The title is a joke, by the way.
But yeah, just some thoughts, run down as 2013 heads into it's middle distance, and Bonfire night is , what , 5 months away.
So hows it all looking? Well, fireworks have survived, and most of the established fireworks shops seem to be still around, judging by websites- although some are painfully out of date (some even buy years). I've said this before, if you have a website, either don't let it go out of date, or don't sell things online.
That minor whinge aside, there does appear to be some really good stuff out there- Great Northern and Epic both maintain good websites, and are bringing new stuff in this year. Brothers and Bright Star have some very nice items (and some very weak ones too!)
So no, it's not just crackles in everything.