It has been recommended (RE: my '88 Supra with an apparent BHG...) that I PARK THE CAR AND PULL THE HEAD!
So, this I will do. Given that once I pull the head the HG is toast even if it's not blown, I obviously have to buy a new one.
I have seen them as low as $17; also $26, with $58 being the usual on-line price. Beck-Arnley wants ~$60, some places advertise Fel-Pro at $58, or $17, or $26. My band's guitar player said yesterday, "Eh, $12, big deal". I told him about the prices I was finding.
Toyota's list is $115; the best on-line price I have found is $85 and the locval dealer will match that.
I'm kinda answering my own question here. The 7M-GE has a nasty habit of blowing HGs, and IIRC the HG was replaced on this car a year before I bought it. he total cost of the job was a shade under $1,000. When I had the valve covers off to replace the gaskets I checked the torque on the head bolts and they were above 68 ft/lbs; the original spec was 58 ft/lbs and a Toyota TSB about BHGs said 72 ft/lbs (IIRC) was recommended, so whoever did the job knew they had to use the revised spec. I'm betting they used and off-the-rack gasket and maybe mostly responsible for why I have to do it again.
So, do I go aftermarket, save a few bucks and perhaps have to do it all again in 7 years or so? The car is now 22 years old. If I do have to do the HG again it will be ~30 years old; it's not in *bad* shape, but it's not a Collector's Item, either.
Or, do I spend the $85 and get the Real Deal and hope things are good enough to get another 80,000 miles out of it (it has ~220,000 now...)?
The thing I SHOULD do, obviously, is pull the engine and have the whole thing refreshed. A local engine guy, who's one of the best in the country quoted me $2200 for complete bottom end refurb, and I know when I get it back it will be one of the best 7M-GEs in the country.