Token and Accessory Storage

Posted by BigBully on Jun 5, 2015 in Blog |

There are as many ways to store your accessories as there are…well…accessories. I mean think about it. We have dice bags, deck boxes, foam lined cases for Orc armies, and tubes for your play mats. So why do so many of us show up to play with all our pieces stored like this:

A couple things before I continue. 1) Yes, those are Big Bully Gaming Action Tokens in the bag. 2) No, they are not my personal tokens. 3) They belong to a buddy I play with regularly, and whose company and playstyle I enjoy. He just happens to be one of the many that carry their pieces around like this. 4) Yes, he knows I took the picture, and why.

But Baggies are Convenient and Cheap!

Yes. Yes they are. However, they offer absolutely nothing in the way of protection from being dropped, or the contents just rattling around damaging your collectables. On Saturday nights at my local venue there are “Chess with Super Powers” games, Smash Bros, Warhammer/Hordes, and Magic the Gathering tournaments going on, in addition to other non-gaming customers and staff. In short, it is crowded!  With people squeezing to get by each other things inevitably hit the floor. Little plastic super heroes don’t like that.  So there you are super gluing the arms back on your Zombie Doctor Octopus Quadtopus.

Some Have Sharp Edges

If you are reading this, I am going to assume you either own, or are considering purchasing a set of tokens/markers/counters etc. When I first begin this business, I found some of the best (thickest) photo paper available; because I knew these items would be subjected to a small amount of rough handling. I also knew people would hold them in their hand and rub them with their thumb between turns. (Guilty!)  So I coat each sheet with a special spray that Department H and A.I.M. jointly developed years ago, to help the image put up with that too.  From a manufacturing and assembly standpoint there simply is no way to protect the artwork from the­ constant barrage of sharp edges that will come from being tossed into a baggie full of “Chess with Super Powers” pieces and assorted game accessories.  They are going to get beat up.  The images will put up with quite a bit; but the banging around will begin to show after a while.  The super glossy finish, once so smooth; will begin to show the dings from all the times those cool metal dice landed on top of them, and from the repeated times Jugernaut ran them over.

So what is the solution?

The solution is to simply separate the pieces. Personally, I use a Plano brand organizer. I can just carry it with me in a backpack or other bag. These organizers are inexpensive, only about $4 to $6 at Walmart; and are semi-customizeable.  These will hold your average team of figures and all your relics, tokens, objects etc. This is mine:

 

A couple of the people at the local venue kick it up a notch, and tend to bring a large amount of their collection with them each match. They carry something like the Plano 767.

It has 3 large pull out organizers, 2 small ones, the top opens up for a large compartment, and then it has two smaller compartments on the lid. It prices out between $55-$65. Too much to carry around for me, but if you (like these guys), build your teams on site; it is a quality item and works great. 

For you minimalists that are just looking to protect your tokens/markers and need something super simple I have that covered right here.

These tubes were made for coin collectors, from archival quality material (polystyrene). They will hold 16 tokens, and have a screw on cap.  They are now in stock here at Big Bully Gaming Accessories.

Bottom Line

Proper storage of your game pieces and (ahem) accessories guarantees them a long life. There are solutions to fit whatever your budget and needs are. Do you have a unique storage or transportation system for your gaming gear? Tell us about it!!