Storage

Here is a rare photo of the secret underground bunker storage facility for the Bunkermiester Collection.

Years ago I used underbed storage boxes made out of cardboard to hold my collection.  Then I upgraded them by lining them with sheets of thin plywood to prevent the heavy metal and resin kits from folding up the boxes when I picked them up.  I even installed two levels in many boxes to hold almost twice as many models.

Too bad the boxes were too heavy to stack and I anticipated they would be too heavy to pick up when I turn 80.  Some boxes were over 30 pounds, 100 Hot Wheels trucks weights a lot!  I also kept finding mice in the boxes because they liked the cardboard for nesting.  No vehicle damage, thank God.  I also got spiders and silverfish in the boxes.  The silverfish would eat the cardboard and the spiders would leave a mess where they killed various bugs.

So I upgraded to plastic underbed storage boxes, lined with cordoroy cloth.  The ridges on the cloth prevent the vehicles from sliding around.  They are also stackable.  Each box is weighed and a sticker on the end records the weight of each box.  Heavy boxes are stored on the bottom.  Each box has a 3x5 card with the contents marked in marker pen in large letters at the end for easy identification.

Boxes can be stacked up to 11 high but are inspected at least weekly to insure there is no damage, water leaks, rodents, insects, or weight problems.  In over three years I have had no problems with this system.  The initial expense is greater than the cardboad boxes and I no longer layer the boxes so I need about 40% more boxes than I had before.  The boxes will hold at least 50 large Roco vehicles and each box costs less than one vehicle so a pretty good cost to value ratio.  I use four sizes of boxes depending on the contents and I get them from Target stores, they are made by Sterilite.