When you say the older LE models how old are you talking about? I just got my Aerosmith LE last week which is a 2017 model so not very old at all and it has the John Borg signature on the upper playfield. I can't say that I notice a difference in playfield colors however, I definatley can say that the mirrored backglass is a huge huge plus for the LE pins. That alone makes it worth it for me. Of course on the newest Sterns it seems as if they are not making mirrored backglass anymore even for the LEs at least as far as I know.