The Summerset CE was fantastic, Maphala was very well detailed and it cane with a fantastic Raz lore book.
I don't think the lighting differences explain the difference in quality, not to that degree. However, what I think is more likely is that marketed photos of statues are usually of better quality than the statues that get mass produced. Bethesda is by no means the only one that does this. Unless its from company specializing in highly detailed statues(which usually cost $400+), I'd recommend not always trusting marketed photos.
Still, the package was not enough to justify the price hike. Though I am glad it got a CE, I was really disappointed when Elsewyr didnt.
I have the Summerset CE and the Mephala statue is AMAZING. Incredibly detailed and has a nice hefty weight to it. Hoping to get the Imperial CE. Anyone know how the Molag Bal statue is?
On topic: Yeah, looks like they heavily nerfed the detail on the Vampire Lord statue. They just love nerfing things, don't they? Lmao