I got my Man-E-Faces from Amazon today. Okay, let me start out by saying, I am fully aware that my vintage was bought used and may have some color fading. But I do specifically remember even as a kid having the feeling those tubes went right into his skin. So I am glad that the Origins version does make that clearer. But..well...let's just get into this.
Vintage does better:
I like the ridges on the mechanical parts. The Origins figure is just too smooth.
The Origins, while making clear it's a suit and not his skin, it's just too yellow. Not just yellow, but a jaundiced kind of yellow that's just...ugh! Sorry, he just looks jaundiced to me, even the part that's obviously his human face. Otherwise I'd say the as far as human face goes, it's a tie. They look exactly alike, except Origins is jaundiced.
I also like the larger disk for changing the faces.
Origins does better:
Well, first and foremost, that book isn't back there just for background. Vintage absolutely can not stand by himself (or has to have a very unnatural, painful looking pose to stand). Also, the possibility of Origins is just undeniably better. And unlike most origin figures where the upper leg overlaps the lower leg in a weird sort of way, this one looks so much better because you can just say it's a boot. It looks right. You can also move the head. I also have to say that there's a nice clicky feel while changing the heads so you know a particular face is locked in. It's a very nice feel.
Monster face definitely looks better on the vintage. The details are deeper and more pronounced. I don't like the beady eyes on Origins.
This is very much a tie honestly. It's slightly different but mostly the same. Again, the vintage detailing is deeper and more pronounced, but for robot head, it's not so much a detriment to Origins. Vintage eyes are deeper, but Origins is darker. It's hard to say one is better than the other. I really thing robot face is a tie.
So which version is better over all? Eh! I mean, I really just don't like jaundice yellow. Jaundice yellow and monster face are two really big strikes against Origins. But being able to stand on it's own without a book to support it, the sheer possibility and even being able to turn the head...it's hard to give the win totally to vintage. And if I were honest, I think I may be biased because Man-E-Faces was one of my favorite toys as a kid.
I'll grudgingly have to give the win to Origins. But damn that jaundice yellow! They gotta do something about that!