Elite 52 Ken Shamrock head greatly improved

Cool... looks much better(!)

What's the difference other than the angle the photo was taken?

I like the first one more personally.

Mouth looks better on the right one but makes it look like he has at tic in his left eye or something. And it makes him look a lot older.

So much better, the first pic looks like he's poopin

Same.

The only thing I can noticeably see that's different is the shape of his hair line.

The difference between the left and right look like they're largely due to the photo from a lower angle and the shadows. I even see the same slight curve of his nose that goes to the right. Is the chin more narrow now or is it the shadows again? Since the new one has its eyebrows off center is that giving the look of the face a slightly different dynamic? 

Whenever there's a thread like and it's super hard to tell a difference but people say it's much better now even though I have to really search for it, I just go with it and assume as much.  

Agreed. Looks like a combination of different lighting and a better paint application.

Now that looks like Ken Shamrock. Good job Mattel

As always the eyebrows aren't aligned right with the paint job, I feel like the pupils look a little big too. The problems with some scans however, is Mattel's bad paint jobs (DDP being a great example). I'll be passing on a few sets.