I also found that in the flesh they look quite nice.
I understand where the designers were coming from when they did it. I think it is also down to how you paint them. A good thing about it is that the area gives a nice space for painting, put a nice long rune on the helmet and it looks really good.
The old models whilst nice look dated now. You don't realise how much so till you actually put them next to the newer ones. We all have these warm fussy memories of 2 ed minis, but unfortunately whilst they were great for the time, they look a bit past it now if compared to newer models.
Also the new exarch rocks. I considered doing a whole squad based on conversions around him.