An update.

I did a little wiring to improve the apex.  I brought it forward, which forshortens it.  It's also a bit rounder.  It needs more work, but this is really not the best time of year.  It is backbudding, and I don't want to take the chance of damaging those fragile buds.  So, with this, I'll let it be until fall.  I'll check to make sure the existing wire is not cutting in, and remove it before it does.  It is budding nicely.

Oh, the photo was taken just after a thunderstom, so the trunk is dark.

Actually, it was ebay. The seller name on ebay is Smith something or other.   But, it's Brussel's.  If you don't know about Brussel's, you should.  They are a huge bonsai wholesaler.  And they sell retail.  When you go on ebay, do a search for "five needle pine".  Brussel's lists their JWP that way.  They import huge numbers of trees from Japan.  And almost all JWPs are imported.

I think I paid $350 for that one.

Our hot summer was hard on it this year.

Oh, the tree has it's faults.  I do my best to overcome them.

Imported trees are expensive because they have to be quarantined for a year before they can be sold, and there is a significant amount of loss.  Trees that don't live thru the shipping/quarantine.

And then, remember that the ones they (the Japanese) are willing to sell for import are their "C" grade trees.

But, even those are better than what is grown here.  (For the most part.  There are small growers that produce exceptional material.)

As to whether any bonsai tree is "expensive" or not:  Trees take years to develop.  My little white pine is only about 10 inches tall.  So it was cheap.  What I liked was the grafting scar was nearly invisible, and the taper at the graft joint was good.  The rest of the tree didn't really matter, as it can be grown/shaped.  90% of the value of a bonsai is in the nebari and lower trunk to the first branch.

I am just being observant. I notice trees that have similar features in one place and the same features on other trees in another place. However, the prices are different. Therefore, I logically assume that the trees with the higher prices could only be priced fair or possibly overpriced.