hey Deepblue congrats on getting such a great scope!
In all seriousness - although I may be biased I think a 12" GSO dob is a wonderful piece of gear, but in the weeks ahead you will find that as your collimating skills increase so will the views and details you will see.
I started out with a 10" dob and as stunned as I was with the initial views I found I was asking myself "is this as good as the view gets?"
Each time I had another go at collimating (and I had quite afew early on!) the view DID get better and better - it really is worth learning how to do it right, but it is a skill that will improve with time and practice. I found a wonderful website at the time to guide me, if I can find the link when I'm at home again I'll paste it.
I did end up buying both a
combination sighting/Cheshire tube for initial collimation, and a
laser collimator (return beam type) for checks and adjustment, and I would not be without them personally. Opinions vary but if you were to buy just one of these I'd get the sighting/Cheshire tube.
(These are available elsewhere as well, I just used the Bintel links because I knew I could find them quicker).
Since you have the 12" you will almost definitely find that when you try to collimate the 3 main mirror "adjusting" springs (under the primary miror adjustment screws) are too weak, and just as you get the mirror aligned where you want it, the whole damn thing slips again and you lose yoru hard fought for collimation again.
Unless GSO have finally put heavier springs in you
really want to replace/upgrade these springs. I actually managed to round up some that do the job ok in my junk collection at home, but I woudl gladly have paid for springs if I'd had to. Again Bintel carry
replacement springs for the Meade Lightbridge's (which are made by GSO anyway) and as far as I know these springs will suit the standard GSO tube body reflectors - others here may be more able to comment on this, or ask the staff at Bintel.
Anyway don't take all of this as doom and gloom - far from it, you have a magnificent scope there that will show you many amazing sights and provide years of wonderful observing!
Cheers!