Anyone have experience traveling with toys?

symphonicpoet

symphonicpoet

Moderator
Ladies and gents,

I am taking toys overseas, so I'm . . . nervous. I've flown with miniatures once before, to Oldhammer in the Jerz. I checked my toys on that flight and things were not completely smooth, so I'm thinking about having them in my carry on this time. I've got a hard sided roller case that you can see partially packed here:

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I'm putting everything in foam and packing it tightly so hopefully things won't rattle around too much. I've rolled the thing around my basement a few times with imperfect results, but none of the damage was critical. (Predictable bits have fallen off, but well, CA+ is a thing, and I'm guessing it's available in the UK as readily as here. I hope.)20250730_112550.JPG

I really wish I hadn't glued those flight bases together. They pack pretty easily as parts. But live and learn. I am, at least, magnetizing all of them so they're not attached to the ships themselves, thus any base should work with nearly any ship. And I'll have a couple of trays of folks as well. Not sure who yet. Probably some sci-fi adventurer sorts. Maybe some humans. Probably a few xenos. Thought about bringing the Mr. Burne, Doc Hobble, and the Delightful Dreadlies; my resident Freebooter Dread Mob. I'll probably bring Plis Snakeskin and his crew, and maybe the Duches of Pain Court and her gang, and doubtless my miniature alter ego and family. But I'm still thinking that part through.

Anyway . . .

Who else has committed this insanity of taking delicate old toys through airport security and through customs and what advice might you have? To check or to carry on? How to pack so the relevant agents don't completely flip over numerous small lumps of metal and large, odd shaped, hollow things?
 
No experience I'm afraid and here I was thinking it'd be a right faff carrying any models up to Newark on the train! I hang my head in humble shame! I'd certainly be taking my babies as carry-on I think. The plan seems sensible, the small foam offcuts to pack things seems sensible.

The last time I did any serious miniature moving was with the last house move when a friend and I drove all my minis and office stuff ourselves in a hire van. I stuck everything down into plastic boxes using some sticky pads. for anything that didn't have a magnet on its base. So nothing was "loose" in foam for that - it was all fixed in place. A few bases needed repainting on bits of terrain where the pad took off the paint on the bottom of the base, but generally it worked quite well. Not sure that's of any use here, but I mention it as my closest experience.
 
CA+?

not really done HUGE traveling but had a few issues even with foam packing but it mostly came down to my mistake on figure construction. I need to repair a chariot I used at this years Woods in the woods, cause I, for some reason, thought super glue onto wood, onto green stuff (and a bit onto plastic) would hold when under a bit of pressure.. mostly travel did the damage though but I really should have pinned anyway. Just a drop of glue as the only support isn't great. one reason, I pin most (if not all) my metals which have joints which will have a bit of pressure (Dragon wings, arms etc) and really like when they do good sculpted nubs as they don't 100% slot in, but help with the pressure and knocking.
 
ManicMan said:
CA+?
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I would assume super glue, ie cyanoacrylate. Maybe a particularly fast setting one? Either that or a Calcium Ion, which seems less likely in this content! I suspect there will be plenty of superglue on hand at BOYL, and probably quite a lot of superglue on hands as well come to that matter.
 
Ah, Loctite. my normal superglue of choice for decent stuff. cheap £1 for 4 tubes as a back up if I really need something that is cheap and don't care too much about.
 
Yeah, CA+ is the code I've generally seen for Cyanoacrylate super glues. I could have been more clear there. Lovely, having some available for purchase will certainly make life easier, as I very much suspect no matter how well I pack something will pop off somewhere. (I'm getting better about pinning things these days, but historically I didn't very much. And there's some bits on Rainbow Connection that would be might hard to pin, seeing as I used a couple of large glass marbles and I don't think I have a drill that would cut that crap properly without shattering it.)
 
There was a model shop I remember walking past in Newark - Access Models. I didn't pass it when it was open so didn't go in, but they will probably have a decent selection of spare bits - certainly looked like it was worth a rummage. Otherwise any supermarket will have superglues like Loctite.
 
I popped into Access Models last year and can confirm it is a neat modelling shop and has plenty of superglues of various consistencies. Imagine a pound shop or supermarket will sell cheaper glue tho!

I have (most of) my minis with magnets on the bases and topped with bubble wrap in an old Xmas biscuit tin! :lol: However, I am only driving a few hrs!

Wishing you a safe journey and look forward to seeing you IRL! ;)
 
Brother Meredith said:
I popped into Access Models last year and can confirm it is a neat modelling shop and has plenty of superglues of various consistencies. Imagine a pound shop or supermarket will sell cheaper glue tho!

I have (most of) my minis with magnets on the bases and topped with bubble wrap in an old Xmas biscuit tin! :lol: However, I am only driving a few hrs!

Wishing you a safe journey and look forward to seeing you IRL! ;)
Click to expand...

Looking forward to it myself! It was fun even without my toys in 2019. I expect it will be even better now that I'm bringing them. (And now that I know a few folks a little better and have a better idea of what I'm getting myself into.)
 
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