I like les paul guitars and I would possibly like to purchase one of the new production run tokai les paul copies that are made in Korea. Unfortunently, I cannot find tokai guitars in my city (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).

I am very hesitant to purchase a guitar off the internet, as I would like to see the guitar first before making a decision. From the reviews, books, and the beautiful pictures I have seen of tokai guitars, I would really like to purchase one.
Why is it so hard to find authorized dealers for Tokai in North America? Are they afraid of Gibson suing them?