Can you imagine starting UO today and having to wait 2 years to dye leather?
Uhm.. no need to imagine it, most of us did have to wait 2 years to dye leather. That's why they're called veteran rewards, not newbie rewards.
There's nothing wrong with basic tanned leather, it'd actually be somewhat refreshing to see. Once upon a time, leather wasn't even available in spined/horned/barbed varieties, so now there's much more choice prior to adding dyes.
Try asking a guildmate or trusted player with a vet account to dye stuff for you. Most would do it for free. Then there's Pigments of Tokuno, pretty sure you don't need to be a vet to use those.
A lot of us had to wait 3 years to ride an ethereal mount, but now you can get a Charger whenever. Result; nobody rides horses/llamas/ostards anymore. Flesh and blood mounts are almost non-existent unless they're also a forge, or packie, or uber pet.
Seems like every other person's on a Charger. You give a person freedom of choice and they generally pick whatever their other idiot friends are doing.
*edit*
All other arguments aside, I really don't see anything on the veteran rewards list that's so damned critical or unbalancing.
Monster Statuettes - Can buy these from a player vendor, have a friend toggle it the way you want or dye it, then lock it down.
+2 AR Cloaks/Robes - Hardly a major advantage when they're giving away full-resist suits for free. The cloaks use up the quiver slot anyway.
Ethereal Steeds - Charger, $9.95.
House Add-Ons - Again, buy from a player vendor and have a friend place it.
Misc - Red soulstone $9.95, Weapon engraver, just seek out a vet who'll do the work for you.
Dye Tubs -
- Black/Special (get your clothing/cloth bolts dyed)
- Furniture (use coloured lumber)
- Leather (decide on your suit then have it dyed/pigmented)
- Runebook (buy coloured books from a scribe vendor)
- Statuette (ask a vet or look for a vendor)
Basically everything there is either available via player vendors, EA, or a helpful vet. Almost all of it is decorative, so it's not as if it's some unholy pvm/pvp advantage. Nothing there that can't be overcome with a bit of patience or social networking.
Most of the tubs there, you'd only want to use once or twice anyway. I have a near-full set of tubs, the only one I lack is the statuette tub as I haven't found one for sale. I could claim the tub, but as I've used a public tub maybe 4 times in the last three years I'll do without.