I'm not used to seeing green tarnish on silver, but I don't "do" silver plate, so I don't know if this is unusual or not, but the toothbrush is too big to fit between the funnel and the rocker so it's very difficult to get a good scrub on. I can get it well with the tip of the brush, but have not been able to lessen the amount of tarnish at all.
The black gunk inside the depressed ring in the reservoir looks more like the tarnish I am used too, and scrubbing (with or without toothpaste) loosens it enough that the rinse water turns black--but after a half hour it is still just as prominent; it seems to be breeding while I scrub

It was also coated in what seems to be release powder of some kind, which I can't seem to remove entirely, and what's left gives it a bizarre appearance, like someone someone changed his mind half-way through varnishing and then tried to rinse it off, clouding what was there and leaving a mottled, "acidy" finish over three-quarters of the outside. It came packaged in what was obviously the manufacturer's box, so I know no one at AD could have seen it before shipping--I'm just wondering how, if possible, I can get it to a usable condition.
The spoon I received also had a divot stamped out of the side of the handle which *was* visible through the clear plastic sleeve in which it was packaged. I would normally accept this as simply a manufacturing defect (it is just stamped-out sheet metal, after all) but it falls right were my thumb goes and is very distracting, so I will contact them to see how common this is in the Lautrec model (it's not in the on-site image) but since they really had no control over the balancier issue I'd like to resolve it myself if I can.
Thanks,
Scott