I'm with you on the 40 vs 9 thing.
To the OP's question:
If P.RK for location stands for People's Republic of Kalifornia, and he has a P226 platinum elite available to him, then that would make the get it or no decision really easy. CA folks have to take what they can get.
For intrinsic quality and goodness, my preference is for the older P226/P229 with legacy slide and short extractor. With the LEO trade ins, as they switch to 9mm, some great deals can be found, just not many in CA.
As for bling, modest amounts are good. I've posted this pic before and too busy to take another - this is a 2004 P229 Nickel DA/SA 40 I picked up at a local gun shop for $625 out the door, very low wear. It's about as much bling as I'd want. My carry is a 99 ex-LEO P229 40 DA/SA