High end literally refers to any polyp that someone slaps an above average price tag on.
I won't put the Bowser on the list because they have flooded the market lately. Seems like everyone is selling the real deal bowser with lineage back to this guy or that guy. It's funny because 1.5-2 years ago no one had any. They weren't popping up for sale very often. IMO there was a void and it was filled, whether or not it was with the original Bowser is hard to tell.
Guess you beat me to it again. But it doesn't necessarily have to be $200+ imo to be considered high end. I think that's the flaw in a lot of collector's thinking. Everything that's high end needs to be $250-$300 when it first gets a name and a pretty photo. Oddly enough almost every "new and hip" zoa needs to be on the $300 side to be considered high end now.
The Red Devil PEs are also a good example. When first released they went for $300 iirc but then colonies of similar looking PEs from Hawaii started to come in more regularly. The price dropped dramatically due to availability.
I still consider a few less expensive morphs as high end. I'd group them in three areas.
$10-$20pp Zoas - The ones everyone can afford. Price is due to availability and crazy fast growth rate.
These ones are like BamBams, Sunny Ds, Rastas, Red Hornets, etc. The Red Hornets are a great example of how the $150pp price dropped down to around $10pp since they'e a fast grower.
$20-$70 Zoas - A little more pricey and you have to think if you can fit it with your weekly budget. Usually people in this area have started to dabble in zoas already. $40 to spend on one polyp of anything is still a good amount of money to spend. Although the money spent in this area for one polyp of zoa could also buy you a great steak, it's not as extreme as the 3rd category.
Utter Chaos, Vampires, My Clementines, Rainbows, Agaves etc. I'm grouping Blooshots in here because I've seen them for around $50-$70.
$70+ Zoas - The reason why I start with $70 is because $70 for one polyp could also mean someone's full day of pay. The zoas in this price range are no longer affordable (vs. $10pp zoas) and are bought as trophy pieces. These are for the hardcore collectors who gain satisfaction with the status of their collection. For the average hobbyist you'd have to 2x take and think if you really want something like this. These are the ones that make people that aren't as into collecting go "YOU PAID HOW MUCH?!"
Hallucinations, Shazaams, Stratospheres.
I'm going to group Bowsers in here as well. While CAR colonies have been coming in more often I don't see the Spectrum Overdoses (the new strain that some people call Bowsers) for sale enough to consider them "flooded." And from what I'm aware of there was only one shipment of the "Bowsers." I've seen ASD pick up Stratospheres 3 times now on separate colonies. The reason why they're still $200+ is because only one place is keeping them that way. All the new ones coming in again are just CARs. I'm sure it's easier to find more people that own Shazaams than the Spectrums. And I group Bowsers in here because I only know one guy with the real Bowsers. I don't consider DC Bowsers as Bowsers for obvious reasons. If it doesn't look like this, then don't buy it. But that's for another thread.
Gg, why do I always write so much?
