Precision Billet Proshift MTS (2nd style)

Of all the various US made CNC-art-object derailleurs of the mid 1990’s the Precision Billet Proshift seemed to me to offer the most. It was devastatingly light, had two sprung pivots (and so was widely considered to work with Shimano SIS) and had all the trick elements; stainless steel fittings, sealed bearing pulley wheels etc.. Precision Billet also seemed to be a serious company intent on actually manufacturing hardware rather than vapourware.

I am aware of six generations of Precision Billet Proshift derailleurs, which may go roughly as follows:

I believe that the first generation was initially shown at Interbike in 1994, although production may not have really got going until early 1995. It was an innovative and futuristic object with complex 3D CNC knuckles and a very large flat outer parallelogram plate. Even the pulley cage plates had more randomly geometrical cutouts than you can imagine - cool!
The second generation possibly arrived December 1995. The whole derailleur was completely redesigned. The knuckles, in particular, were reimagined, each knuckle was assembled out of two much simplified parts. The pulley cage plates had normal cutouts. The parallelogram plates looked much more conventional. The outer parallelogram plate was branded 'Proshift MTS' in slightly low-rent looking writing. I have yet to decipher the acronym MTS.
Third up, possibly around August 1996, the derailleur stayed largely the same. But the branding on the outer parallelogram became 'Proshift by Precision Billet' in a rather more sophisticated set of fonts. Could it even be laser etched?

Precision Billet, in California, possibly continued manufacturing for a few years. But, after this third generation, the derailleurs seemed to, gently, fade away. It is possible that Precision Billet, in California, ceased trading in 2006.

But then something truly surreal happened. Toronto Cycles, of Toronto, Canada, were (and possibly are) a manufacturer of small, trick, anodised CNC bolts and parts. It is possible that they manufactured some spare parts for the Proshift derailleurs after 2006. Then, possibly in 2011, they entered the picture by buying the 'www.precisionbillet.com' URL. Then, possibly in 2014, they relaunched the Precision Proshift derailleurs.

But Toronto Cycles did not seem to have anything to do with Precision Billet, in California. It is possible that they did not even acquire any intellectual property from Precision Billet. It is even, even, possible that Toronto Cycles simply measured up the derailleurs, punched in the numbers and set the CNC machines rolling. As you may imagine, lawyers, possibly (allegedly?), became involved.

Continuing the 'generations' theme, outlined above, Toronto Cycles seem to have manufactured three more generations:

A fourth generation, possibly in 2014, was the 'Type 1' which was an unbranded recreation of the first generation described above.
Fifth up, possibly in 2015, was the 'Type 2' which was an unbranded recreation of the third generation described above.
And finally, and sixth, also possibly in 2015, the 'Type 2' was also available with carbon pulley cage plates.

Some afficionados have suggested that these Toronto derailleurs should be regarded as 'fakes'. I would agree, but this should not imply that they are necessarily less technically capable or historically interesting.

It's a total brain melt.

This, pleasant, non-fake, plain-honest-silver, specimen is a second generation model with a ‘medium’ length pulley cage.

I have received a small number of emails baselessly proposing meanings for the initials 'M.T.S.'. Some are sensible - like 'Mountainbike Transmission System'. Some are charmingly rooted in that 90s macho-mountain-bike-vibe - try 'Much Too Sexy'. But...

The most surreal came from Ralph who lives in a town in Georgia, USA that is 'so insignificant that even the locals need Google Maps to find it'. He proposes that it is not just the colour green that can be 'made great again' by adding the words 'Marjorie' and 'Taylor' as a prefix. Apparently the same magic can be worked with any colour. So he describes the silky hue of this derailleur as being 'Marjorie Taylor Silver'. Kudos Ralph - I'll have a pint of whatever it is that you've been drinking.