Mt Spokane: Haven't heard back yet.
Chinese option is a no-go. I want to get a new one with full warranty etc. If I have to pay full price, so be it. If there is a bit of wiggle room, I won't complain.
That reflector looks more like a beauty dish than a macro flash, and won't do for what I use it for. I shoot 1 cm to 1 mm flowers and shells. At low end with Zeiss 100 MP, then MP-E 65, then stereomicroscope, then compound microscope, then scanning electron microscope. On all except SEM, with plenty of z-stacking. Not infrequently I bounce flash off card board, or ceramic bowl, therefore, heads need to be freely movable and detachable.
For the time being, I'll have to do with what I have: a 580 and my new Einstein 640, a bit heavy for small plants, but has the power even if have to put it at a distance. Westcot and Litedisk screens will soften it out alright. I'll survive.
The MT24 stopped working while I was visiting the Smithsonian. Still got some 4:1 images off herbariums sheets with a single head. Put reflective paper close, keept working head further away, and it produced usable images.