smith, I agree with trd, older is better. FC upstairs on the 747-200's is preferred to FC downstairs in the nose of the 747-400's.

The 200's seats recline almost 160 degrees. The seat pitch is 70" for the three row FC configuration and 80" for the two row configuration. Anyway, with the aircraft in cruising mode, the aircraft is angled several degrees from the horizontal. If the seat were reclined 180 degrees, your head would be lower than your feet! It seems to me the angle of the aircraft in cruise and the max recline of the seat makes it just about horizontal.

The 200's have only 8 or 12 seats in first compared to 18 for a 400, so there is more convenience with the restroom.

The FA seems to have more time as she/he is not usually pitching in to help serve other sections of the aircraft.

The only drawback is for window guys like me. In row 87 of most/all 200's with three rows of seats in FC, there is no window! Just turned down an upgrade to first on a flight when I was told only 87A or 87K was available.