Your Dolls and Security Officers-ever a problem?

wow, all these security horror stories are making me really paranoid about taking my doll out into public places!

I think if a security guard tried to stop me carrying my doll around or worse tried to TAKE or TOUCH my doll I'd have a ducky fit - either crying or batting them away - I do however have aspergers so i'm a little funny about physical contact/people in general so it might just be me^^.x

 

Yea that's weird to me! Ive seen more than one stories about thrift stores.
I guess most chain stores have enough sense to check their stock but with thrift shops they have all kinds of stuff. Ive had nightmares about visiting a store and getting arrested and having my doll put out for sale. Im sure it doesn't happen that way though.

I think it's probably just safe to leave your doll at home and use your memory or carry a small tape measure in your bag to see if chairs will work and ect.

 

I'd like to say that I've been a security officer for a few years now, and I find many of the posts in this thread to be very offensive. This one was the most recent, and I thought it was worth the quote. We are not out to get you, mock you, or break your things - we are here to protect you and oftentimes we put our lives on the line to do so. I am well aware that there are some bad apples out there, but the good officers greatly outnumber the few who do power-trip, or try to make themselves into some sort of gung-ho badass. For the most part, those lot are weeded out pretty quickly in our line of work.

Malls, airports and college campuses (and everywhere else) have rules and regulations that are enforced for a reason, namely to keep you safe. Some of them make less sense than others; the bit in a previous post about the school uniforms is odd, but it is without a doubt there for a reason. Perhaps rival schools have gotten into altercations there, and the school uniforms only exacerbate the problem by painting a clear target on the back of whoever wears them - who knows?

But I digress! We are here to keep you out of harm's way, and as long as your BJD isn't filled with explosives or illegal drugs, the majority of us couldn't care less if you're toting him or her around. (I'm the rare exception, however, because I'm an owner and I would probably fawn all over your dollie! )

Also, I am in no way looking for appreciation here but I would like to say this: we perform a dangerous, thankless job and it's very discouraging to hear those sort of things on top of it all. So please think about the reasons behind our actions before you speak ill of us.

P.S. All those stories about thrift stores detaining people, oh man, you would have a pretty good lawsuit on your hands if someone did that to you! They'd be impeding on your fourth amendment right against search and seizure of yourself and your possessions - that is, if you're in the USA. Unless you actually did steal it and/or they can prove that you did, the court would rule in your favor.

 

The only time I ever had a problem was when I was at a Walmart with my doll. The employee made a motion for me to hand her my doll out of my shopping cart at checkout. I laughed and said politely: "She's not one of yours. You guys don't sell anything like her."

The employee looked again and realized I was quite right. She laughed and apologized.

I take my doll to the grocery store with me all the time and no one has ever had an issue.

I have also taken my doll to three thrift store and the employees just fawned all over her. However, I make of point of checking in at the front desk when I walk in so that they know she came in with me. If you just start spewing make, model, price tag, name, year received and other information at them they back off really quickly. Also, I have several pictures of my girl on my phone in different clothing, clearly proving she's mine.

 

Security guards I've never had an issue with, but airport security is another thing. If I travel with my dolls they stay with me, not in packed luggage and they either assume you have drugs stuffed in the doll or that the stand can be used as a weapon.

 

So, anybody on here who flies with their dolls...
Has eye putty ever been an issue with TSA?

I'm visiting a friends, and having a doll i bought shipped there, planning on bringing him back with me in my carry on... So I'm packing supplies to go with him too, and I was just putting eye putty in a container with the eyes i was going to use for him, when I started thinking "will they let me through security, or turn it into a bomb panic and make me miss my flight and arrest me and-"

Should I just leave it at home and buy some poster tac when I'm there? O.o
I'd imagine there'd be less issue when the poster tac is in his head, holding his eyes in, and serving an obvious purpose... just figure it'd look a bit suspicious otherwise... O.O

So... Any issues there with your dolls? xD

 

I'd say put the eyes in with the putty to sort of show what it is.

 

Oh wow, I never heard of mall security being that strict! I hardly ever see mall security around the malls where I live. Then again, I don't live in that big of a town. I wonder what it would be like to take a doll to the mall. Good luck!

