I was curious if anyone has had trouble taking pokemon cards on flights or crossing country borders. Has anyone had their pokemon cards seized for any reason? I’ve heard some stories of sealed boosterboxes getting seized because they look like batteries in the Xray machines.
But what about seized for value?
TSA dgaf if you got a Charizard or a ditto. Just put it in a box and carry it with you (slabbed). I don’t know how they deal with sealed product.
Understanding why TSA is concerned is the first thing. I’ve had issues with binders, since the stacks of heavy cardboard look like batteries or explosive solid. …Oops. I do not leave the binders separate in the tray because that’s a great way for a thief to grab your book with their own. Similarly, I don’t bring my normal laptop, but one specifically for travel. As for cards, I leave them in my bag, and tell the TSA agents that I have trading cards in my bag and understand if they want to search it. Mostly, they’ll just ask me to step aside and look in the bag without removing the cards. Once, they took out each book and inspected several pages. BUT this is preferable to having someone walk off with your collection. =)
Now, I also have had them explicitly ask that I remove them into their own bin. In THIS case, I watch that thing like my life depends on it, and stay near it, but I think if you express to them your concern with the value, (which with the recent pokemon press I think they’ll understand now) I think they will be amiable towards you leaving them in the bag. Haven’t been on a plane recently, but used to fly ALL the time a few years ago. =)
Edit:
Sealed product is a special case… not sure how they’d treat it. I imagine if it looked suspect enough in the machine, they could legally ask you top open it. Since sealed food and liquids are not allowed, sealed retail product might be subject to opening if it looks dangerous, and yea, like i said, they could look like various things from film to explosives. (I’m not an attorney, so I’m not able to give legal expertise, but keep in mind this may be a case of “what’s the convenience worth to you.”)
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Plenty of people with stories about being stopped by TSA for trading cards. It’s usually the same story, the X-ray doesn’t fully penetrate the deck, booster box or whatever and the thing appears like a rectangular/square black blob on the screen that could resemble explosives. Some talk of having their stuff swiped. Forced unsealing is always a risk but by all accounts a small one.