Blue Thunder products can be a pain in the booty to get. I've had to wait months on intake manifolds before.
The BT MR intake certainly is a higher quality product as far as cosmetics go. The aluminum is prepped differently giving it a different look than the standard issue Edelbrock stuff. The BT piece looks like a Sidewinder intake and has provisions for an
oil fill tube (even comes with one).
Out of the box, I don't think I'd give much of a nod performance-wise to either the BT or the RPM. They both have a high potential when being professionally ported.
As far as pricing, for the price of the BT, you could have an RPM, an aluminum 1" Super Sucker spacer, and have enough left over for a steak dinner.