The way that the statue fits into the base is totally different. The magnets were a lot stronger and the joints were far more uniform.
My replacement also has the back footprint issue, no lean though. The back footprint issue is a result of the change in the way the statue sits into the base and I think you'll only find it in the later runs. The magnets are far better however, and provided it doesn't come with a lean already, I doubt it had the potential to topple because of the way it's inserted. Nonetheless bloody annoying QC issues again from SS. Sideshow said the others were the same when I asked for a replacement because of the footprint issue. Typical of them. Do they even care anymore?