You could be right about the mixing of old and new pieces. I have the original 50th anniversary edition, and have got to say that some of the pieces were miss formed and not of great quality. I have switched those out with other pieces. Since I own every edition except for 1940 Pacific, I can say that the older game pieces were of much better quality…but you need the newer games to get those newer sculpts, so it is a challenge to have it both ways. Anyway good luck, and hope you enjoy “anniversary “. It, and along with the original “Pacific 2000” are my favorite editions