I'm in the international boat where I'd much rather this be $30-$40 cheaper and have everyone pay for shipping over getting hit with a higher cost statue and having to also pay more on customs because of it, PLUS more on shipping. There's really zero reason why they needed to slap on the free shipping when it came to this piece -- especially because it's likely still there, just hidden in the higher cost of the LSB. It's all marketing because people like free things, even if it's not really free at all.
And with a small ES, and a great looking product, it's not like this was needed to get the item out the door. In the end, it'll likely just be the U.S. customers paying for the statue what they would've been paying anyway if shipping wasn't free, and international customers getting nailed even harder for having to pay for shipping on top of the extra fees to make up for the "free shipping."