As far as I know you need a European friend to help you with DS. I'm sure there are some willing souls on this very site.
As for non current sets, there are several ways:
a) Craigslist. Chancy. There used to be a program called Craigspal that let you save searches and other helpful stuff. Not sure if there's a good alternative.
b) Google deeply with your set number; there are a number of independent toy stores that have sets from years ago, sometimes at discount. I scored my Roman galley from a Canadian store!
c) Ebay. The devil, but a) and b) are just too unreliable. Put in a bunch of saved searches and sit back to watch the hits roll in.
The sad thing is that Roman and Egyptian are still hotly desired themes and some of the key sets are really rare and expensive. Expect to pay $90 for a 4273 for example.
Or wait till I go flat broke and have to sell my collection!
