... but good to know the technique on basically how to get a G8 character to accept at G9 hair item. Was wondering why that simple suggestion wasn't a made more obvious.

Just might take a stab at some G9 hair now, it's sale that is.  Still can't do dForce hair w/o going through Blender or ZBrush. Have the software; it's a wetware issue, i.e. haven't learned them. On the list, but time keeps on keepin' on.

I suspect the file size ballooning is an issue of morphs. That's why I do separate FBX exports. I'll know more when I get some G9 hair.