I was about to stab my new MSD distributor in place until I saw all the stuff about the break-in procedure.

I've stabbed a hundred new and rebuilt distributors over the years and have never gone through such a procedure.

What's so different about MSD's gear compared to GM, Accel, and Mallory gears?

Nothing . . .

I stabbed mine in a went. No problems. I did put a little moly grease on the gear so it wasn't dry at start up.