 

I don't know anyone who has had an issue with eye putty at airport security, especially when it's holding in eyes. I've never had them so much as question it, personally. And they most certainly wouldn't arrest you if they realized it wasn't a bomb. But if you're worried about things, just put the putty in your check-in luggage for the trip out. Worst case scenario, they open your suitcase to examine it, realize it's nothing, repack it and move it on its way. Having your luggage open is annoying (happened to me last time I travelled by air - they found my peanut butter and tea suspicious, apparently :P But didn't even blink at the dolls in my carry-on) but I didn't even know it happened until I was safe and clear at my home airport.

 

Well, I've never had an actual 'problem' per-say, I once had one of my dolls with me at an amusement park and one of the security guys came over to me and asked why I had her with me. Apparently other park goers had been asking him about my dolls, were they part of some show?, was I selling them?, why did I have them?, etc (instead of just asking me), so of course he had no idea and couldn't tell them a thing.

He was polite though when I told him I was just carrying her around for fun and pictures, pretty much why everyone else was at the park, it was funny to see him again through-out the day periodically in different places in the park, he would just smile and wave which was even funnier when one of his fellow security guards saw him waving at some girl holding a doll

 

So I noticed a few comments involving BJDs, TSA and bombs, and not to freak anyone out or anything but

I have been stopped and searched by TSA for bombs because of my dolls. It was not a huge ordeal, it only involved one security person and he was very polite and handled them all with extreme care and apologized to me over and over for even doing it. The problem is the resin - he asked me what they were made of and I answered truthfully. According to him, some kinds of resin are used in bomb-making and he was obligated to make sure they were what I said they were. I didn't make a scene, I was calm and polite and let him do what he needed to do and obviously everything checked out. No dolls were harmed and I was sent on my way and nothing else came of it, but just as a warning, it could happen.

 

I have never had a problem. I have had security approach me, but they weren't rude. The first time, I was with some friends at a mall, taking pictures, and security told us not to block the walkway or hoard benches, but didn't bother anything. When I went to Canada, a customs officer asked what my doll was, but quickly got bored as my mom started explaining the hobby, and waved us through. XD At the CN Tower, my sister and I were required to remove the dolls from their bags and take the headcaps off to show they were just dolls, but again, the officer was very nice.

 

I have anxiety so I don't take my dolls out of the house... But if I had the kahunas to I would take my dolls out and take pictures places and I don't think security officers would have problems with it. Just have seen them around by the buses and they seemed really nice.

 

I take my dolls our quite often and I've never had any problems with mall security even though I've gotten the usual "that's creepy' from other people passing by.

If you're worried about someone accusing you of stealing your own doll, just keep plenty of photos of it on your phone and if you have it, the invoice for your doll as proof. I usually keep one of these on me just in case of these situations

I haven't taken a doll with me on a flight yet but I'm not sure how security will react around here. The security once stopped my mom's carry on because there was an item they couldn't recognize on the x-ray. They opened the bag and found out it was string cheese. The look on their faces was priceless though.

I also work at an office where we have security guards. Most of them are really nice and they usually think my dolls are really cool when I bring them in to work. If it's a new security guard, they'll ask what I have in the large messenger bag (I really need to invest in a carrier) since part of the doll's head sticks out. Every time they find out what it is, they ask more questions about them. I've met a few of them that had similar interests as me this way. These dolls are really good conversation starters.

 

I took a doll on vacation to Rome recently and there were A LOT of military security officer types around. One evening I brought the doll over to the Colosseum to take a few pictures, and the military guy closest to us didn't actually say anything, but he had this look on his face like, "I have seen ten thousand tourists doing every stupid thing in the book, but THIS, this is new." I like to think it just made his day more interesting.

 

hahaha I have little kids it is always assumed it is theirs LOL. having littles has it's advantages

 

As a fellow security officer, @Tangerine, I, too am a little perturbed with all of the distaste thrown towards them. It is different in Canada, specifically my province, than the US which may make a difference. Then again, we do get a lot of flak period. Sometimes just for existing.

I hope people do not think every security guard is like that