Yes, I didn't bother to reverse the multimeter for the readings, but both #1 and #2 are working as expected, with the logic inverted from one another. #1's logic, per the beginning of the thread acts like a N.O. switch. #2 acts like a N.C. switch.
There must be some reason that #1 is the "normal" way to hook this up (that the transistor prefers), since the resistor values I tried all draw less power with the slot open than the inverted #2 approaches do.
At this point I have it working, by trial-and-error, and I guess in the future, if I get another part/datasheet, I may have to do the same thing to find an appropriate resistor value, since that is the one part of this puzzle that still eludes me.
Thanks for the help, and sorry to de-rail with my erroneous results along the way, but I've learned a lot in the process, and I have a better feeling for how these photo-interrupters work now.
Off to build the real project now.