LOL Jerry, YES they are extremely expensive for a banana. Are they worth it?? I am not certain. They are finicky at best.
Ae Ae requires an acid soil to remain variegated (like a lot of variegated plants). The reason they are rare is that for each mature plant that produces pups, at times only 1 in 4 or 2 in 4 pups will have good variegation. I understand they cannot be tissue cultured. And, they are prone to rot.
As I said, mine is about 3 years old and has never even shown a sign of producing a pup. I have given it Miracle Grow (you laff, I know, but MG works for me for a lot of things)...10-60-10 water soluble, cow manure, Super Phos top dressing, and Jobe's Time Release Fruit Tree Spikes. No pups.
The friend who gave me this plant as a gift lost his tree in Hurricane Rita, and I had wished I could give him a pup back to replace his loss, but no pups.
For whatever reason, there are almost NO plants available this year, so I really hope I don't lose mine this winter. One of the reasons I decided to move it out of the greenhouse was that I hoped the stress would make it pup.