Boxes, boxes and more boxes. A speciality of the miniature manufacturers is making boxes that are as flimsy as possible. When unboxed you never have the opportunity any more to use the boxes because either the models are too big or the boxes are just plain worn out. What if there was a safe & sound storage solution available that is decently priced and functional?
As far as I know, there is only one company that thinks of this and that is Steamforged games with their games and Epic Encounters. Nice models, but we aren’t talking about models here, we’re talking about storage for said models.
Foamy products
Yes, we already saw a lot of companies have similar products, but there always have to be a couple that stand out from the crowd. This could be a simple solution or a method that we haven’t seen implemented in “boxes” yet. When we think about decent products that know their price and what they are doing, we think of companies like Feldherr. Great products to store and transport models in, but individually, they are pretty pricy. As I said, you get what you pay for. A great transport option for storage and transport.
They all have foam trays that you need to glue in with a diversity of options like sticky tape or actual glue. Somehow, you can never find the perfect one, until you see these boxes. Safe & Sound found the solution to things you never thought needed one.
Safe & Sound Magnet Boxes
I can never find a decent metal sheet to go under into my boxes for storage and transport. The only ones I find are 1mm think and heavy as the complete box. These boxes have already one in when you choose a box with magnet lining. Some of the boxes even have a thin metal sheet in the sides, which makes the box even more functional.
There are two types of magnet boxes available. Printed and plain ones. Do note that the plain ones are still printed in some form. If you leave the box opened on the table, it’s nice to look at instead of a regular old box. There is of course nothing wrong with it, it just brings a bit more flair to your collection.
The Right Size for the Right Models
What angers me as a wargamer most is the fact that there is never the right tool for the trade. With this, I mean that there are enough trays, but not always the right amount of pockets. To make things worse, the ones I like the most are the most expensive ones, and I’d rather spend it on models than on storage.
These boxes come in a diversity of heights, making you able to stack another layer on top of the already glued first layer, or buy a box that you can fill with the needed foam. This means that if you take a box and can’t find a fit for your models, there is only one person to blame for that… You, my good and insanely valued reader. It’s you…
The Perfect Safe & Sound Miniature Solution?
We think so, and it’s even at an unbeatable price! There are however, downsides to all the positivity over the products. Meeting Safe & Sound and experiencing the boxes in hand, we were quite impressed by the price/ quality. There are Velcro buttons to keep it shut during storage or transport, but looking at full use of the product, these seem not a perfect fit for competition play if you need to transport a lot of models.
Safe & Sound should not take most of the blame for this. On tournaments, people tend to be a bit more hasty in moving boxes from others. Perhaps they expect the boxes to be more from plastic, or they just don’t care about others products that much.
Did you ever have to bring a box for just 2 minis, but took the whole box because there was no other solution? Role players feel you, as they only need 1 character at a time, so a 16 model style box is useless… Safe & Sound even have boxes to fit 2 models. One model and polyhedral dice much?
Casual Play at the Club
Like me, a casual player who has almost never played in a tournament before and not planning to, these boxes are the best! You have thick pressed cardboard, good closure on the lids. There is nothing wrong with the foam as this is the same as everyone uses. We, as a store need to store quite the amount of demo models for a diversity of games. When someone demos they don’t have to use their own models since the people that want in on a demo not always have the cleanest of hands. Last time we checked that is the number one paint killer of them all.
Bringing A safe & Sound box seems to do the trick. You have boxes for the right amount of models, and you can put them in storage, write on it what is in and take them out when needed. Because they are cardboard, the boxes are lightweight. You never have to carry heavy, but always carry the correct stuff.
Conclusion about Safe & Sound Storage solutions
It seems that these ladies and gentlemen have reinvented the wheel with a serious descent cheaper alternative to existing product lines. There is a high probability you can own some or one of the boxes soon, since we are seriously looking at them from the shop perspective and putting them to the quality check at the moment.
When they keep their quality and have proven to be as good as we hope them to be, you can rest assured that we will share this with you and start stocking a part of their product lineup. For now, consider us mighty impressed!
