[via AFI]

The first thing you'll notice (besides the fact that I clearly don't believe in dusting) is that the Mattel Blue Lion is less shiny. The color on the Mattel one is obviously a lot nicer, as is the sculpt. By the way, I have no idea as to the make of my Blue Lion and should mention that any damage seen likely occurred prior to my ownership.

The screw nostril is only on this side of the face, which makes it rather unfortunate that the original review photo had to be facing this direction instead of the other one.

Whereas the new Mattel Blue Lion can keep its mouth open, my older version has a spring that snaps the mouth shut. I guess the mouth-snap was supposed to be some kind of action feature. The poseability that comes with not having said gimmick is a lot nicer, though.

For added fun I figured I'd compare how well both function as a leg. I somewhat prefer the look of the older one. You know, if it wasn't so beaten up.

I'm also fond of the cheap stickers adorning the older Blue Lion. Between the stickers, the metallic paint, and the metallic bits, this lion has a rather striking look to it.

However, the newer ones have a lot of cool features like this mini-cockpit that fits the included pilot figure. How cool is that?

If you're interested in picking up the Mattel Blue Lion, it'll be among MattyCollector.com's August sale items and will retail for US$55.