Considerations for buying a closeout model?

I'm attempting to complete the herculean task of making a descision on my first BC purchase. While shopping online, I noticed what must be an older model, that's being offered at a significant discount, (opinion based on color option shown) of a current BC. I've tried on the current model in a LDS and liked the fit. So I have a couple of questions...

Given that this model has, apparently, been sitting around new/unused in original packaging for some time, would there be any concerns for potential breakdown of materials? Would I need to have it checked/serviced as soon as purchased to ensure it will still function as intended? Any other things I should be worried about with an older model?

Also is it too much of a leap of faith to assume the two versions of the same BC would have basically the same fit and other technical specs (such as weight limits for the pockets)?

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

Plastics degrade in sunlight so as long as this has been stored out of the sun it is likely as good as the day it came off the line. A BCs operation is pretty straight forward and as long as it works out of the box in a pool, no reason to believe it won't in open water for a long time. Keep in mind dive gear is built tough and can withstand a lot. The thing that gets most SCUBA gear is exposure to chlorine and/or salt then not cleaning the item well.

You may want to check the inflator and the orings in the dump valves to see if they have become hard or brittle but otherwise you will probably be good to go despite it sitting around for a while.