The ESP Guitar Company

finally i can post :D ok, so i bought an LTD mh-400 (seethrublue) a few years ago, it's an 05 model and it's VERY dark. i mean it's almost black unless you shine some light on it. it's very hard to tell that it's blue in dark. i figured this was normal and the pictures that i saw were just super bright lighting, so i kept it, because i liked the feel and sound of the guitar. just a few days ago however a friend of mine got an 07 model and his is super bright blue and looks miles better :| then i come on here and i see 04 models that are also very bright. was my guitar botched or something or was this just the way 05 models were? also... are there any other differences in the guitars aside from just the color?