Dumb question - Tube burn out?

[Mr. Electric Wizard]

Hey everybody.
I had a new tube show up in the mail yesterday, a Thompson CSF 6060WA tube from France.
For the limited time that I got to use it, it sounded great!
Today I went to use my Crack and it sounded really bad, and I only got sound in the right side of my headphones.
I immediately started troubleshooting, and got the point of change output tubes.  The new Thompson tube was the culprit.
So, is it normal or strange to have a tube just stop working?  It wasn't super pricey ($35 including shipping) but still..

 

[Paul Birkeland]

You're not the first person to post about getting a defective Thompson 6080WA, there seems to be an iffy supply on eBay, I would send it back!

 

[Mr. Electric Wizard]

Such a bummer because it was a very nice sounding unit.
Thanks for the info PB!