US Transport Security Agency/Travelling with LEGO

[JSN]

I have just been to America on business and took the oportunity to make a few purchases at the LEGO stores there and through BrickLink and thought nothing of it. As LEGO takes a lot of space when boxed I broke all the sets down. When I got home I started building a couple of sets and to my surprise found a card mixed in with the pile of instructions saying my luggage had been searched by the TSA! The agents face must have been a picture since the bag they searched contained only a few items of dirty clothes and about 20kg of LEGO! Just a funny story I wanted to share with you guys, has anyone else experienced this with airport security?

[rollermonkey]

TSA searches thousands of bags daily. Having traveled extensively, I've got a stack of those cards.

[AwesomeBantha]

I have just been to America on business and took the oportunity to make a few purchases at the LEGO stores there and through BrickLink and thought nothing of it. As LEGO takes a lot of space when boxed I broke all the sets down. When I got home I started building a couple of sets and to my surprise found a card mixed in with the pile of instructions saying my luggage had been searched by the TSA! The agents face must have been a picture since the bag they searched contained only a few items of dirty clothes and about 20kg of LEGO! Just a funny story I wanted to share with you guys, has anyone else experienced this with airport security?

Yeah, that happens all of the time in the US of A. My worst nightmare is I pack a MISB UCS Falcon, worth $3500+, and it gets opened and damaged by the Feds! :cry_sad:

[Lego Otaku]

Dang makes it very hard to ship MISB 10179 anywhere across borders. Might be time to invest in hiking boots and a big back pack to hold the set then start walking to hand deliver it, avoiding all kinds of security who may destroy the box to check for illegal or dangerous stuff.

[legoman19892]

I have always wondered if people who carry PaB cups on carry ons get searched...

[MaineBrickFan]

I frequently carry PAB cups inboard flights from trips to NYC, and while all bags are x-rayed it has never prompted a response or additional search. My guess is they are used to seeing a lot stranger things than that...

[legoman19892]

I frequently carry PAB cups inboard flights from trips to NYC, and while all bags are x-rayed it has never prompted a response or additional search. My guess is they are used to seeing a lot stranger things than that...

I've gotten screened for drugs when I brought juggling balls once. I assumed it was the plastic beads inside and the broken stitching the prompted it.

[fred67]

... and starting today we all get to pay $3 extra per flight to pay for more TSA... does anyone actually feel safer when flying now? On my last trip to Brazil, I couldn't even fly domestically in Brazil without being held to the same moronic restrictions... at least they let me break the file off of my nail clippers instead of just confiscating them altogether.

[AmperZand]

... and starting today we all get to pay $3 extra per flight to pay for more TSA... does anyone actually feel safer when flying now?

The primary purpose of airport "security" is to make naive people feel safe. As demonstrated by the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber and others, it doesn't actually work. It never will. Terrorists can innovate faster than airports can develop counter-measures.

The secondary purpose of airport "security" is for governments (in the case of the TSA, the US government) to invade your privacy. When people accept under the guise of "security" that authorities can take naked pictures of children (as they already do in the US, UK and lots of other places), they're a long way along the path of accepting any violation of their human rights.

[AFOLguy1970]

Last year, I bought the Tower of Orthanc in Denver. Before flying back home, I took all of the bags and instructions out of the box and put them in my carry on backpack with the camera equipment. They did not seem phased when they had to X-ray the bag. I was anticipating having to explain what all that stuff was.

[TheLegoDr]

I've taken PAB cups on carry-on. I really think they don't look at most things. People are "randomly" searched, so I assume they "randomly" look at the stuff on the screen.

The sad thing is, if they did open a MISB expensive/rare set, nothing would happen. You could file a complaint and you wouldn't be reimbursed all in the name of "security."

Those LEGO bricks are really dangerous...