@Grass Snake i woudn't throw everything away yet, but i would certainly sow a lot more than you did.
I purchased some violet sparkle (bell type) seeds of ebay last year (crappy idea i know but anyway). My first round of germination never took off.
I ended up sowing everything (20-30 seeds approx) in january. I had 3-4 total that germinated over a month later. All where severely helmetted and i managed to save only one seedling, wich was severely stunted and took months to grow a few leaves. It finally had some ok growth this summer.
11 months after sowing, i now have 2 pods turning red on it. I hope the fresh seeds i plan on harvesting will have better germination rates and give healthy plants. This is what it looks like
Morale is, you can definitely salvage a variety you want out of a crappy seed stock, but doing so may require a lot of patience and efforts.