The Vee Hobby kit is clearly superior to the older kits, especially the hull is much better. I have sold my old kits and bought the Vee Hobby kits of San Diego and Oakland.
The old Pit-Road kit has an hull with an armoured belt fitting to an ironclad, which requires a lot of sanding (the belt is also too long).
Revell and Dragon both marketed the old Pit-Road kit with an extra sprue for a full hull model. Dragon added latter some parts from their Essex class kits to some editions.
The Matchbox had an different, even older kit of San Diego. E.g. the hull was different:
Matchbox kit review
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