I once shipped about 60 pounds of hardback EC comics from the US to the UK. It cost about $35 and they took 5 months to arrive. They were in a canvas mailbag all of their own with one of those strait jacket buckles at the top and these giant tags with loads of cargo stamps and initials. By the time it arrived I'd totally forgot I'd bought them. They're now on my shelf (with a few in a box) here in San Francisco, having been slow boat shipped all the way back when I moved here!