<< I also run then the final mesh again through ZRemesher and could reduce the
poly count more, while also subdividing after that and got a fantastic result, with
the flow of the quad polygons.

When you say final mesh - it's the final OBJ mesh from Moi or other mesh ?


<< In this learning journey, the apprentice edition is the way to go (and yes you can export .obj without any restriction as far as I know).
It's the most addictive software I ever used (it's more like a game than anything else for me :))
I will say an adventure game! :)
I love run a program without read the manual!
I will dowload it (surely a madness folly - I can't resist to the word "addictive" )
and see if I arrive to make a cube that I can't made when dowloaded the first time Blender! =:D