I don't know what the difference is between PM and M Addys. I can tell you, though, that getting decent pictures of my Mattel Addy is extremely difficult. Her skin tone always looks much darker in pictures than it is in real life. If the lighting and angle isn't just right, her skin looks so dark that it's hard to really see what her face looks like. So yes, a lot of the skin tone differences could be due to pictures/lighting. I have yet to take a picture of my Addy that accurately shows her true skin color.