Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding Baby Prop Got Him Stopped at Customs

If you’re all caught up on Death Stranding news, down for Hideo Kojima‘s general aesthetic, and overall interested in strange happenings in video games, you’ve likely seen the BB Pod. You know, the odd-looking, often orange-colored contraption seen in trailers and screenshots with what appears to be a baby inside. If you consider the BB Pod a little bit weird, apparently you’re not alone. Kojima was apparently recently held up at customs after trying to bring a physical BB Pod to San Diego Comic-Con 2019.

Kojima shared the news yesterday at his SDCC panel, aptly titled “Hideo Kojima: Master Storyteller”, where he reportedly spoke in large part about his creative process alongside special guest director Nicolas Winding Refn and moderator Geoff Keighley. In addition to revealing the official box art for the video game, as well as noting that Keanu Reeves was, at one point, suggested for the role Mads Mikkelsen now fills, Kojima showed off a physical BB Pod prop.

Again, the BB Pod is an orange-colored contraption that looks like it has a baby inside, and it would appear Kojima brought one in on his flight into the United States for the panel. It’s unclear if this is the exact model that’ll be available as a statue with the Collector’s Edition of the game, but it sure looks like it. This apparently caused some trouble as customs stopped him to figure out exactly what he was bringing into the country.

How, exactly, Kojima explained away the large, clunky BB Pod is a mystery, but one assumes the fact that it’s easily plugged into search engines probably helped his case. Kojima’s since posted several photos of himself standing with the likes of The Last of Us‘ Ashley Johnson and director Guillermo del Toro while also holding the BB Pod. In short, we’re glad he made it through customs just fine.

What do you think? Are you still interested in getting your own BB Pod? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

Death Stranding is scheduled to release on November 8th for PlayStation 4. For more news, media, and information on the game, be sure to check out all of our previous coverage of it right here.

Here’s how Sony’s official product page for the video game describes it:

“In the near future, mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural events known as the Death Stranding. With spectral creatures plaguing the landscape, and the planet on the verge of a mass extinction, it’s up to Sam Bridges to journey across the ravaged wasteland and save mankind from impending annihilation.”