Blood Bowl Carrying Cases

Today I thought I would talk about some alternatives for keeping your Blood Bowl miniatures safe while transporting them, comparing two different cases with protective foam inserts. 

I usually don’t like to post time sensitive things on the blog but I thought this might be helpful to some people who might be thinking about buying a Thick Skull case from Charlie Victor. I backed the Kickstarter for this so already have the case, but additional products are available to buy from the 4th April.

I will showcase Feldherr's medium case as well in comparison, and this is a non time-limited product.

Let's get going.

Feldherr 'medium case for Blood Bowl and other Fantasy Football miniatures'

Made in Germany by Feldherr, a company who specialises in game accessories, particularly organisation, storage and transportation.  

The case I own has slots for 102 miniatures. This means I can fit six Blood Bowl teams with plenty of space left over for cheerleaders, referees, fans or other additional miniatures. In several slots it is even possible to keep two smaller sized players such as Halfling or Skinks for example, with no danger of them getting damaged, increasing the number I can carry. 

Key features

• Extremely light weight
• High miniature capacity
• The inserts are made from fine pored quality foam and are chlorine and acid free
• It has a sturdy carrying strap
• You can mix and match trays from their range.

At the time of writing this, the case is available to buy at Feldherr's website at a cost of € 54.99.

How does it shape up?

This case was bought for me several years ago and it has served me very well in that time, keeping my miniatures safe. It has worn very well and proves it is robust and made from high quality materials. I can store several of my painted up teams in it and still have room to expand. 

I can say that I haven't experienced the paint transfer problems some people worry about when it comes to storing painted minis on foam.

Feldherr‘s case comes with some nice small feet to keep it off the floor if it’s a bit damp or dirty.

It comes with a shoulder strap that I’m not using since it’s so light weight and has a really nice handle. But the option is there for those who want their hands free.

The front has one big pocket you can fit a Spike Journal, team rosters, rulers, templates and dice quite comfortably in. The Blood Bowl Rule Book does fit into this pocket, but it is a squeeze to get it in. 

As I said, it has a very nice, ergonomic handle so you could cary something heavy without discomfort. Even when fully packed with minis, a rule book, a Spike, templates and dice, the case is so light to begin with it will never feel heavy.  The image above shows the protective foam topper.    

Above are the foam trays for storing 16 bigger Blood Bowl miniatures. The dimensions for one of these trays are 275 mm x 172 mm x 35 mm. The dimensions for each individual slot are 54 x 35 x 25 mm.

(Item No.:[HS035BF05BO])

Above is the special foam tray for 34 Blood Bowl miniatures. The dimensions for this tray are 345 mm x 275 mm x 35 mm. The individual slots measure as follows:
* 16 slots with the size 50 x 25 x 25 mm 
* 12 bigger slots 54 mm x 40 mm x 25 mm 
* 4 tall slots 79 mm x 28 mm x 25 mm 
* 2 tall slots (middle row) 75 mm x 28 mm x 25 mm 

(Item No.:[FSBR035BO])

Above is another of the foam trays I own, which fits 36 Blood Bowl miniatures. The dimensions for this tray are 345 mm x 275 mm x 35 mm.  The dimensions for each individual slot are 50 x 25 x 25 mm. 

(Item No.:[FS035BO])

Inner case dimension approx. 345 mm x 275 mm x 120 mm

Charlie Victor's Thick Skull Case

There are two variants of these cases, Thick Skull L and Thick Skull XL.

The prices shown here are from the Kickstarter Campaign, however, this may change when selling through their web store. 

Key features 

L £69

• 1.6kg in weight
• External size 420mm x 320mm x 115mm
• Waterproof - but don't submerge it
• Shoulder strap
• 5 mesh pockets for your dice, tokens and templates
• 15mm protective foam layer
• 39mm miniature foam tray - twenty 32mm slots and six larger slots 
• Compartment for GW 2016/2020 cardboard foldable pitch & dugouts

XL £79

As above, with the following differences:

• 1.8kg in weight
• External size 420mm x 320mm x 150mm
• Space for four pens or pencils
• Space for two low profile cups (not included).
• The case is specifically designed to hold two rule books (Such as Blood Bowl Second Season and Death Zone).

I was going to just get the Large case and ram the book in the pockets. Until Duncan (the creator) added the pockets to the XL. If the XL is supposed to carry two rulebooks and you can fit extra gubbins in the pockets I might as well get the bit of extra room and not risk the models by over filling the pockets. 

Not as nice a handle on this case as the Feldherr. It's also a heavier case, designed to cary two rule books and pitch. I think I will be using the shoulder strap on this one. Wolverine for scale.

Rule book slot. I don't know who needs four pens? I'm determined to find an alternative use for these compartments. 

These cases don't come with the dice cup you see here, I got it as an add-on to the Kickstarter. I was very tempted to get a second cup for symmetry but realistically only need one. Might keep my balls in a nice metal tin in the second slot. The dice cup can hold a full GW Blood Bowl dice set if you don't want to store them in the pockets.

Rulebook in, it's designed to hold two rule books. Nice that it has a velcro strap to keep everything secure and in place. 

Mesh pockets 

Filled pockets

Roomy pocket...quite tempting to shove loads of things in there, which is why the Large Case looked more inviting than XL until they were added on the XL.   

15mm protective foam layer 

39mm miniature foam tray empty 

Tray filled

Here I have put the Feldherr foam tray inside the Thick Skull case. I am probably going to use the 34 mixed tray but this makes the point you can cary plenty of minis in here with the right tray for you. The Thick Skull tray fits nicely in the Feldherr case as well.

Bottom designed to hold Games Workshop 2016/2020 Folded Pitch & Dugouts

Here holding the Halfling Pitch 

Final thoughts 

I’m happy with the case, it’s functional, sturdy and good quality. I’m still happy with my Feldherr case and will continue to use it. I see them both filling different roles. My best friend played the Cello and he had a soft and a hard case. The hard case gave the cello the very best protection but it was big unpractical and weighed a ton, making it feel like he was lugging around a coffin.

I’m not saying that the thick skull is heavy and unpractical, but it will be overkill for certain circumstances. With the foam trays being interchangeable I can swap and change dependant on the needs of the situation. I’ve already been storing my finished teams securely in my Feldherr case at home and now I have another tray, I can switch out what I need to bring and pop the tray in the appropriate case and go (if I manage to get out of my hermit shell and do some actual gaming with people).

Thick Skull will be available to buy from Charlie Victor's website. The cases, along with the accessories such as the miniature foams, dice cups, dice bags etc. will go live onto the website store on the 4th of April. It is a limited production run following the Kickstarter, so stock will be limited...if you are interested don't leave it too long.