I was enjoying the thread until----
"I do not think that you can even buy a Tategoi Tosai from Hoshikin for under $5,000.00 wholesale",
I'm sorry but that statement is way way over the top! Hoshikin is NOT Momotaro and he is not Sakai ( either of them) his tategoi tosai are not all $5000 each. I mean, WHO do you think is paying $5000 each for hundreds of Tosai he is producing ??? That would mean that 400 good tosai would sell for two million dollars ( 400 X $5,000 each). In the 22 years he has been breeding koi that would mean he is worth 44 million dollars! And that would be before the remaining four years of production! Shall we call him worth an even 80 million? You have been to his home right? I mean , you saw it right?
( I know, I know, I'm bad)
Now koi breeders are mostly rich guys, but not THAT rich.
And as far as $200 growing fee goes, its free when you insist upon it as part of the purchase price. That is pretty much a standard understanding in the entire region, at least for the first year. JR