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Ha. Reminds me, in a way, of people attempt to insert male USB plugs without looking (prior to USB-C). The first time (each time) was most often fruitless for many.
Chelonian morph breeders run into that issue with the combo morphs involving multiple genes. Especially the slider guys since there are more morphs for that species than most other turtles. Lots of 1/64 types of results in a perfect world. A perfect world that not that many of us live in. Serious snake people probably know these woes better than anyone due to volume. The extra dose of pain for people breeding tortoises is the lengthier generation time typically involved. Thankfully, when it comes to growth rates, I have a bit of an advantage, but a lot of keepers do not.
I have always seen purchasing hets as more of something better suited for the statistically aware for projects which lack many options than for those with a lower willingness to part with disposable income, but it unfortunately goes the other way from what I see in general practice. People go for a worse chance trying to save a few bucks on the front end of a project that consumes years of time and plenty of care-oriented money along the way. Especially when it comes to hatchlings, getting them to become good breedable adults even before reaching the point of next-gen breeding results is a task unto itself. Then having opposite sexes. Then lucking out on stats. The things set against the beginner pursuing success this way are numerous. Over the course of years, it tends to be "cheaper" overall to shell out the extra money for visuals if they are available and the buyer's finances can be stretched far enough. While I leverage hets for my own goals within my own projects, I think visuals are the way to go for those who understand genetics and statistics the least (or for those who want things to trend in a manner slanted in their favor). Even then, for everyone, visuals of opposite sexes should provide better project justification than hets as long as there are not weird weaknesses in doing visual X visual pairings (some lizard and snake morphs have issues with visual X visual, although the majority do not have such issues). I have plenty of projects that are visual X visual simply to reduce "waste" in the form of extra hets when visuals are what the market demands most of all. Self-evident value by appearance is less of a hassled sale than one involving 1) hidden value and 2) trust between parties who do not know one another well. Reputation helps a lot, but there are still hassles with hets in some interactions.
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