Thank you very much Valkrist and Buckeye.
Valkrist wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 6:20 am
Hola, amigo!
Welcome aboard, I hope you enjoy being here and hanging out with the rest of us. I can only imagine what it must cost to get non-essential goods like movie collectibles to a remote place like the Canary Islands. Nothing says "serious collector" more than being in those kind of circumstances and still having a collection as large yours is.
Yes, it is difficult and more expensive. If it weren't for online shopping I would only have literally 4 swords (Anduril, LOTR Sting, Glamdring and Morgul Blade).
I started collecting because the stars aligned and for a strange reason, a shopping center here they brought those 4 swords (one unit of each). I bought them all one by one and then I asked and waited for months to see if they brought any more, but they never brought a single sword again, so I started shopping online.
Most of the online sword stores in my own country do not send to the Canary Islands, luckily I have found 3 stores that do send and there I have bought everything else.
The problem is that we have different taxes here than the rest of the country and unfortunately the online stores do not usually manage it well. Two of the three stores where I can buy charge me me the 21% IVA tax which the canaries should be exempt, and upon arrival the package, the customs also charges the taxes form here (8% + administration fees). So we pay double tax and at the end, everything is much more expensive... and depending on the messaging, if the package is very large (as happened with Milkwood polearm), the messenger charges additional procedures in addition to the tax... And in addition to the time it takes for orders to arrive.
But nonetheless, worth it. I love to see my collection. It's like having a little piece of Middle Earth at home.