Collection storage

[Little Jo]

Sounds quite interesting, Dan. Can you provide us with a photo of these boxes?

[Sir Gareth]

A very neat storage system Little Jo.

 All of my parts are stored in lots of DIY multi compartment and draw boxes and they are kept in my Playmo shed at the bottom of my garden. My collection is just stored in what little roof space I have left and I keep the boxes complete.

 What I do with the boxes of larger set's is to fit lots of smaller sets in them of the same theme. My Viking house 3151 box also contains 6 other sets, specials DS items and small boxed sets like 3158 viking with horse and 3154 king and prince this helps a bit with the problem of space.

[Sylvia]

What I do with the boxes of larger set's is to fit lots of smaller sets in them of the same theme.

I do that too sometimes, since many of the large set boxes are bigger than they need to be for their specific contents.

The only problem I have is remembering that I have stored the smaller sets inside a larger box. A few times I have spent days looking for something and thinking I must have lost it, only to find it 'hiding' inside another box at a later date. I suppose making a list of all sets and noting where they are stored would help, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Martin Milner]

I'm reviving this thread mainly to show Gus my Klicky storage system - the heart of which is the 3 Litre Really Useful Box. Gus' stories have got me thinking of more Oswestry Tales and Pirates' Tales, and the necessary precursor is re-assembling the castle and the cast.

This size box is usually enough for me to store a theme or sub-theme, as the labels show. My shelves will hold up to 40 of these, which ought to be plenty... but isn't. I have a lot of klickies stored elsewhere, especially Knights.

These boxes mostly hold klickies with their intimate personal items - swords, shields, guns etc. I may eventually put special klickies in a ziplock bag with their loose parts to keep them safer. Some boxes hold cross-theme items like boats, cannon, horses etc. Some are as yet still empty or hold odd bits I haven't sorted out yet.

Alongside these I can put three 1.6 Litre boxes per shelf for larger "stage dressing" items, like barrels, boxes, and bunks, or eight of the smallest 0.9 Litre boxes, which hold smaller parts like wigs, weapons, spare helmets, tools etc.

There are larger boxes elsewhere with vehicles and building parts, and I think I'll be investing in some of the largest 50 Litre boxes so I can store ALL parts of a disassembled building in one place - at present I've got the main Keep and the gatehouse for Oswestry, but the curtain wall is still eluding me.

[Timotheos]

And now for an example of chaos struggling to come together...

One step forward...
(These handy compartments cost $6 / five drawer unit from Target)
 


Three steps back...
My dad gave me the tables when cleaning out his basement.  The tables are otherwise amazingly expensive.  The board, however, stretching across the bottom gives me a tiny bit more real-estate and cost $5.


The floor came free with the house.  The trestle table cost about $50 to make vs. $400 ($80 x 5) if I had attempted to assemble it with industrial tables placed side by side.


The shelving also came cheap at $5 for the metal racks and $5 for the single board I sawed up.


Problem: if we ever have a major earthquake I think that trestle table will collapse.

[Sylvia]

Thanks for reviving the topic! It's always interesting and helpful to see how each member stores their stuff.

Martin - you are incredibly well organised and neat. I like the way you have made an effort to clearly label your boxes and it looks like you can get to things easily.

Tim - you are very lucky to have so much space to lay out your collection! But I dread to think how much time it would take to dust everything on those shelves and tables. If you're like me, that is a job that doesn't get done very often.  

My complete sets are mostly stored away in cupboards inside their original boxes. I used to keep my spare figures and parts in a filing cabinet inside various different types of containers ranging from shoe boxes to ice cream tubs. It was a real pain to find stuff, so a few years ago I finally made an effort to create a slightly better storage system.

I cleared some shelving space in my under-stairs cupboard (see attachment). The plastic boxes on the top shelf came free with some muffins I was buying for my kids packed lunches that they would take to school. I noticed they were quite sturdy, so I started buying them regularly in order to get enough boxes to store all of my loose playmo parts. The supply of larger boxes eventually ran out, but I managed to get some half-sized ones which were useful for the very little pieces. (Btw, they now package the same muffins in very flimsy containers with no lid, just a sheet of thin plastic - a sign of the manufacturer trying to cut production costs).

I'm only semi-organised since I haven't taken the time to label any of the boxes. This means I have to rely on a system of colour-coding (red lids for hats, green for body parts, etc) and my memory in order to find things.

[Rasputin]

Thanks for reviving this topic . I really like seeing pictures of storage ideas and displays .

When i read Martins idea a while ago about using Really Useful Box I looked them up here in the states . They were not available locally and shipping was expensive . I do like how sturdy they look and the different colors but then I could not help but think that if I did buy them, how many Playmobil sets I could have purchased with the money. My option was, like Tims to go to Target and buy cheep alternatives . The boxes i found are called Sterilite boxes and are actually made is USA . The shoe size is $.99 5.7 liters, Next was on sale for $1.99 15 liters, and the next one up i can not remember but it is large enough to store many landscape base plates .

The small parts drawers i also got at Target and is very useful with the clear fronts.  I mounted it to the wall to not loose valuable floor space. Even the kids can get their own spares and easily can put them away.

Hey Tim I also thought about the shelf versus earthquake notion. Living near San Andrea's Fault has me wondering how I am going to deal with this issue. Down south they just had a little rumble of 5.7 and that would be enough to send all my cars rolling to a heap on the floor . Let me know if you come up with any ideas . I was going to put wires in front but i think that will be ugly so i am still trying to figure it out .

[Martin Milner]

Martin - you are incredibly well organised and neat. I like the way you have made an effort to clearly label your boxes and it looks like you can get to things easily.

I fear that is just the choice of camera angle - if I faced any other way, it's box-piled chaos. However I did spend a couple of happy hours last Sunday tidying, and enjoying the process. The process continues in between other tasks, and eventually I'll have a complete system.

Your boxes work well, Sylvia  - I fixed on RUBs because the are often on sale here, and fitted my shelves neatly, though they are dearer than some options, as Ras noted. My wife uses them to for her craft supplies.

Tim and Rasputin are lucky to have more space to leave stuff out - it shows how the US house has a tad more room (or maybe more rooms) than our snug UK houses!

[Gepetto]

Thank you everyone for this topic, I love to see storage ideas and have wondered how some of you deal with your collections. I also wondered how Martin and Sylvia seem to find parts so quickly.

I also use those plastic drawers from Target and the Sterlite tubs, although after having a couple of them fall with disastrous results I opted for the ones that have locking tabs on the ends.

Rasputin,

Have you thought of using fishing line in front of your shelves to keep things from rolling off? I know several railroaders who use it since it is not as obtrusive as wire but is still strong enough to hold back sizeable loads. I use blue tack for large items and plate railing for smaller ones though a larger size moulding would be needed due to the larger size of Playmobil wheels. Also, that last picture of your room is absolutely amazing!



Gepetto

[Rasputin]

Hi Gus, thanks for any and all suggestions on how to solve a shelf problem . A problem with wire or fishing line is that the reason i like everything out is so my three boys can get at it when ever they want . I feel that a line would cause great frustration on the 3 year olds part and having older brothers he get quite frustrated easily. I guess if we have the size of earthquake they predict on the nearest fault to us i should be more worried about our real house as-opposed to the Playmobil ones 

Martin, just to clarify our situation - we live in a 1943, 800 square foot, 2 bed , one bath house with 5 people. The fella who built it in war time was so cheep he put the ceilings at 7 feet instead of 8 or more . It helps in heating costs but if you know me I really do not have a heating fuel issue. The pictures of my playmobil come from my detached office at the farm where I escape to .