These aren't exactly a remake of the VL Hudson's from before mainly because it isn't the same tooling. That one was the original 700E tooling if I'm not mistaken with the "Lionel" or "Built by Lionel" where the builder's plate is supposed to be.
That being said however both are great or will be great depending on which we're talking about. Being that this run isn't out yet, we'll have to see what they are when they arrive.
We can speculate a little about how great it will be, but we'll only know when we see which tooling is used. Will it be the detailed K-Line tooling, or some other one, or a new tooling altogether? I am a little excited to be sure, especially since I am a Hudson fiend if you will. The appeal of the Hudson just is something for each Hudson lover(nut). Even among different variations and model runs. Arguably, it is hard for some of us to say which Hudson is our best since we seem to love them all.