I just picked up 2 copies of each set today. One to keep MIB and the other to use for mocs/spare parts. I now have 5 pairs of the new shoulder piece and 6 of the new swords. It seems TLG is shelling out new molds just for the sake of spreading the new pieces, the last wave every set had at least 2 of the piston shells.
All I wish is as OP said more consistent color schemes. 2001 had some of the best looking figures because of the 2 base colors and 1 accent. Now all the ones in Gen2 have tons of gold, trans red and silver. They really need to add elements back, or do add Hershey Brown back and Bronze Gold. The gear boxes work fine, but the Skull Bashers punch function is horrible. I removed the rubber pipe for a quick fix.
The Mask Maker vs Skull Grinder is neato. I had to add longer legs to the MM and the big-ass tool on the SG was condensed to a smaller staff. TMoC has a very nice mold, but doesn't fit well on the skulls.
The Skull Scorpio(n) is hideous, I scrapped him after doing the initial build. It is a nice parts pack, which I think was the sets intended purpose.
Those are my thoughts on those select sets, but there are tons of reviews on BZP I know right and youtube. Hopefully the next wave is better, skeletons get generic fast, which is what happened here.