Ryan Neil's Bonsai Mirai

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misfit11

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This video promoting Ryan Neil's nursery in Oregon was posted over at the IBC. I thought the video was good for what its worth. There was some controversy over there about Randy Knight claiming that he was "the best collector in the nation", but nonetheless, a cool promotional video.

I think what Ryan is doing for bonsai in the U.S. is phenomenal and love his enthusiasm for spreading his knowledge of all things bonsai. He did a demo for REBS back in September and he'll be back again next month. Yeah!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifn73Abzi3k
 

rockm

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I saw the controversy over on IBC. I thought it was funny that some of the people complaining about it probably thought THEY were the bestest collectors on the planet. Some of the folks from other countries qualified the "best' with "best temperate zone" collectors:rolleyes:

Whatever. Let's hope North American material continues to fuel such jealousy.:)
 

Alex DeRuiter

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Yes, I thought it was almost a bit arrogant to claim oneself as being the best of anything...but I understand that for some this displays confidence more than arrogance.

For the record, I'm the best collector in Michigan.
 

dick benbow

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Thought the video was nicely done. there's a lot balancing on this young man's shoulders for the future of bonsai in America. But couldn't think of a better person to trust with it. I think what is being done here in the Pacific NW with several who have studied in japan and relocated close together, will be something special as a center of learning among the participants.
 

rockm

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I didn't think it was arrogant. I thought it was startling and meant to be so. The guy's material tends to back his statement...
 

Alex DeRuiter

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I don't think it was his intention to sound that way at all. You're right, too. His material absolutely supports his claim. I was just speaking in regards to the controversy the statement caused. I don't think people take the time to understand the context of statements sometimes.
 

rockm

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I think it caused controversy only among those who assume the status quo on high-end collected material, i.e. Europe;) That's not a bad thing...
 

Alex DeRuiter

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I would imagine that the Rocky Mountains can yield some pretty rad material...let's hope the same goes for the rocky areas in Michigan...for my sake, at least. :D
 

Ang3lfir3

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I didn't think it was arrogant. I thought it was startling and meant to be so. The guy's material tends to back his statement...

Best? as in most skilled? .... hmmm def not the case... most skilled at locating great material.... doubt it .....
most prolific and most frequently harvesting anything that even remotely looks like it could one day be put it a pot..... yup...
best at Pillaging the collecting areas that people have been collecting from for years.... yup ...


he's only been collecting material less than a decade ... I can name at least a handful of people who have been individually collecting from the Rock Mountains longer than him... some have been collecting trees probably longer than he has been alive.... these same people are the ones who invented the techniques used today by yamadori collectors around the world ....

I also believe this same video was posted in another thread here....
 

cmeg1

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Did I hear him say 6000 trees?I would never say I am the best there is at anything like that.He should of said the number of tree experiance he has.I would see though at how that monster Ponderosa would make him.That is a serious discipline though.
 

cmeg1

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Oh ,he said he is growing 6000 trees,I thought he said he collected 6000 trees.Still a pretty serious discipline though.
 

edprocoat

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Well I don't anything about his claim of being the best at all, I do know for certain that I am a legend in my own mind. Although, I have not collected anything in nature though... :)

ed
 

misfit11

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I also believe this same video was posted in another thread here....

The video was posted on YouTube on February 17th so unless someone posted on here in the last ten days... I don't remember seeing it, but I may be wrong. It has happened before.
 

buddhamonk

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The video was posted on YouTube on February 17th so unless someone posted on here in the last ten days... I don't remember seeing it, but I may be wrong. It has happened before.

That's why when I posted this link last week I searched first. But anyway it's obviously an advertising video. If I were to make a video selling anything I sure would say I'm the best in the Universe at it. Lighten up people!
 

