All right, to substitute in for those TINY photographs: they've got a lot of noise and grain in them. It was intentional, but you totally can't see it in the photos now. Hmmm...
I agree partially about the 'blandness.' I really like the lines in 1, but have yet to find my 'groove' when it comes to BW conversions. I think that one will be on the top of my list when I finally achieve the perfect conversion recipe.