Another Mirai Tree Sale in a few days

[Sansokuu]

maybe Ryan is the only one with the contacts to purchase such material as raw stock? if the raw stock is still out of your price range that kinda sucks, but there is still the option of going yamadori hunting....

Ryan Neil lives in the PNW. We have doug firs popping up in our yards like weeds. Want maple seedlings? Ask a neighbor with a mature japanese maple, every spring their yard is carpetted in hundreds of them. That said, it is very much legal to collect yamadori around here. In allowed areas with a permit but easy peas. Collecting it properly is another can of worms. It is always pins and needles in the spring to see if a collected tree is putting out new growth. But if you know what you are doing, we have very gorgeous material here in the PNW.

Almost criminal to upcharge free material to that extent but well if you have the money all the more power to you.

 

[rockm]

Is there a link @rockm ? Do you have a pic of the CBS?

There is no link to pre-view the trees so far. As I remember there wasn't last year either.

And yes, to all the useless bitching about prices, the trees will probably be expensive. Also they will likely go VERY quickly. As much as folks complain, it is what it is. There are some VERY good and excellent trees as well as some eh, kinda good ones, as well (also high priced).

 

[rockm]

The really rough part is that buyers can’t ever resell the pot for what they purchased it at. Lot of crickets when folks post Horst pots on Bonsai Auctions.

Uh, this is true of most every bonsai pot I've ever bought and sold. If you expect to get your retail value out of any pot, you're nutz. Won't happen mostly.

 

[Shogun610]

There is no link to pre-view the trees so far. As I remember there wasn't last year either.

And yes, to all the useless bitching about prices, the trees will probably be expensive. Also they will likely go VERY quickly. As much as folks complain, it is what it is. There are some VERY good and excellent trees as well as some eh, kinda good ones, as well (also high priced).

“Bitching” while voicing an opinion, stop bitching about people bitching

 

[rockm]

“Bitching” while voicing an opinion, stop bitching about people bitching

Just sayin. erry time a Mirai sale comes up, it's the same old thing--"Too spendy; where's he get off?; I can't sell stuff for those prices; he must be wildly rich; the people who buy his stuff are crazy or stupid," etc.

While it's fun to throw stones, it won't change much. Buy or not, it's also fun to see what he posts for sale.

 

[BobbyLane]

No, Ryan is not the only one with the contacts. Anyone can purchase trees from Randy Knight, Todd Schlafer, Backcountry Boys and others. Although I think Ryan (and Bjorn) picks over the best material….as it should be! I’m glad that the most advanced material is under the care of the most advanced practitioner(s).

Thats what I thought, I rarely see anyone on here buying material from those guys. But folks get the hump when Ryan does, adds his brand to it and charges a premium. He found a niche and is exploiting it, its just good business really.

 

[Maiden69]

Just sayin. erry time a Mirai sale comes up, it's the same old thing--"Too spendy; where's he get off?; I can't sell stuff for those prices; he must be wildly rich; the people who buy his stuff are crazy or stupid," etc.

While it's fun to throw stones, it won't change much. Buy or not, it's also fun to see what he posts for sale.

In last years thread I posted similar trees being sold by other bonsai nurseries. Wigerts, Bonsai Outlet, etc... and the trees from Mirai looked better and were at comparable prices, and in some cases even cheaper.

 

[Kanorin]

On the plus side, many of the trees for sale were styled and/or repotted on stream. It's kind of a unique thing to purchase a tree and have documentation of what the roots and branches looked like X years ago, have documentation of when it was last repotted, have a 2 hour commentary on the pros and cons of the tree from a professional. I can see the draw.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

On the plus side, many of the trees for sale were styled and/or repotted on stream. It's kind of a unique thing to purchase a tree and have documentation of what the roots and branches looked like X years ago, have documentation of when it was last repotted, have a 2 hour commentary on the pros and cons of the tree from a professional. I can see the draw.

Well, for x-amount per month members of course! And only if you have a credit card ;-)

All the best to Mirai. I like what they do. Except for the fact that paypal isn't accepted as a membership payment thing.

