Wow - I'm not sure whether I wish that I had joined this forum and read this thread a couple of months ago or not!
I buy my Hot Toys stuff from a variety of sources. I tend to buy exclusives from Sideshow directly by pre-order. My luck seems to be that they all tend up being released quite close together so I'll suddenly find myself with a big bill followed shortly by demands from Fed Ex for a load of money too!
For non-exclusives, I essentially chance my luck on eBay, see what I can pick up on holiday or see what the various branches of Forbidden Planet have on offer.
As you might guess, with the exception of a few lucky low winning bids on eBay, my wallet isn't exactly thanking me for the beatings I give it! With that in mind, I started looking at UK sites and came across OSB. I liked their philosophy, found a few good reviews online and was surprised to see how low their prices were compared to what I have been paying.
I signed up and have a few pre-orders that I'm waiting for - Gamorra, Starboost and the Hot Toys Vader. Reading the first few posts of this thread, I have to say that I was a bit alarmed! I wasn't aware that they were a grey importer although it doesn't bother me that they are. I have now read through all of this thread and seen the various opinions of fellow forum members.
Given that I have not had an order fulfilled yet, I am not in a position to judge. As a similar sentiment has been mentioned already, these items are my hobby and I do not rely on them to survive. True, I think I work hard for the money that I earn and would not want it to go to waste but in many ways, I count myself lucky that I have this spare income after the bills are paid to indulge (I'm pretty sure the other half would prefer I spent it on other "more worthwhile" things!). For me, I'm in no hurry ( I have a boat load of stuff that I have yet to open!) so I'll wait and hope OSB get through this difficult period and back to the service praised by so many previously.