Tabushi.....since you have to buy anything with a HEAVY shipping fee anyway, I think any car will be fine......personally, 710 will be your TOP choice except god knows when are they going to release any update or upgrade kits....but again, I would get Serpent.
Then, R40....yes, buy it from HK, it is $330 and they quoted me from shipping from HK to USA was $50...so $380, NOT the best price for any RC car, but comparing to the others, I don't see you can buy any TOP RANKED RC cars for anything less then $350.
Then Kyosho.....basicly, I don't see where else you can have enough parts for those cars beside ASIA....Tower does have the most Kyosho parts, but they do cost like your ARMS and LEGS.
I am still running my NTC3...cheap, fast, easy to fix and clean stuff, you can always get parts from Tower and ship international, why not...?