Unfortunately the first-generation cats won't get much cheaper because of one genetic disadvantage of the cross-breeding--all the males are born sterile. Or at least the vast majority are. The females can bear young, and that's why I called the type I want a "first-generation" Savannah--that's when a domestic cat is bred directly with a serval. "Second generation" is when a female Savannah breeds with another domestic male, so the kittens are born with fewer of the serval traits. They're quite a bit smaller, for one thing, but they're also much cheaper since you can make so many kittens from a Savannah female. I'd imagine many of the other traits I described earlier aren't there in the later-generation Savannahs such as the dog-like behavior or extreme agility and jumping ability, but I'm not sure.
Many of the distant-generation kittens from a serval still have the distinctive spots and are comparatively cheap--around $100 to $500--although they're usually about the size of a domestic cat, i.e. 10 to 20 pounds. That wild, spotted look is often what people like about them though, so distant-generation Savannahs are fairly sought after.
Thanks for the info.
I'm in that group - not too bothered about F1, as long as there's the serval-like spot pattern. The blue-coated breed looks very cool.