To preface this review, I want to be upfront. I’m not a blogger or a professional reviewer of
some sort. I’m a professional writer and marketing consultant, and A-Case is one of my clients.
With that being said, I promised Aleksander an unbiased review – so here it is.

I received by A-Case Hybrids on Thursday and got around to assembling them on Friday night.
Now, I’ve been a big fan of the A-Case+, Aleksander’s first kickstarted miniature carrying case.
It was the case that convinced me to move away from foam-based transportation of miniatures
and move to a magnetic method. A little bit of history, I’ve been a miniature wargamer and
hobbyist for the past 25 years. One major drawback with foam is the tendency for more delicate
parts of a model to get caught on the foam – having it break (in the case of plastic) or bend (in
the case of pewter). One other drawback is friction – when you place a model in a foam case
and then remove it, the friction of the foam against the model often causes wear and tear on the
paint, slowly pulling it from the model. Having spent long hours not only painting models, but
having to touch them up before tournaments and big gaming events, I can tell you that this is
less than convenient, and one of the biggest reasons I now prefer magnetic transportation
options versus foam storage.

This doesn’t mean that magnetic storage doesn’t come with its own set of headaches. They
tend to be heavier than foam, and of course, it requires magnets and a way to attach those
magnets to the base. This can also be an inconvenience, as magnets can pull themselves loose
from the base if the super glue used to attach them is compromised. This can lead to a model
falling over and being rattled around, not only damaging the model but also other models with it.
I’m finding the best way to attach magnets is with an epoxy that is filed down flat after it has
dried. This seems like a lot of work, but it really is super simple to do and literally takes about 5
minutes – about the time epoxy takes to dry.

Even with that as a potential drawback, if done properly, magnetic storage easily outweighs foam options when it comes to protecting your models and the hours of work that you put into assembling and painting them. In addition to this, you can store FAR more models in a magnetic case – giving you a convenient option for storage and for moving your models from your home to your friendly local game store.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about the assembly of the A-Case Hybrid. When I opened
the box, I was pleased to see that instead of being flat scored pieces of metal, it was actually pre-bent pieces of powder coated aluminum. This was extremely lightweight though sturdy and extremely easy to assemble. You simply put the backing and sides together, then flip it vertically to squeeze the top and bottom on. It creates a very solid base to slip inside of the corded fabric bag it comes with. This is a huge improvement on the A-Case+, which required you to bend the model following the included instructions, which could result in broken pieces or even uneven frames if not done properly. Assembling all three bags took less than an hour, and I was ready to start filling them with models.

Kane – The Beast!

I’m going to start with A-Case’s largest product – The Kane. This thing is a beast! It’s more like miniature transportation luggage than a case. When compared to its closest competitor in terms of size, it is roughly the same height, though slightly less deep – by about 2.5 cm (or an inch for all of you American readers). Standing roughly 56 cm (22”) tall, 41 cm (16”) wide, and 23 cm (9”) deep, I can’t imagine it not holding all the models that you could possibly want. I don’t play a lot of large scale wargames – so, unfortunately, I don’t have a massive 40k or Age of Sigmar army to show off in the cases, but I do play A Song of Ice and Fire by CMON and I also have a HUGE collection of Zombicide Black Plague/Green Horde models and those from Massive Darkness. Since I didn’t have time to magnetize my entire collection of boardgame miniatures, my modest collection of ASOIAF miniatures will have to suffice.

