This is not an answer, as I don't exactly know what Fulton and Lang are trying to achieve with the $\lambda$-ring structure on $\Lambda^{\circ}\left(A\right)$ (I must admit that, while I had the quixotic intent to read and rewrite Fulton-Lang's Chapter I in the notes that you cited, I never found the resolve to walk that talk). I can confirm your counterexample.
What I think can be done (don't know if it is of any help) is the following: For every $i\in\mathbb N$, let $\Lambda^{i}_{\circ}\left(A\right)$ be the subset of $\Lambda\left(A\right)$ consisting of all formal power series of the form $1+a_1t+a_2t^2+a_3t^3+...$ with every $k$ satisfying $a_k\in A^{ik}$. Then, each such $\Lambda^{i} _ {\circ}\left(A\right)$ is an additive subgroup of $\Lambda\left(A\right)$, and the direct sum $\bigoplus\limits_{i\in\mathbb N}\Lambda^{i}_{\circ}\left(A\right)$ is well-defined and a sub-$\lambda$-ring of $\Lambda\left(A\right)$. (This is easy to prove by means of the usual grading on the ring of symmetric functions.) This sub-$\lambda$-ring, of course, is graded (and does have a $1$). I have no idea in how far it is what Fulton and Lang wanted.
We could also construct a greater graded sub-$\lambda$-ring of $\Lambda\left(A\right)$ by allowing $i$ rational (with $A^x$ defined as $0$ when $x\not\in\mathbb Z$), but then it will be graded by rationals. This greater graded sub-$\lambda$-ring is actually dense in $\Lambda\left(A\right)$ (in the usual topology on formal power series).
Does it make sense to replace $\Lambda^{\circ}\left(A\right)$ by $\Lambda^{\geq 1}_{\circ}\left(A\right)$ in the definition of a Chern class homomorphism? I don't know. It seems that most notions in Fulton-Lang are motivated by geometry, and without understanding it I am not the one to judge.
