"Mine is at least 5 years old, but nothing is hugely wrong with it. The fit and finish isn't great, like the stock doesn't line up nicely with the receiver and things like that, but nothing that affects functionality. It is a more difficult to load, and has rough edges that get to your thumbs after a while, and the action isn't nearly as nice as a Henry, things like that. I have no idea if the pre-Remington Marlins are better, I have never seen one, just read Internet gospel on the topic."
My pre-remlin ones had sharp edges on the loading port etc, enough they would mark the brass and give little paper cuts on my thumb. Fixing that with 220 to 600 grit sandpaper is simple, foolproof, and tedious. With a dremel type thingy and fine rubber cratex points you can speed things up, and with a light touch still have a fairly low chance of upgefuchting things.
If you get the port and gate smooth enough, and have a gate with a spring section on the thinner part of the tolerance band, you'll be able to unload by pressing in the loading gate and having a cartridge pop back out the port into your hand, slick as can be (as opposed to cranking rounds through the action).