I guess all the participants have croaked by now but Merv Dunn stole a heap of albas from a Dr. Van Dyke (sp?) Of all the flim-flammers in Australia Merv took the cake. I remember Alvin Bryant (painfully honest!) telling tales of how Valley got started. I remember too, Merv meeting Don Wimber in Eugene, OR. We three sat in Don's University Office/Lab and Merv held the floor. When Don and I next met, Don affirmed that Merv could sell ice to Eskimo's. Or "Rite-Lite" structures to people with too much money and small brains. Hopefully we will not see his like again!
Sensation was a dodgy line too. I remember paying heaps for Spartan Queen 'Merrilong' and it was a difficult grower. The other parent, Fascination was weak and very prone to rot. Any plant from Armstrong and Brown in the late 1950's could have dodgy parentage too. The classic of all was Musita 'Pinkie', totally bogus parentage which Humphreys sold to Vacherot and Lecoufle for cloning. It easily mutated in cloning to a 4n and the so-called Musita 'Pinkie' 4n was an amazing parent for us. A difficult grower, it made too many spikes and too few new growths but did it produce unique colors and amazing shape.