I would've just bought a smaller one at a good independent nursery somewhere.

I'd have to second that. Not all Japanese maples are created equal. The growing popularity of these trees has created a mass market that spurs less than scrupulous growers into churing out the more common varieties at a rapid clip. These trees often have inferior grafts, awkward crotch angles and other, sometimes less obvious defects that typically result in less than wonderful mature trees. These are often what would be considered culls by the better growers and never make it to market.

OTOH, many of the independent nurseries have buyers that visit the better growers (many located in Oregon) and hand-pick their selections. Obviously the cost for these trees may exceed those found at the discounters for several reasons, not the least of which is this personal selection. I guess it comes down to what you are willing to pay for - a cut-rate maple just to "have" a Japanese maple or a tree that that will develop into a truly magnificent specimen.

This reminds me of a current thread on the Trees forum, where the poster is describing a JM that has an obvious graft problem that he recently purchased at a very "reasonable" cost.

I have always shopped at local nursuries, but they are going out of business (I suspect due to high cost of land/rent) and you have to driver further and further to find them. Evergreen nursury was one of my old favorites - is now a used car dealership. Wileywood is gone now too, not even sure what they are doing in that location. I have spent quite a sum of money at nurseries for my backyard remodel this spring - driving 15 or more miles to get there. I mostly do it for the selection since I want plants that are not necessarily the most common. This tree was a beautiful tree and I guess we will see if matures to be something ugly.

I can think of a good number of quality retail nurseries within a reasonable driving distance from Everett - remember that in-city nurseries are becoming rather unique as they are difficult to locate in any size to compete with box stores and other discounters and urban real estate values are rather impressive. But most suburban nurseries tend to have enough land to support a diverse selection of plants as well as the sales volume necessary to keep them in business.

You will always find a wider selection and better quality plants (not to mention a sales staff that often knows something about them) at an independent retail nursery than you will at any box store or discounter where plants or nursery deparments are an afterthought rather than a reason for being. And if you fail to support independent nurseries, soon all that will be left will be the common, inferior stuff of the Walmart's of this world.