Those who travel for work, I found a way to get my LEGO scores home safely for cheap!

former-member · 2013-04-21T17:37:12.000Z

I travel a lot for work, frequently flying to Vegas on Southwest Airlines (note that you get two free checked bags on Southwest). On a previous trip I did not pick up a Police Station for $50, because I did not have enough space in my suitcase. On this last trip I managed to find a couple 9468 Vampyre Castles on clearance for $69 at Wal-Mart. I purchased them without hesitation, but soon I got to thinking how in the heck will i get these home with the boxes in decent shape? These are too big for my suitcase, so I figured I would look into shipping them home via UPS. It looked like my best option would cost about $18-$22 for shipping, but I would also have to pay for a box and packing materials pushing the total up near $30. This clearly would take most of the deal out of my score. Luckily I discovered "The Luggage Box" at the UPS Store. You can see the product sheet here: http://www.theupsstore.com/products-services/packaging-shipping/Documents/Luggage-Box-Info.pdf Vampyre Castle is about 24" x 15" x 4" and the large box is 26" x 16" x 12" so you can easily fit 3 of this size box in there (Vampyre Castle, Falcon, Helms Deep, Jabba's Palace, Malevolence, etc are all the same size) This box is very sturdy when assembled has a handle like an old-school suitcase and only cost $9.95 at the store. I purchased the box, a $1 roll of tape at Wal-Mart, and a couple old newspapers from the hotel and I had my score packed securely. When I checked this as my second bag at the airport I did have to declare that there were "Toys" in the box, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment I said "My kids will be so happy" (I use that line way too much). Anyways, after a 3 hour flight back home that included a rain storm at my destination, my box arrived on the luggage carousel in excellent condition. It is entirely possible that the baggage handlers could destroy one of these boxes, but since I can bring an additional suitcase on Southwest I think it is a much better option than paying for shipping home. The smaller box is a 22" x 14" x 9" so it would not work for this haul, but it would be acceptable as a carry on if you were worried about the baggage handlers. If you happen to be on the road for work, don's pass on any clearance deals just because you don't have any more space. You can still get your scores home cheaply and safely if it all works out. I have attached pics for a reference. I hope that this helps someone.