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Hey guys, I'm going to be flying soon, and I got a nice little Feldherr case for my mens. Do you think it's alright to tuck the case into my suitcase that will be part of my checked baggage, or is it a necessity to take it in my carry on bag?

Also, flying with minis that are NIB? It's okay to put them in the checked baggage, right?

Thanks! Any replies are appreciated, I'll be heading out in a few hours!

it should be just fine just make sure the case they are in is not locked. This is so that any security personnel can open it up and see that its not dangerous or anything.

There is no reason that miniatures themselves should be treated any differently than any other piece of luggage- you should be able to fly with them in whichever luggage you like. Most miniature tools (drills, saws, knives, glues, putties, etc) are going to run afoul of airline regulations and have to be in checked luggage (if they are allowed at all. A kitchen knife recently disappeared from my checked suitcase after a flight)

If you have anything that is magnetized, then that may well be an issue. Best to check with your airline if this is the case.

Unless its unassembled or unbuilt, and its not a large amount of miniatures, always use carry on. You have no idea what will happen to your models once they leave their hands. If they decide to open the luggage and check them, you have no idea how they will be handled; or more likely mishandled. With carry-on, if they wish to check them, you can be right there while they do and explain how they are somewhat fragile and need to be handled with some care. I've heard (and seen) so many horror stories of models going into checked baggage and coming out a mess and destroyed. If I was to ever fly with models, it's carry-on or they don't fly with me at all.

I'd like to second the suggestion to always take the assembled figures as carry on. I'm now the proud owner of the lower half of a Patlabor action figure which was packed into my checked luggage. I can only presume that the other half of the figure is somewhere is in the land fill in Los Angeles, and I'd rather not any of my painted figures follow suit.

Ten years ago, when you could actually lock your luggage and not have to worry about it being checked my random people along the way, it might have been different. But today? I wouldn't want to take the chance.

I would do the carry-on, at least for the painted figs. It's not that big, and totally worth the piece of mind. The NIB can be easily (if not cheaply) replaced, but the painted ones you'd have to do all over again (and that's just not worth it).

BTW, there are Airline regulation locks that only the inspector have the master key for. So, no random inspections can occur with out the knowledge of the Customs Department. It might also help out to mark your luggages as FRAGILE, so they will handle with care. Then, you will have reason to complain if your figures were mishandled during inspection.