Final Decision: JAMES VS JAMES

In Plarail, I would've much rather gone for the tender battery version, as I don't like their new James and Gordon very much (for Gordon, they should've used the old tooling with a CGI face and detachable tender. In TrackMaster, I would've actually chosen the 2012 James (with the AA Battery in the engine), as my new Edward (from the UK) is the 2012 version.

I say you should try to find the previous design for a reasonable price.