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Ok, so maybe it's me...Being in the middle of the coral game might give me a slightly slanted viewpoint, but I've noticed a little trend of sorts, at least among our customers...
There seems to be a healthy interest in some "old School" corals; in particular, Acropora and Chalices. A recent example: ORA "classic" pieces, such as ORA's "Hawkins Echinata", "Palmer's Blue Millie", "ORA Borealis", and "Joe the Coral" are flying out of our warehouse. Harder-to-find ORA pieces, such as the "Red Planet", are white hot.
The "Hawk" is white hot
Palmer's Blue Millie..one hot commodity?
In the Chalice category, we've been astounded to see the burgeoning popularity of some real "old faves", like the classic "Miami Hurricane", which, despite being around for years, still has hobbyists scrambling to get one! And why not? It's a really good-looking coral! You might just credit this piece with being one of the ones that launched the whole "Chalice Craze" a number of years ago!
It's no joke- this is one hot Chalice...again!
Another one of those corals that seems to defy explanation is anything with the name "Tyree" attached to it! Perhaps it's our deep-seeded "collector's mentality", and a desire to acquire nice pieces with a true "lineage" going back to the original Tyree "LE" lines? Regardless, almost anything with a Steve Tyree legacy is hotter than ever! And the bitter irony of it all is that now, these corals are TRULY "limited editions", as many of the ones that you can trace back to Steve are quite hard to find.
The "Tyree Pink Lemonade"- a drink worth savoring...when you can locate one! This one's from Dan Rigle.
The chewy- and apparently, quite tasty- "Tyree Bubble Gum Chalice" -another retro fave?
And you know what? As someone who has been in the hobby since the very dark ages, it's kind of cool to see these corals coming back into the light! There is something nostalgic about them, perhaps? Maybe it harkens us back to a gentler, kinder reefing hobby world, before LEDs, super high-tech controllers, and insanely powerful electronic pumps compelled us to improve our skills and use DIY-enabled equipment to get the job done. Maybe, just maybe, the reef hobby DOES have a soft spot after all for the path that we've all come along to get here.
I believe we should always forge ahead full speed, but never forget to look back and remember with fondness the corals that inspired a whole generation of reefers to excel at our craft, and to ingrain themselves in our collective consciousness.
So, am I the only one who is seeing this trend? Are you seeing the resurgance in popularity of some old school corals? Which ones are you seeing pop back into prominence? And, which ones are you still longing for? Are the corals of our "reef keeping youth" lost forever, shrouded in the mists of time? Or, are they still in someone's tank, awaiting a visit from an old-timer who remembers fondly when "that" coral was IT to beg for a frag, propagate it like mad, and launch the craze all over again?
What do you think?
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
There seems to be a healthy interest in some "old School" corals; in particular, Acropora and Chalices. A recent example: ORA "classic" pieces, such as ORA's "Hawkins Echinata", "Palmer's Blue Millie", "ORA Borealis", and "Joe the Coral" are flying out of our warehouse. Harder-to-find ORA pieces, such as the "Red Planet", are white hot.
The "Hawk" is white hot
Palmer's Blue Millie..one hot commodity?
In the Chalice category, we've been astounded to see the burgeoning popularity of some real "old faves", like the classic "Miami Hurricane", which, despite being around for years, still has hobbyists scrambling to get one! And why not? It's a really good-looking coral! You might just credit this piece with being one of the ones that launched the whole "Chalice Craze" a number of years ago!
It's no joke- this is one hot Chalice...again!
Another one of those corals that seems to defy explanation is anything with the name "Tyree" attached to it! Perhaps it's our deep-seeded "collector's mentality", and a desire to acquire nice pieces with a true "lineage" going back to the original Tyree "LE" lines? Regardless, almost anything with a Steve Tyree legacy is hotter than ever! And the bitter irony of it all is that now, these corals are TRULY "limited editions", as many of the ones that you can trace back to Steve are quite hard to find.
The "Tyree Pink Lemonade"- a drink worth savoring...when you can locate one! This one's from Dan Rigle.
The chewy- and apparently, quite tasty- "Tyree Bubble Gum Chalice" -another retro fave?
And you know what? As someone who has been in the hobby since the very dark ages, it's kind of cool to see these corals coming back into the light! There is something nostalgic about them, perhaps? Maybe it harkens us back to a gentler, kinder reefing hobby world, before LEDs, super high-tech controllers, and insanely powerful electronic pumps compelled us to improve our skills and use DIY-enabled equipment to get the job done. Maybe, just maybe, the reef hobby DOES have a soft spot after all for the path that we've all come along to get here.
I believe we should always forge ahead full speed, but never forget to look back and remember with fondness the corals that inspired a whole generation of reefers to excel at our craft, and to ingrain themselves in our collective consciousness.
So, am I the only one who is seeing this trend? Are you seeing the resurgance in popularity of some old school corals? Which ones are you seeing pop back into prominence? And, which ones are you still longing for? Are the corals of our "reef keeping youth" lost forever, shrouded in the mists of time? Or, are they still in someone's tank, awaiting a visit from an old-timer who remembers fondly when "that" coral was IT to beg for a frag, propagate it like mad, and launch the craze all over again?
What do you think?
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
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