 

[BobbyLane]

Ryan Neil lives in the PNW. We have doug firs popping up in our yards like weeds. Want maple seedlings? Ask a neighbor with a mature japanese maple, every spring their yard is carpetted in hundreds of them. That said, it is very much legal to collect yamadori around here. In allowed areas with a permit but easy peas. Collecting it properly is another can of worms. It is always pins and needles in the spring to see if a collected tree is putting out new growth. But if you know what you are doing, we have very gorgeous material here in the PNW.

Almost criminal to upcharge free material to that extent but well if you have the money all the more power to you.

yeh i see him picking up pretty cool stuff from nurseries too and buying field grown material. I think in one of the streams they mentioned that Oregon was one of the best states for nursery stock, with an abundance of wholesale nurseries. he isnt the only one in the PNW but maybe he's the only one tapping into whats available.

 

[Paradox]

Just sayin. erry time a Mirai sale comes up, it's the same old thing--"Too spendy; where's he get off?; I can't sell stuff for those prices; he must be wildly rich; the people who buy his stuff are crazy or stupid," etc.

While it's fun to throw stones, it won't change much. Buy or not, it's also fun to see what he posts for sale.

I never stated the trees were too expensive or not worth the prices asked, just that it's probably above what I can (or be willing to) pay for a tree at this point in my life.

 

[rockm]

I never stated the trees were too expensive or not worth the prices asked, just that it's probably above what I can pay for a tree.

I never said it was you.

 

[Dogestoevsky]

Considering the labor that goes into bonsai, the price tags are incredibly cheap compared to the art market. A $3k painting might reflect only three weeks of an artist’s work; but parting with a decades-long (living!) project is hard for us to wrap our heads around. Of course, the buyer pool in bonsai is mostly restricted to the people who believe they can keep the tree alive. In the end I suppose the market tells us what is fair. With Mirai’s conversion rate, it seems they could afford to push the numbers up.

 

[badatusernames]

No, Ryan is not the only one with the contacts. Anyone can purchase trees from Randy Knight, Todd Schlafer, Backcountry Boys and others. Although I think Ryan (and Bjorn) picks over the best material….as it should be! I’m glad that the most advanced material is under the care of the most advanced practitioner(s).

It'd be great if there were a resource that collects links to folks like these, I know I'd be interested!

 

[Sansokuu]

he isnt the only one in the PNW but maybe he's the only one tapping into whats available.

More like he’s the only one with presence and following. There are a lot of bonsai practitioners out here taking advantage of the stock we have here. Matt Reel comes to mind, he studied under Shinji Suzuki for years like Michael Hagedorn did, and his trees and technique are gorgeous and incredible. He doesn’t have a staff or former spouse to have built up the well oiled machine that Mirai is but his skill is easily up there with Ryan Neil.

 

[Forrestford]

I think it’s amazing how every year he sells off so many high quality finished trees. He’s probably the only one in the states doing that.
It’s always fun to look, maybe I’ll pull the trigger this year.
wife: “you spent how much?! On what?!?”

 

[BobbyLane]

I think it’s amazing how every year he sells off so many high quality finished trees. He’s probably the only one in the states doing that.
It’s always fun to look, maybe I’ll pull the trigger this year.
wife: “you spent how much?! On what?!?”

Many of them have been trained by him for less than 5 years. many arent finished trees.

 

[BobbyLane]

More like he’s the only one with presence and following. There are a lot of bonsai practitioners out here taking advantage of the stock we have here. Matt Reel comes to mind, he studied under Shinji Suzuki for years like Michael Hagedorn did, and his trees and technique are gorgeous and incredible. He doesn’t have a staff or former spouse to have built up the well oiled machine that Mirai is but his skill is easily up there with Ryan Neil.

any photos? its always a pleasure to see good trees.

 

[andrewiles]

I agree with the comments on yamadori. I'd wager anyone in the PNW with a vehicle that can handle forest service roads, good physical condition for some hiking and the time/means to work through the tricks of collection can acquire material that would sell online for over a thousand dollars after a few years of care. I'm a bit surprised there aren't more high-end collectors out there.

 

[Sansokuu]

I'm a bit surprised there aren't more high-end collectors out there.

I’m sure there are. They just don’t want people to know.