Supply / Demand . . .
Simple supply and demand. Its a new morph, so right now its going to be priced higher than most because that is where the market is willing to pay for it. Not too long ago Ashy was at the same level of prices. Now they're at a more affordable level. Your second statement is correct too, because they are a codominant morph, their price will probably drop quicker than most recessive morphs because they are more easily reproduced. Simple supply and demand whoty
Of course, in any market, supply and demand are the driving forces that impact price. I didn't say
value cuz that word is relative AND subjective.
As it is with many corn morphs, the "value" of the Tesseras is related to appearance AND potential. Also, like many other morphs, one of the best parts of breeding corns is the "thrill of discovery" gained from the anticipation of never knowing what variatiants will emerge from those eggs. Like there are no two "
insert species here" members alike, Tessera offers variety on a potentially unprecedented scale. Stripe, busted stripe, wide stripe, narrow stripe, virtually no stripe, busy tessellated laterals, boring tessellation, and/or any combinations thereof. And let's not forget that while the quality of striping is unique to this species, the fact that the stripe recovers after breaks has never been seen in a corn mutation before. In stripes and striped motleys, once the stripe begins to break, it fizzles out entirely. Hence, the mutation behaves in reliable Mendelian fashion, but polygenetic forces will render decades of surprises. Of course, mixing them with the color (and color/pattern compounds) just pyramids the product inventory. To me, the main value in Tesseras is the fact that they are the first pattern mutation that is dominant in heritable fashion. Bred to ANY other corn (mutatant or not) renders 50% Tesseras. Add to that the reality that we still don't know what synergistic products may arise, and the reasons for higher prices are suddenly apparent. One novel aspect this "motley-looking" mutation provides is maintaining the black margins (white in albinos) around the markings. In the case of the classic Tessera "striping", black or white bordering the dorsal stripe zone was heretofore impossible with Motley-types. Also, black margins are retained on some of the lateral markings. Imagine this scheme in other color mutations?
BTW, in defense of Graham's comment about intentionally not hybridizing or promoting existing hybrids, most people don't consider Ultra types HYBRIDS. When they were first becoming popular, many on this forum debated their origins - even though the originator stated that he used a "gray snow" in their creation. It went back and forth to the point that some walked away from the exercise claiming that in the absence of proof, they proclaimed them to be PURE CORNS. You see, every new morph must endure the slings and arrows of suspicion. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but it's when people refuse to accept facts that the issue causes division in the ranks of corn keepers. And since that division of opinions essentially defines the reality that all people are different, nothing can be done to change that. I just wanted to point out that saying the words
Ultra types are hybrids has been taboo, and often considered politically improper. Since most of us have an Ultra-type (or 10, 20, 50) and because most of us agree that keeping the
P. guttatus species as pure as possible is the right thing to do, subconsciously, they have not been considered hybrids. The originally
intergrade CREAMSICLES that are now humanly defined as HYBRIDS are probably more repulsed in the hobby than Ultra types - even though they are the product of much closer related species than the Ultras.
Back to work. I'll peek in as often as possible to address Tessera issues.
Thank all of you for reading.
