Yea they are not cheap. That's why I bough young plants. Much cheaper, but I had to wait much longer to see the flowers.
I know sometimes normal shops have them. The hybrids anyway. They are still more expensive than Phals though.
On the plus side is that they are much easier to propagate than Phals (those need to grow a keiki). You can just split it into two when the plant is big enough and have two plants. And harder to kill :p
The sap is not biggie :) It comes and goes. I don't find it annoying at all and it doesn't do any harm around either.
Now I go look at your post.
See ya Brad :)