Thanks for the welcome PapaJoe!
We hit the road HARD promoting our little fowl appendages, and have a ball doing it! Myself and the wife have regular 9-5 jobs, but it seems we may be able to tell corporate America to stick it in a year or two, what a beautiful thought, traversing this great nation of ours cooking wings every step of the way!!!
Wow, great questions. As for the turkey wings, I tried them as well, and yeah, the thick skin is definitely a problem, they could have seconded as a rawhide bone for a dog. I would stick with smoking them in my opinion. Drumsticks on the other hand....
As for frozen wings, since my first post months ago, I have actually strayed away from them. I have found that Tyson or virtually any other brand that is 'ice glazed', are rather expensive. Look for a local restaurant supply (around here there are "Restaurant Depots"). Some require only a tax ID number to become a member, and you save a ton of $. Tyson usually sells a 7 pound bag for anywhere from $9-$11. Most of this weight is ice weight, and the wings are on the small side. At Restaurant Depot, we get "Jumbo Party Wings" (which are pre-cut wings and drummies) and are 2/3 bigger (much more meat) and cost about $1/pound (no ice weight), pretty good deal.
Also, from a safety perspective. Personally, I use a turkey fryer (usually multiples), and using ice-glazed wings is fairly dangerous (ice and 375 degree oil don't mix well). I have found the fresh wings cause MUCH less in the way of oil spattering and level rise. Frozen wings are good, having used them for many years, but from a cost effective and safety aspect, I have to say I'm bending towards the fresh now.