Let me begin by saying this is the third of fourth pair of Raven 8826 boots that I've bought in the last, oh, maybe 10 years.  I love them.  I wear them all the time.  They wear out and I buy a new pair.  They've always been the same, with a zipper on the inside near the ankle area that is approximately 6 inches.  This probably helps you get them on easier, though I never had to use it for such.  It did come in handy though when my jeans would rise a little or bunch up and feel awkward.  I always order the same size.  And, just so you know, my shoe size hasn't changed, nor have my skinny ankles.  I buy other boots from the same maker (Maiden) and have no issues.

I noticed that the toe was a little different, like maybe molded more to a point with reinforced sides (thicker cardboard, probably).  They looked better.  I checked the tag to make sure they were the correct boots, and they were.  Also different was the lack of an zipper near the inside part of the ankle.

Right off the bat, these were hard to get on.  Real hard.  The ankle location is the worse.  It's very difficult to get your foot through it to bend it into the shoe.  You have to really pull and sweat and curse and pull and jam your foot in.  It hurts.

And, as I previously noted, the toe area looks more molded.  Well, you'll feel that after a wearing.  It pinches your small toes.

I kept them because I figured they just needed to be "broken in."  I've had them for nearly two years, and suffer every time I wear them.  I curse them daily and the company that made these changes.  These were my favorite boots.

So, if you've bought these in the past, and yours had an inner zipper, BEWARE, as these are WITHOUT the zipper.

I will continue struggling until I rip them getting them on because it irks me to waste $100, and then I'll search for the "original" Raven 8826 boots with the inner zipper.