Buying Gundam Kits

[rickshaw]

I'm curious about something. Why don't you order more from U.S. dealers ? I see you European modelers often buy kits from Japan but rarely from U.S. companies and it just seems odd to me. BTW, I can highly recommend buying sci/fi kits from Spaceship Modeler or Starship Modeler. I can never remember ... !!!   Anyway. This is an outstanding website and if the young one is into the sci/fi genera this is the place to go from info ,etc. as well as kits.  I might have a kit or two in my stash HMU if you want to do some trading.

Dunno about the Europeans but us Aussies find postage costs from the US are simply ruinous.  For the same size kit, we invariably seem to pay four times as much postage to get it from the US as we do from say, the UK.  This seems bizarre as there is just as much commercial traffic by sea and air in either direction but US Postal Service simple charges far more.  UK Post now it's privatised (and who's smart idea was that one, I wonder?    ) looks like it may well start trying to catch up.   

[jcf]

There was a standardization of rates at USPS in which it was decided that all international packages were to become Flat-Rate
Priority Mail, or rather, that they were going to market it, and even pricier Expre$$ $ervices, as the only choices and what
would be used in the online calculators and online postage purchasing options.
They aren't the only options, First Class International is still available at the counter of a physical Post Office and
businesses can use 'bag' or 'sack-rates', a Full-Service ISAL sack is $7.48 per lb., drop-ship is $5.60 per lb., to Oz.
Does it mean more work for the vendor, say Squadron, to group all packages for a given country together?, yeah but
that's what HLJ do. The options are there to give folks better shipping rates, but the will to do the work is lacking, 'tis
much easier to order pre-paid flat-rate boxes and tell overseas customers 'our hands are tied, it's the only option available'. 

USPS IMM 293 on ISAL
http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc2_040.htm

[zenrat]

I've bought 1/144 Gundams for as little as $AU3 each from HLJ.  Yes they were older kits without poly caps but that's still a bargain and makes for a great source of parts for kitbashing.
Another reason to use HLJ is their "private warehouse" scheme where you can delay them posting your stuff for up to 60 days while you wait for out of stock kits to come in or for a delivery window when your wife will be away...
USPS have ensured that I only buy from the US if it's a kit I definately can't get here.  Strangely though the Canadian Post ofice still manages to send things to Australia at an affordable rate.  OK, so it's on a boat and takes forever but if it's only a plastic kit I can wait.

[Father Ennis]

Very interesting.  I had never thought that it would cost so much more.  Learn something new everyday ... 

[zenrat]

Strangely*, postage from Hawaii to 'straya via USPS costs the same as postage from mainland USofA despite the goods already being half way here.
When there in 2012 it would have been cheaper to have brought the kits I purchased back as excess baggage then post them.

*Not strange at all actually.  I work for 'straya Post and know exactly how these people think.