No it shouldn't be the same. That's only in a perfect world lol
They just basically use a different system, so while all the info is the same they put different emphasis on certain things.
For instance, FICO may consider payment history 35% of your score and then EQ Score may consider it 27% -- Therefore just by default the numbers would be different. FICO is most important, followed by VantageScore as SOME (very few) people actually use it now to evaluate you. I have never heard of anyone using the EQ score. So worry about the FICO...Hopefully the FICO is the one that's 40 points higher but let me guess....it's not?
Starting Score: (FICO)(August 29, 2013) 502(EQ) 568(EX) 549(TU) Yea totally. Take it one month at time.
I'm not sure how long the collections have been on your account but if they are remotely recent...they are killing you.
Your UTIL though is probably what really has you down. You didn't say what your UTIL was but what's your current amount owed compared to your credit limits?
P.S. -- I REALLY like the Equifax monitoring service, you can update your report with them daily --- but for SCORE....you can absolutely disregard it. Maybe do a combo of ScoreWatch from MyFico and then do a report monitoring service like MyPrivacyMatters.com through EliminateIDtheft.com. That way you stay on top of ALL THREE reports and also your FICO score.
Well, the cards could hurt you because they may affect your average age of accounts. For instance if they were older cards and now they are gone...you lose those how many ever years of history and average age of accounts is very important.
Regardless of that though...get your UTIL under 9% but NOT at 0% and I bet you'll see a nice lil boost from that. The collections are old...they really aren't killing you. It's your UTIL...drop that down and i'm sure you'll be smiling. :-)
Since you have the EQUIFAX service...they have a link for a simulator thats free for you to use. When you click on it, it will show your util at 50% and allow you to drag it down to like 1% and see how that could potentially affect your score. Do that and see.
I sure will!! Thanks for all your help! 
The EQ score uses a proprietary score that EQ themselves has put together. It does show that this is not a score that is used by lenders.
July 2013 score: EQ FICO 819, TU08 778, EX "806 lender pull 07/26/2013
Goal Score: All Scores 760+, Newest goal 800+
Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge
Current scores after adding $81K in CLs and 2 new cars since July 2013
EQ:809 TU 777 EX 790 Now it's just garden time!
June 2017 update: All scores over 820, just pure gardening now.