How do you organize large quantities of minis

[Bumbles]

Well, I don't do it much myself, but I have a friend who uses metal boxes to tote his minis around. Why metal you ask? Because he's gotten little magnets which he glues to the bottoms of them.

This makes for easier and safer transportation.

 

[karlindel]

I use transparent plastic tool storage cases (from Akro-Mils) which open at the top and are subdivided into 15 smaller sections. I have 2 cases for PC types, 1 for NPC bad guys, 1 for humanoid monsters, 1 for Undead, 1 for Animals, 1 for Elementals and Dragons, and 1 for Outsiders/Aberrations. I use the smaller sections to sub-categorize them (i.e. Human-sword and shield, Human-polearm, Human-healer, Elf-Archers). I also have 2 cases of Large miniatures. I keep my huge miniatures (and Large ones that don't fit properly in the storage cases) in a hand-carried bag.

 

[WampusCat43]

Most of my players have young kids, so we've taken to using empty Baby Wipe boxes, marked with what's inside them. Adorable little sky-blue ****ers stacked up, with labels like "Vermin" on the front. Makes it easy to put a single mini back in the box without having to open it - just shove him through the slot.

The big guys sit on a shelf. It keeps them from breeding.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Trying to find my old group from Louisville in the 80's. Dave Miller, Neal O'Koon (found!), Jamie Fish (found through here!)...

Forgive the slight thread-detour, but ... Louisville, Kentucky?

I would have sworn the entire Louisville crowd in the 80s came through Games Galore at one time or another, yet I don't recognize any of the names on your list. (My first AD&D DM was a Baptist minister and seminary student named Steve Brown; I still see him pretty much every year at GenCon.) Feel free to PM.

 

[Nebulous]

I have a very large volume of metal and plastic minis.

They're arranged in different ways, most of the older metal ones in the same safe storage cases. Newer WotC ones i keep in the boxes in which i ordered them (i buy singles) with prints of the minis in the case. For big bundles, like PCs/Npcs, Humanoid monsters, Goblinoids(small monsters), Undead, etc, i keep in separate boxes. I also use clear plastic baggies, especially for specific encounters before a game.

 

[Dausuul]

My current setup has a bunch of plastic storage units with drawers for pre-painted plastic minis. I have the following drawers at the moment:

--Demons and Devils
--Angels and Elementals
--Giant Humanoids (giants, ogres, trolls)
--Monstrous Humanoids (human-sized, humanoid monsters that don't belong to one of the orc/goblin races)
--Constructs (golems, animated statues)

--Humans ("generic" humans that come in groups, e.g., archers, footmen, cultists)
--Orcs and Goblins (orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears)
--Undead

--Animals (real-world vertebrates, plus giant varieties of same)
--Vermin (real-world invertebrates, plus giant varieties of same)

--Miscellaneous Heroes (unique humans and members of other PC races; players who don't bring their own minis use these)
--Miscellaneous Monsters (any monster that doesn't go in any of the above categories)

Since some of the dragon minis are way too big to fit in drawers, dragons go on top of the storage units. Painted metal minis are on a separate shelf so they don't get knocked around as much.

 

[Oryan77]

I have these mounted on my wall:
Stack-On 39-Drawer Organizer
and
Stack-On 18-Drawer Storage Cabinet, Gray

for my large size and smaller minis.

And I use these:
Sterilite Wide 3-Drawer Cart - White : Target

for my huge and bigger sized minis.

I'm an organization freak, so I also have clear plastic labels on all the drawers so I know what is in them. Everything is separated by monster type.

These things work great and they allow me to quickly and easily find what I want.

And don't tell anyone, but I also like to store minis under my bedsheets and bury myself under them. When my wife asks if that's a clear plastic sword poking her or am I glad to see her, it really is a clear plastic sword.

 

[Invisible Stalker]

I use these plastic bins of various sizes from Office Depot called "Really Useful Box" that easily stack

Box #1: PCs
Box #2: NPCs, cultists, flunkies, humanoids
Box #3: dragons and the rust monster
Box #4: animals both fantastic and mundane
Box #5: elementals and constructs
Box #6: giants, trolls, ogres, devils

those six are big, these are much smaller

Box #7: orcs
Box #8: goblins (waiting for Irontooth in two weeks)
Box #9: kobolds
Box #10: skeletons
Box #11: zombies
Box #12: other undead
Box #13: lizardmen and troglodytes
Box #14: gnolls
Box #15: hobgoblins
Box #16: various enemies (derro, azer, quickling etc.)

 

[messy]

yikes! how many minis do you people have??

(rhetorical question, but replies are welcome )

messy

 

[jeffhartsell]

Seven 5-shelf bookcases with 2 additional shelves added to each.

Gargantuan and larger minis on the tops.

But, looking for a new system since it looks like I might need to give that room back.

Jody, say it ain't so!?

Anyway, I too use a selve system so I can see all of the minis. I just use 6 shelves currently compared to the 37 Jody needs. I just started collecting them to run friends through H1-P3.