Ok, no I haven't lost my marbles. (Well not fully at least. Yet!).
So what am I talking about really useful storage boxes! It will all become clear shortly.
Now as gamers we often have the need to move figures from their storage location to their playing location. And frankly there are a myriad of solutions out there. From magnetic strips and steel tool boxes, to custom made cases like Figures in Comfort make. (Which are excellent by the way).
However scenery is another issue. It tends to be large. And in some ways more fragile in my experience. So getting that to club is often a pain. Thank fully our club has a good selection of its own scenery, which is available for members. But there are times such as the coming gaming weekend, where I may need to get some of my own personal scenery down to the club.
So, big plastic storage boxes are always handy. But lately I have been having a dilemma.! Do I stick with the cheap (relatively) and often hard to find 30 to 35litre under bed type boxes. These tend to change designs and dimensions often and you find you can get one style for a while before it then is gone for good. Wham and other makers here in the UK are sold by numerous DIY and trade stores.
However there is an alternative.. "Really Useful Boxes".. as the name implies. These boxes are just that, a range (a very large one at that) of differing sizes and shapes and all with similar rounded corners for strength and clip shut handles that help secure the lid in place. They are pretty robust, and even come with some models available in "tougher" plastic for things like air shipping abroad etc.
Now the issue is one of costs. The quality (if genuine) is good. But they are not cheap. Certainly not as cheap as the type produced by Wham etc.. but they are tough and come in a far large array of shapes and sizes with options for internal trays etc.
But are they worth the price increase? Hmmm.. Its a tricky dilemma. As I need to get a solution for my Dwarven Forge collection. I have a couple of boxes (of the Wham type) with the plywood trays, giving me two layers per box. But that is about 1/3rd of the collection. The rest is sat in their very well padded, but exceedingly bulk original packaging that unfortunately maks it tricky to locate pieces and bulky to transport.
But this makes the boxes heavy when full and hard to carry. The 20 Litre Really Useful Boxes look just right, given this report here.
The question is mostly down to cost now. And is it worth the benefit in over double the price.
Not an easy question to answer in my head..
3 comments:
It is a hard decision.
The way I look at it, is to compare the cost of the items to be transported, including construction and painting time etc, with the cost of replacement/repair.
If you were insuring the items, you'd have a value in mind... get an online quote for a policy for them and the cost of the policy equals what you should spend on secure safe storage.
Or you could just insure them lol.
To ensure that you would by the cheapest, try on comparing the price and performance level of the plastic storage boxes you would search online. You can read their reviews online too. I hope you find what you would need.
Cheers.. unfortunately the 20 Litre sized box, is the one that seem to be generally only stocked by the maker or Rhymans the stationers. So thats is a pain.
I still haven't been able to determine if the re-inforced white plastic version is essential or if the standard version will cope with the weight. As if I do need the latter, well frankly it will have to be ordered from the maker, suffering a £12 handling/shipping fee! ouch!
So the quest goes on for the moment.
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