LGS or Online Orders?

Note: This is going to be a Rant post!

OK so in South Africa we don't have a great demand for metal miniatures which means we don't have franchise stores situated around the country like the 1st worlders.

The problem with this is that we then have to rely on LGS to get us our miniatures, Previously I had no problem with this as I was helping to keep the LGS open and therefore create a presence where people could get into the hobby. But why order something that when ordered through a store takes 6weeks+ to arrive but if I order it online it would arrive in 2?

Why this all started is our LGS will be holding a 500pts steamroller this weekend and my order would have given me not only my 500pts but also a second list. One shooty the other combat, you know how it goes. But now I will only have my 2 Lancers, Ironclad and Charger with Coleman and his JNR.

I spoke to one of the gamers in Cape Town last week and he referred me to a site that if I could get models through would not only save me time but also money. The prices they can sell the models at are so much cheaper because of no import fees and added postage. So I have gone and applied for a credit card and will be receiving it next week some time.

If I receive my mail-order models before I receive my LGS order then I will be very impressed.

I do not want to do it this way but if I was just kept up to date on where models were and when they are expected to get here, instead of a "Wait" or a "They'll get here when they get here" response every time I ask. I think I could have held out a bit longer.