Canadian collectors, how has the exchange rate effected collecting.

So i have been gone for a almost four years, not collecting and sold most of my collection. i wanted to start again and buy back a a couple of my grail pieces i mistakenly sold. With the Canada U.S. exchange rate so horrible it's become an even more expensive hobby. Average piece these days are $500-700 U.S.. The $700 u.s. is just shy of $1000 Canadian at the moment.

How has this effected your collecting in the last couple years?

Its made it a lot more expensive, and now its not only the exchange rate, but the new 6.5% import charge to. I used to buy about 8-10 statues a year when the dollar was on par, now I get around 5 or 6, and I've had to sell some of my art collection just to afford those. At the end of the day though I still can't complain, i'm just happy I can afford to be part of this hobby at all, I just have to be more selective.

Made me look for Cdn sources, which means losing out on exclusive heads buying direct from Sideshow and not having the payment plan available. So if I want those things, I pay a lot more. The duty also sucks donkey balls. I used to go to more conventions, stopped when I had a family. Now I think I might just because I hope to buy more in person, save on shipping/duty/etc even if the exchange is poor.

I've essentially stopped, I try and source locally but they still factor the exchange also so not much of a savings to be had

I'll wait it out and what I want later, most of this will be available and possibly cheaper

The only thing I bought all last year was the Deadpool 1/6th hot toys and the mousers from mondo's ninja turtle line. The exchange rate has greatly affected my collecting. This year the only items I have coming are the sideshow Ninja Turtle statues. Those 4 statues will end up costing me over $2000 Canadian. But when I cancelled my exclusives of the original comoquettes and they ended up becoming grails, I told myself if sideshow ever did another set I'm getting them no matter what.

I'm debating ordering the Deadpool premium format but I have some RP saved up to take the sting away. Either way, unless things change, I won't be buying much if anything in the next couple years.