It's a hard decision to make sometimes (though sometimes seeing them in the flesh makes a vast difference).
I know the feeling regarding the case, I got a 'vintage' tolex case with my Ric cos I paid cash (it's something like $300 so you can guess the UK price (250 quid I believe)) and I have to say they are so much nicer than the ABS cases.
As for year based ltd edition colours, ric (for example) do 2005 custom colour for instruments ordered in 2005, therefore they are still producing the colour well into 2006 to fufill these orders so the guitar may still have been built this year if it was a late order.
The real question is what colour do you like best, and it also depends on what you already own after all you already have a nice shiny red ovation,
The carbon blue is nice but the photos may not be doing it justice to the rest of us (or perhaps just me), the purple is pretty nice too.
Rob...