As you can see, you can fit A LOT of miniatures in this bag. Since I don’t have a lot of extremely large models, I plan on ordering four more trays so I can easily bring my Zombicide to the local game store for an evening of fun. The many different pouches on the bag make it idea as well for storing huge games like Zombicide, where you’ll need a game board and cards as well. One of my clients who commissioned me to paint all of his Kingdom Death was asking if this case would make it easier for him to transport the game at conventions, where he often runs demos. I can say with full confidence that this is the product for him, given that it also has a handy set of straps hidden away that can transform this bag into a handy backpack. In a test performed for Aleksander, took a quick run with the bag on, and when I opened it, all of the models were still in pace. Though I’m sure that’s a pretty extreme example, walking casually through a convention hall or even using as transportation on the back of a motorcycle shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Messenger

The Messenger Bag is the best option for gamers who don’t need to transport a ridiculous amount of models, or particularly large ones (such as Imperial Knights or some of the large monsters included in games like Kingdom Death). At a modest 33 cm (13”) tall, 41 cm (16”) wide and 12 cm (8”) deep, it can fit all of my Infinity models – and it is not a small collection. It’s lightweight due to the aluminum frame and has the same high-quality exterior present with the other models of the Hybrid. It only has a single large pouch in the front, but that is more than enough room for a laptop. One of the shortcomings of this bag is that the trays aren’t the same size as the trays for the Kane, meaning that you will need additional trays for both bags if you want to swap them out. Here is a picture of the interior of the Messenger bag, containing my Ariadna, Combined Army, and Druze forces – with room to spare. The height and width are ideal for a game like infinity, as it still gives you room to store your TAGs, and your larger models, or normal sized models that have extremely large weapons. I could see this being a favorite for skirmish game players or those who only want to transport a specific force for larger wargames, such as Warhammer or Warmachine.

Victory 2.0

The Victory 2.0 is a great little case, though it doesn’t bring anything new to the fore. Slightly smaller than the A-Case+, it improves on the design of it by having a powder coated interior along with wider slots to fit the trays. Outside of that, it is pretty much the same product, with a few improvements. This case is fantastic for smaller games such as Kill Teams, Necromunda, Bloodbowl, or a great compact case that fits a couple of 300 point Infinity forces when attending tournaments. Kingdom Death is brought up once again as if you’re traveling out for a single night of fun – it can be used to transport a few heroes and a big monster. I’ve included some old Confrontation Models in here, along with some models from Legends of Signum, and Kingdom Death to show scale. I’ve also included a picture of my entire Combined Army, in this case, just to show it’s maximum capacity.

Not a bad little case considering that’s well over 600 points of Combined Army ferocity waiting to menace mankind.

Comparing to Others

The last thing I wanted to do with this review is comparing it to some of the other magnetic products on the market. A huge reason I love the A-Case+ and this iteration of the A-Case is you can slide out the shelves to remove models. I once made the mistake of reaching into a bag with a fixed magnetic tray (ie. does NOT slide out) and happened to knock over my Avatar model (which is a super big, heavy pewter beast). Once the magnets on the bottom were exposed, it flipped a bunch of my smaller models – I don’t think I need to go into too much detail on how much carnage that caused to my collection. This is why a magnetic miniature carrying case MUST have sliding shelves. You are risking too much by not having the ability to remove the shelf to pull your models off.

Remarks

One thing that was mentioned in some comments I read recently was metal sliding against metal was a problem. I think I understand what the commenter was referring to, and it was the difficulty sometimes in removing a shelf from the A-Case+. One thing about this new design is the powder coating of the shelves really eliminates that concern. The texture on the shelves is almost like Teflon – they seriously slide seamlessly away from each other – something I really like about this redesign.

Conclusion

In conclusion, is this a product worth purchasing? I think that really depends on what your needs are. I know that this review is not going to convince someone who is a die-hard foam guy to switch over to magnetic transportation, nor should it. If you are happy with a case that stacks your models on top of one another, takes up way too much room, and damages them every time you have to remove them – stick with it what you have – you obviously have more time than money to keep on fixing broken models.

If you are like me a few years ago, sick of touching up your painted models and wishing there was another way for you to transport your miniatures without risk of damaging them – I’m telling you the answer is here. This is simply the most affordable and versatile miniature case on the market – period. If you buy this case as thousands did during the first campaign, I can guarantee you that you will be sold on the quality and convenience of this product. Ask anyone who took part in their first campaign how happy they are with their A-Case, and you will see for yourself how The A-Case changed how their transportation game forever.

Kickstarter Campaign