Having a vintage toy gun shipped. Updated! Spoiler-not good.

So I was browsing yja when I saw an item ending that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time, it was ending soon, literally in the last few minutes, and the price was pretty nice so I put a bid on using buyee and to my surprise I won for a pretty decent price.


a vintage transformers set with a s sofubi Optimus/ Convoy, some vintage keshi… and a toy blaster. And well, it just dawned on me that there might be some issue with having it shipped into the USA because to the toy ray gun. It predates the orange barrel law, but it also it very clearly not a replica of an actual firearm. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with having something like this shipped? I was going to have it consolidated with other items, but I think I may just have to shipped separately if it may be confiscated by customs. Buyee did not have a problem with purchasing it from knowing I’m from the USA.
Any thoughts, anecdotes or experience on anything similar?

 

Too bad the Megatron doesn't transform, that would be a solution.

 

Ship it to my state first. It will get expedited service, and be welcomed with a little brass band.

(I had a little moment there, but I work for the government, so...)

 

Yikes

 

That’s a killer set Phil!
No pun intended!

 

Also- I just edited my original post- I meant to say Buyee had *No* problem purchasing it for me despite being from the USA.

 

I didn’t get a toy gun shipped but one of those 3A containers that look like a giant tank shell. It wasn’t a problem, but they did open the package and inspected the thing. So if this is a closed box then probably would get open.

Super nice set. Congrats on the pick up!

 

I don’t mind if they open the box so long as they don’t defile it during inspection.

 

Uh, I think Flesh Gordon sports an entirely different kind of pistol.

 

Honestly I just hope they don’t tear into the box. It’s not perfect, but it looks to be in pretty good shape and would display very nicely. I guess I’ll find out when it arrives at the buyee warehouse and I have them ship it out. Wish me luck everyone!

 

So a minor update- I emailed them about my concerns, but the response was essentially “we won’t know until it arrives one the warehouse”.
Then about an hour later I got an email letting me know it arrived, and they “have confirmed that our relevant department is still confirming if there are any irregular shipping charges with your package, you cannot proceed with the shipment as of the moment.” and that might be a few days. So it’s not a flat “no we can’t ship it”… at least not yet.

 

Ughhh

 

I’ve still got some hope it’ll be alright. The item declaration appears to be “plastic toy, no batteries” so it might just get sent through the system if they are willing to mail it.

 

So Buyee got back to me about an hour ago. They will not ship the blaster to me. They’ll remove it and ship the rest of the set to me, but not the toy blaster. They said they can destroy it, or ship it to a domestic Japanese address, or ship the entire set to a Japanese address.
So, I’ve got an old friend (my oldest friend actually) that lives in Japan. I’m hoping he’ll let me mail the whole thing to him and maybe the toy blaster can be disassembled and mailed as pieces to me with the set. If not, I dunno. Just have the rest of it mailed to me have the incomplete set.

this stinks, but it’s all on me. I wasn’t thinking when I bid. Worst comes to worse the price was so nice it was only about $20 more than I paid for the loose sofubi Optimus Prime I already have, so I could recoup most of my money if I could find someone interested in the vintage Prime figure.

 

Boo.

 

Phil, sending it to your friend has to make the most sense; personally I would try shipping it whole. You’d have to be a pretty pedantic customs officer to confiscate a plastic toy, even if it is shaped like a pistol.

One other thought is to have your friend open the box carefully and wrap some orange tape (like electricians tape) around the end of the barrel - that way it complies but you can easily remove it once it is in your possession.

 

Ship it to your buddy.
Wait it out.
Use it as an excuse to visit when Japan finally opens up its borders.
Dismantle it.
Spread the components between your hand baggage and checked luggage!

Ramen with your buddy. Awesome vacation. No shipping cost! . . . YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE!

 

You can also get a Japan address with Tenso and then ship it there if you don’t want to trouble your friend.

 

My friend will take it; it’s just the matter of what happens next. He doesn’t mind holding on to it for me. We’ll see!

 

For the win...

...a social solution from the Anti Social one... mellowing in his old age? You decide...

The question remains, for those of us not in the US, would customs seriously block that very obvious plastic toy because it is gun shaped? I understand replica weapons or even toys that resemble a real gun but this is pretty far from plausible. Is the fear that if they let it in, you could be seen in a public place with it and therefore it be mistaken for a real weapon, with possible tragic consequences?

 

That’s my guess. To avoid a tragedy from
Confusion. They might think I’m a Bond villain.

 

A while back, there was a Masterpiece Megatron sold and some big exporters like HLJ were opening the package and inserting orange tips into the gun barrels to make them "safe." Thousands of those toys entered the US in that state, but I can imagine thousands more without the plug were imported.

Customs would have to inspect every package, either by opening it or x-raying it, to find your toy gun. I don't think you have anything to worry about if your friend ships it.