Best way to store mint sets?

[HarryVader]

Hey guys:

I’m a big mint lego set collector. Although I built many of my Lego sets, but many of them are still in mint condition. I don’t plan to build these ”investment sets” anytime soon. I would love to keep them in a mint condition. Right now, I stack boxes with the same dimensions on top of one another on a table. For example, $100 size boxes go on top of $100 size boxes, the $20 size boxes go on top of $20 size boxes, etc. This method of tracking really saved me a lot of space. 

However, I read somewhere online that as I stack more boxes on top of one another, the bottom ones will be in danger of being crushed. Is this true? Should I store my boxes vertically on a shelf instead? But I also heard that you’re supposed to store these boxes flat and I don’t know what to do now?

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

[Roadmonkeytj]

I store my boxes flattened in the recycling bin so im not an expert by any means however from my scale model days cardboard and any paper product for that matter has a tinsel strength.  Eventually you will reach it once the stack gets tall enough or heavy enough the bottom box witll start to bow.  Where ever you store them you want to avoid direct sunlight and extra handling.  

If you just want to collect to say you have them then extra shelving in a closet would work.  However i would recomend vertical storage easily displayed on a wall where you can lovingly dust them constantly.

 

[Mister Phes]

On 4/22/2019 at 6:54 AM, HarryVader said:

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

A storage facility with climate control and air filtering would be great!

But at the very least avoid stacking the boxes on top of each other as the weight of the contents can distort the boxes, particularly those closer to the bottom.

Instead, store them on their sides like a book (but not stacked), in cool dry environment out of direct sunlight, ideally in a dust proof cabinet.

[HarryVader]

32 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

A storage facility with climate control and air filtering would be great!

But at the very least avoid stacking the boxes on top of each other as the weight of the contents can distort the boxes, particularly those closer to the bottom.

Instead, store them on their sides like a book (but not stacked), in cool dry environment out of direct sunlight, ideally in a dust proof cabinet.

Thank you for the advice!

[Mister Phes]

2 hours ago, HarryVader said:

Thank you for the advice!

No problemo!

Which MISB sets do you have?  Are they recent sets or vintage sets?

[HarryVader]

57 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

No problemo!

Which MISB sets do you have?  Are they recent sets or vintage sets?

I have a lot of MISB sets, most of them are new sets. I guess I have a weird habit of liking to keep my sets in a brand new condition. It saves up a lot of space so you can buy more sets than if you were to build all of them. 

18 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

I store my boxes flattened in the recycling bin so im not an expert by any means however from my scale model days cardboard and any paper product for that matter has a tinsel strength.  Eventually you will reach it once the stack gets tall enough or heavy enough the bottom box witll start to bow.  Where ever you store them you want to avoid direct sunlight and extra handling.  

If you just want to collect to say you have them then extra shelving in a closet would work.  However i would recomend vertical storage easily displayed on a wall where you can lovingly dust them constantly.

 

Thank you for the help!

Edited August 9 by HarryVader

[HarryVader]

4 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

A storage facility with climate control and air filtering would be great!

But at the very least avoid stacking the boxes on top of each other as the weight of the contents can distort the boxes, particularly those closer to the bottom.

Instead, store them on their sides like a book (but not stacked), in cool dry environment out of direct sunlight, ideally in a dust proof cabinet.

Another question, if there’s a space limitation and I must stack the boxes, how many of them (maximum) should I stack without worrying about the problem you talked about?

[Roadmonkeytj]

I wouldnt stack more than 3 or 4 personally but it you got the adjustable shelves for like closets that would let you store more.

[Mister Phes]

10 hours ago, HarryVader said:

Another question, if there’s a space limitation and I must stack the boxes, how many of them (maximum) should I stack without worrying about the problem you talked about?

With any stacking, the weight of the boxes on top have the potential to damage or distort the the boxes below.

However, it also depends on the size of the set, if you put the larger sets on the bottom and smaller sets on top this should alleviate or eliminate the issue.

For example; a $5 set on top of a $200 set is likely to have negligible weight impact, but you've got to use your own judgement because sets don't always weigh equally according size.

[HarryVader]

2 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

With any stacking, the weight of the boxes on top have the potential to damage or distort the the boxes below.

However, it also depends on the size of the set, if you put the larger sets on the bottom and smaller sets on top this should alleviate or eliminate the issue.

 For example; a $5 set on top of a $200 set is likely to have negligible weight impact, but you've got to use your own judgement because sets don't always weigh equally according size.

Now I stack about 5 boxes with the exact same size together, since I feel that can at least distribute some weights equally. So far it's working fine, but I'll continue to observe.

Edited August 10 by HarryVader

[Mister Phes]

Just now, HarryVader said:

Now I stack about 5 boxes with the exact same size together, since I feel that can at least distribute some weights equally. So far it's working fine, but I'll continue to observe.

I'd go smaller on top just to be safe...

[HarryVader]

Just now, Mister Phes said:

I'd go smaller on top just to be safe...

Ok, I'll try that. Thanks! :)