I can see why you'd call that blue, especially the more heavily marked one. I do find that the tort colors darken as they age; in fact some of my tort mini rex got too dark to be shown after a couple of years. But if the bunnies were blue torts, you'd expect the brown to be paler too, more a diluted fawn instead of orange.
Of those two, I like the opal/chin better. In the photos he seems to have a shorter, deeper body and a more correct peak, although he seems like he might be a little tucked up in his pose so it might be something of an illusion.
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The VM Black looks a bit long and flat in comparison. Are these animals you're using to produce meat rabbits?
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Sad that you might lose your rex buck; why do you expect this might happen?