No, you just called the method incorrectly. $lvobject->TYPE should work regardless of what sort of thing was handed to B::??::TYPE. So what made you think you should call a method like a function? Normally you call a method like a method and then any inheritance (what B:: uses) or any class AUTOLOAD can handle the issue. So what gives?

I was off at a great party over the weekend and didn't see your post until just now. :-)