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Post by omegadm0357 on Nov 19, 2012 9:15:35 GMT -5
Any good ideas on mini storage? I mean a lot of them. Over 400!
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Post by madladdesigns on Nov 19, 2012 9:47:33 GMT -5
Are you wanting to separate them or just somewhere to store them?
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Post by onethatwas on Nov 19, 2012 12:12:54 GMT -5
I imagine that with that many minis, you have alot of varying sizes. Generally speaking, Small, Medium, and Large sized mini's can be stored together without creating too many problems, but anything larger and you're going to run into problems.
I actually had this problem crop up with gaming books. I live in what amounts to a guest house (a grand total of three room spaces...bedroom, bathroom, and a large living space which includes a kitchenette. It's about half the size of a singlewide trailer, or less), so I always have to think of ways to get the most out of my space. The solution I found was to go to a local thrift store that sells used furniture, and I browsed there off and on until I came across a chest that can be used as a seat as well. Along with several bookshelf spaces, ottomans with compartments within them, etc, I managed to get all my gaming books under control (At least that's what it *would* be like if I didn't haul them out all the time to look at them).
I imagine that a similar solution can be found for minis. But that is merely if you want to store them away. If you're going to use them frequently, that's another problem. Hauling out books from secret compartment spaces is one thing. Digging for mini's you need within a large chest can be painfully annoying.
I have several friends who have some elegant solutions. One bought a decorative shelf (Also a find at the thrift store) where he displays his mini's. If you have the space in your house for this, and don't have cats who will steal them and/or children who will run off with them after climbing up the shelf and knocking it over (Unless you have it childproofed), then it is a really good solution. He doesn't have 400+ minis, but he does have an ungodly large amount.
Another friend seperates them by their general purpose. For him it's really easy (He seperates by human/nonhuman...obviously elves and troglodytes tend to go together incongruously), but this makes alot of sense. Seperate them by whatever organization method you have, use some ziplock baggies (or other containment bag you may have available), and then place them in a drawer or chest. Larger minis cause a problem here (You can't very well have your gargantuan blue dragon or that ungodly colosal red dragon mixed in the same bag as your other dragon minis), but they do make really nice decorative pieces around the gaming table. Since they aren't used as much, they can stay in one place, collecting dust as appropriate, until that one epic game that caps off your campaign pops up. And the positive side is that they aren't light enough for your cat to drag off!
So, just some basic ideas to get it started.
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Post by matakishi on Nov 19, 2012 12:21:39 GMT -5
Some details on what you're looking for would help. Do you want to categorise them? Are they all D&D placcy things or proper miniatures that you've painted and need to look after properly? Do you want to display them or just store them? Without more detail 'sling them in a box' is the obvious answer but you'll have thought of that already and if it was an option you wouldn't be asking would you (I'm sorry but I lol'd at the '!' after 400, you think you have storage problems...)
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Post by omegadm0357 on Nov 19, 2012 17:41:05 GMT -5
Sorry should have been more specific. I have them numbered and a file for each mini. So I would like to be able to find for example "Evil wizard #43". I currently use multi compartment tackle boxes, but thought maybe something else would be better.
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Post by matakishi on Nov 19, 2012 18:10:27 GMT -5
I use Plastic sets of drawers myself, I have a few more miniatures than you, I have a group in each drawer, some groups need multiple drawers. If you had a 'wizards' drawer and a 'clerics' drawer you could have general groupings and each figure is visible when you open the drawer for instant (almost) access. Each drawer holds roughly 60-80 miniatures. Here's one of the storage stacks I have, one of many...
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Post by dm1scotty on Nov 19, 2012 20:37:37 GMT -5
I store my Minis in portable fishing lure cases.
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Post by onethatwas on Nov 20, 2012 0:29:31 GMT -5
Ah...now that we get to the heart of the mater For my Warhammer 40K Tau army, I have about 6 tool cases....they're about $10 at Walmart. They're black and red with a clear cover, and the barriers between each compartment can be moved around. This has my entire army...that is, virtually one of every unit (Perhaps not altogether impressive, but I can in fact field an Armeggedon game....maybe not to maximum, but certainly well above the minimum required). However, I recently started collecting Dragon Dice (a fun little game, not too well known though), and am getting close to having a full collection of all the dice (so I can build armies for every race). That's about 2000+ dice (and they're not small either). I store them in a portable, expandable tool box that I found at home depot....it's got two fold down sides and a middle tower that the two sides latch onto for travel. I expect this is a good start for minis if you're traveling to the games with them. They're also a nice storage space anyway. But in general, matakishi is probably right in regards to what to store them in at home. Being able to see all the minis when you open a drawer can't really be beat.
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Post by matakishi on Nov 20, 2012 7:23:46 GMT -5
Portability brings it's own problems Kaiser Rushforth cases for me but, again, if yours are just placcy then DM Scotty's box is a good bet. Toolboxes/tackle boxes are also an option I guess. If you're travelling though, you're presumably only taking what you need for the scenario?
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Post by omegadm0357 on Nov 20, 2012 8:48:54 GMT -5
Thank you folks, excellent ideas.
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simlasa
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 19
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Post by simlasa on Nov 28, 2012 13:10:46 GMT -5
I keep the bulk of mine in cheap plastic bead boxes from Michaels. About $2 for a box that has 20+ compartments. These are labelled according them... monsters, magic-users, skeletons, adventurers (the compartments are too small for larger creatures so I use the adjustable tackle boxes for those). Then, if I'm going to transport, I have a BIG Plano tackle box that holds 3 larger compartmented boxes... whatever I think I'll need for the game that day.
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Post by blackthorne on Dec 5, 2012 21:34:03 GMT -5
Some very good ideas in here. I really screwed up when I moved here, putting mine in plastic boxes with packing peanuts. Even wrapped in tissue paper, all of my warhammer dwarves knocked together in the box and the paint was all messed up when they got here. oops!
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Post by danielc on Dec 5, 2012 22:41:45 GMT -5
For me, it depends on the mini. My prepainted stuff goes in cheap plastic bens. My real nice metal figures (I paid to have painted because of my lack of real skill) go into chessex cases. My older epic armies is in special wooden chest with small drawers. Most of my other figures are in boxes of various sorts.
I spend the money to store my minis based on their value to replace. :-)
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steel
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 102
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Post by steel on Dec 9, 2012 16:38:14 GMT -5
I found a bag that lets me keep a small amount of minis in a portable bag. I found it at an AC moore and has 4 'craft' boxes (basically fishing lure boxes) inside a bag. The only problem with it is that there is no room for my bigger minis like my dragons or my trolls, or any number of other large creatures. Anyone have any ideas for those?
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