The VIP will not run right with alkalines. The AA body (preferred by myself as well to an adapter, nearly the same cost) was designed to extend run times using nimhs, and possibly lithiums (but with liths cost becomes a definite issue). So instead of just 20-30 minutes on High you'd get a noticeable increase in run time depending on your particular Luxeon3's Vf. And of course on Med and especially Low you might as well put your chargers in storage for occasional use only...
However with respect to matching ano, that is another reason why we went with black, there are NO mismatched anodizing colors on the VIPs. All parts are deviously dauntingly dastardly dead-straight B-B-B-BLACK-K-K-K (I'm trying to make it like an echo sound...). But I still prefer an entire AA body rather than an extension.