So with postage around US $3000 - about UK £2000

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252187742580

Worth the cost?

Way out of my league but would love to be spinning my discs on one of them.

That's a good price but I wouldn't trust the slow shipping. Figure another $500 for faster shipping option.

I paid 1750 $ for mine but it also included 5 MUSE discs si
it was a good price. It didnt include a MUSE decoder.

Postage via FedEx was an extra 420 $. And I also had to pay
a customs fee but I told them I got it for a fraction of the actual
price I paid and they eventually believed me.

Finding one is very difficult and I think so many things can go wrong
during the shipping process and with your local customs office that
I would hesitate buying one from overseas again.

It is very heavy, 36kg if I recall correctly. Shipping will be expensive because of that. I'd go for express shipping to be on the safe side. Good tracking, and I guess less stops which could mean less drops. If the seller knows what he is doing with the packing, I wouldn't worry.

This player supposedly produces the best picture. Because of the brutal weight, it is very stable and doesn't introduce unwanted noise and such. There are a couple of catches, though. The comb filter isn't the latest generation, and it is single side play only.

I did consider this player my self, but since I'm a lazy guy, I opted for the X9 instead. Since I have a modern TV, the comb filter also helps a lot. The X9 have a newer generation filter.

I think hi-end laserdisc players have been steadily dropping in price in recent years as more Japanese sellers have made these available to easily buy on places like Ebay. Gone are the days of one person claiming to be the only reliable source for buying these from Japan. We all know they all come from Yahoo auctions so why bother paying a middle man when you can buy one yourself at a fraction of the price that was being charged in the past.

Interestingly the opposite appears to be happening at the other end of the laserdisc spectrum with machines like CLD-D925 and DVL-909/919 now selling on average for much higher prices than they did say 10 years ago. I think this is because these machines are generally affordable by all laserdisc collectors where as not so many are prepared to drop a £1000 or £2000 for a high end player even if they would love one. Also it would generally be uneconomic to import and ship a cheaper machine from Japan given the hassle when it can be purchased locally.
For lower end machines it's all about supply and demand. There is more demand than supply locally for cheaper players so prices are definitely on the rise. I bought a lot of cheaper laserdisc players a good few years ago so its good to see my investment rising for a change!