Tim invested a lot of time and money into this project over the course of many years. I don't think he was a huckster. He made a legitimate effort at selecting cold tolerant mangos. However, he is a bit of a salesman and he had his pitch refined. I heard the exact story when I met him, when he called me to tell me the plants were ready, and in interviews online. His story always started with "Mangos don't grow in California... except mine!" Obviously untrue, as the many SoCal mango growers in this forum will tell you. Ok, so a mature Antonio survived 25F on one occasion. That's a good clue to begin trials with - but it wasn't enough data to justify selling thousands of trees to people in cold climates.