system picks a random photo and assigns that same photo to all of the variations. I am working with more than 40 colors and it will be a lot of work to reassign all of the photos to the correct variations. Is there a way around this issue?

[JJ_]

This is an interesting report @TabbyTree. Is this happening with any other or all items?

 I'm thinking it might be a good idea to report this to our direct support team so they can take a closer look and escalate it if necessary.