I remember wehn Maplin started selling blue LEDs. The 5mm one was about
 \pounds 11. I was at Bristol University at the time, and Maplin in
 Bristol had a reasonable stock of compoennts back then. I bought the
 first blue LED they got in, took it back to the lab and powered it up
 (bench supply + suitanble resistor). I rememebr half the Physics
 Depeartment coming to look at it...
  
I think they would be saying "oooh" and "aaah" just like the green
aliens from Toy Story... :D
Cheers,
Bryan