well, like you said, articulation for starters. the VII doesn't have any sort of aid when attempting a landing pose (just using that pose as an example because a lot of articulation seems to be added to help achieve that, which in turn improves the figure overall). no hip extension, no pull down legs, no waist flaps. which brings me to the next thing, the waist.. a new mark 7 probably wouldn't have that, sort of ugly, rubbery waist that hinders articulation, and i'd guess that it also wouldn't have the rubber elbows either. also, i imagine we might get a new full (better) head sculpt, or perhaps a helmeted sculpt. they also might do what they've done to the 45 and give him white eyes without the LED's having to be on. it'd be nice to not have to stick a small piece of paper behind the face plate. a better base might be nice as well.
lastly, the way it feels in hand, for me at least, is a major consideration. i love the way the mark 42 and war machine mark 2 feel in hand. and though i probably wouldn't be able to tell without knowing first, i feel like you can see that they're diecast once you've held them in hand. not physically, obviously, but you just know that you're looking at a great, heavy, metal figure.
for some, those things might not be worth buying the same armor twice. but for me, it definitely is. it's just, every time i look at my collection, the 7 feels like the runt of the litter, like he's just a lowly house party armor. but it's not.. it's the freaking mark 7, the armor that saved new york city. it deserves to be made out of metal lol.
and don't get me wrong.. i'm not the kind of person who wishes it was the 80's and more toys were made out of metal. i'm so happy that takara stopped using a ton of diecast after MP-01/04 prime was released. but for these, it just adds something when holding it physically, and to my perception of it.
This is such a beautiful figure!
