I agree with your take on these colors. I got a couple sets of the tubes from Amazon to try, and was very disappointed. Some of the colors are truly special (Volcano Violet is a stunner) but most of them are really not worth anywhere near the price. It took real effort to get the water content and the tooth of the paper just right for the best effect, and that's not what I want to think about when I'm painting. And, three of the ten tubes I ordered were filled improperly, lots of air in two of them and pretty much all vehicle and very little (separated) pigment in another. At the prices that Schmincke charges, this is not acceptable. If I try any again, it'll be half pans. But like others, I'm looking forward to trying some of these mixes myself rather than buying them already mixed.