JasonG

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Best? as in most skilled? .... hmmm def not the case... most skilled at locating great material.... doubt it .....
most prolific and most frequently harvesting anything that even remotely looks like it could one day be put it a pot..... yup...
best at Pillaging the collecting areas that people have been collecting from for years.... yup ...


he's only been collecting material less than a decade ... I can name at least a handful of people who have been individually collecting from the Rock Mountains longer than him... some have been collecting trees probably longer than he has been alive.... these same people are the ones who invented the techniques used today by yamadori collectors around the world ....

I also believe this same video was posted in another thread here....

You need to come down here and see what he has, what he collects and that he does it alone. Then you will retract everything that you just posted, I promise you. I will also bet that he collects in 1 year what all the people you can think of collect in 5 years combined!!! The only thing you typed that held some merit is that he is the best at collecting where others have. So, that doesn't look good for all the other collectors, 1) they don't have the eye, 2) they don't have the skills to get it out 3) they have no clue what they are looking at. I go with a combo of all 3. I personally have seen Randy with over 300 lbs of trees on his back go for 5+ miles through the trees to get to the truck. And he does this several times a day when he collects. What he does is not duplicated, period, not by Larry, not by Dan, not by anyone in America.

Ryan claims him to be the best there is period. Why do you think that? Probably becuase Ryan has worked on the best collected material in the world, has seen every garden in Japan, Europe and America. Add to that when Randy travels to Europe and Japan on bonsai business he is treated like a rockstar and the red carpet is rolled out, why? Because THe main bonsai players in Europe, Japan and America have recognized him as the best.

Just because someone has done something longer than another person by no means makes them better at it. Not even close. That goes for all walks of life, not just collecting trees. I have seen many collectors yards, seen what they have sold in the past and while they all collect some nices tree, the consistent quality, sheer #'s and health isn't there.

If you ever make it down I assure you and the others that you won't see anything like this anywhere else in America atleast. Between Ryan and Randy new things are happening and the bar has been raised very very high.
 

rockm

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"Ryan claims him to be the best there is period. Why do you think that?"

Weeeellll, maybe because they're kind of in business together? Or am I way off?

Good to see some egos flaring on this. Might produce more decent collected stuff, now if we could only get y'all to battle over who has the most reasonable prices for what they do...:)
 

Bill S

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Thanks rockm, all most of the above does is to raise the price of a $400 stump to $600, that we don't need.
 

buddhamonk

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"Ryan claims him to be the best there is period. Why do you think that?"

Weeeellll, maybe because they're kind of in business together? Or am I way off?

Good to see some egos flaring on this. Might produce more decent collected stuff, now if we could only get y'all to battle over who has the most reasonable prices for what they do...:)

Funny you should say that because Randy has the most reasonable prices I have seen throughout Oregon, washington, california, the web, and tokyo! Unfortunately those are the only places i have the chance to visit but maybe you know some better places. One thing is that ryan probably marks up the prices but oregonbonsai is still the best!
 

JasonG

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"Ryan claims him to be the best there is period. Why do you think that?"

Weeeellll, maybe because they're kind of in business together? Or am I way off?

Good to see some egos flaring on this. Might produce more decent collected stuff, now if we could only get y'all to battle over who has the most reasonable prices for what they do...:)

No ego here Rock......just telling the truth and hate it when people spew stuff that they dont know about and have never seen for themselves. It gets old.
Ryan isnt the only one who.knows Randys abilities and publicy states it. Many serious collectors. European and Japanese bonsai folks share the same feelings.

Quality anything cost money just the way it is. You could save mo.wy and by lesser quaility of anything but at the end of the day its juts crap. By a pinto or BMW quality costs and trees shouldnt be any different.
 

Alex DeRuiter

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That's why when I posted this link last week I searched first. But anyway it's obviously an advertising video. If I were to make a video selling anything I sure would say I'm the best in the Universe at it. Lighten up people!
That's what I was thinking. I would imagine that Ryan said he was the best in the world because he's trying to market his nursery.
 
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