Peterson's 268 Shape Change?

[drydock]

Is Peterson's 268 zulu shape changing?
My older 268s are more 'angular' at the bowl base as it transitions upward toward the top. The newer 268s I've seen recently on Smokingpipes are all much rounder on the bottom, more flowing & less squared.
I don't think it has anything to do with camera angle? I'll include a few pictures from the Smokingpipes site of recent 268s offered. Two were estates, two are current production (I believe).
Angular:

Rounded:

 

[jazz]

It looks that way, doesn't it? The change to the rounder style below is enough for me to now dislike the shape entirely. It's incredible how such a subtle thing can so completely and dramatically change the aesthetic of a pipe.
It could also be a trick of the light seeing as the 2 below are smooth but I think they are actually different.

 

[elpfeife]

Not sure why this would be done. The shape is now a billiard with a slightly down turned stem.

 

[drydock]

I felt they looked more billiard-like also. The plumper/rounder base turns this away from the zulu shape I prefer and into a hybrid I wouldn't ever purchase again. Hope it's a fluke, but if it's a change (which I find difficult to believe yet worry about) then: yuck.
Older 268s I own are also marginally smaller in exterior bowl diameter than newer versions. Even if the shape is the same, the bowls have increased in mm's a hair. The more rounded 268s, at least in the pictures above, look shorter and girthier in the bowl too. Though this defo could be a trick of lighting.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I believe it's a trick of the camera angle and lighting. I'll often be looking at two pipes in photos online, and think that one seems slightly shaped differently. Even with your first two photos, the second pipe appears to have a narrower and longer shank. The bowl seems a tad more narrow as well. It is however just slightly angled differently in the photo, and the band isn't as wide. It can really change our perception.

 

[workman]

It's not angle. Tho top two have an inwards curve on the outside of the bowl, that gives them a slender, dynamic character. The newer ones are round and plump, which is not good and kind of remind me of my own transition from feisty young stud to a somewhat more robust and less agile self over the last twenty years.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Personally, those two rusticated have more traditional looks of real Zulu shape and more, why on the earth Peterson started 'fiddling around this decades-old established shape?

 

[mso489]

I like the Savinelli and Rossi versions of the zulu, numbered 404 I believe. They have it about right with a slightly bent stem and more Dublin-like and ample bowl. I have one version unfinished (now deep walnut color) from decades ago, and a more recent dark reddish Rossi Palermo that has all of the same virtues. A zulu, done just right, is among the most appealing shapes to me. I love my Petes, but I don't find their version of the zulu especially appealing, though the old one has more zip than the rounded one that looks more like a billiard, and just so-so at that.

 

[drydock]

I'm extremely fond of the zulu. I have two Peterson 268s, both older Emerald pipes--one smooth, one rustic & they're excellent little pipes.

 

[johnbarleycorn]

Very glad the one I bought a couple of years ago has the older shape. As has been said already, why on earth would they mess with that classic shape.