Vaikin Box: A modular, portable game & hobby storage system
I am a big fan of minimalism in design and find immense satisfaction in a product that just *works.* I get an extra sense of “fizz” when that function doesn’t need a lot of window dressing to hide the inherent mechanics or resultant imperfections. I don’t want the “Great and Powerful Oz;” I just want a wizard who will serve. Except, in this case, I apparently want a Viking, because the team at Vaikin Kansepts have put together a game and hobby storage box that absolutely will serve, and then some.
The crew of Bless These Dice got to meet with Kris of Vaikin Kansepts at PAX Unplugged 2023. Below is our impression of their Vaikin Box, which was successfully launched via Kickstarter earlier this year, and is now available for order at Backerkit. You can also see our interview with Kris on our YouTube channel here.
So good I can hardly contain-er myself
I tend to think the team at Vaikin Kansepts grew up in a similar environment as I did. I am of the age where containers are of magical importance. We grew up with a Singer sewing box in the closet that always had so much more in it than sewing materials. Later, the venerable Plano tackle box would take its place as the preferred mechanism for household storage, in multiple iterations, and sometimes even for fishing lures! Today, I try to instill this sense of container organization in my children, by providing them with sturdy wooden cigar boxes to hide their vacation treasures and knickknacks in. There’s just something about the olfactory aspect of a nicely crafted wood box. The Vaikin Box plays into all that nostalgia.
The box is constructed of thin wood panels, as are all the inserts and connectors. Vaikin designed the modules for self-assembly. You simply match tongue to groove and secure with glue (provided in the kit).
The base levels of the kit are typically drawers, providing a sound foundation for the levels above. One adds modules using wood connectors and Chicago screws, threaded through pre-drilled holes. The genius of the modular design is displayed in the addition of tray modules that are meant to hinge out, in a fashion reminiscent of a tackle box. This patent-pending design allows the Vaikin Box to expand with your needs, in a limitless fashion.
Each tray can be further enhanced through the use of wooden inserts, to add compartments to the trays. The sizing of the compartments is also modular and adjustable. Vaikin even has some inserts designed specifically to hold paint pots and dropper bottles.
The wood’s what makes it good…and a bit pricey
Vaikin uses their patented design and superior materials here to create an experience that is more than the sum or its parts. Do gamers and hobbyists find other solutions for storage today? Sure they do. The genius behind the Vaikin Box is that is allows for flexibility in the overall composition of the entire unit, by leveraging the inherent modular design.
For example, the Kickstarter page for the Vaikin Box showcases a unit designed specifically for a game of “Zombicide!.” The contents of that game seem to require two draws, two deeper trays, and a shallow top tray. Voila! You have a game in a box! But it’s a purpose built box, with no more or less than what you need for that game. Now, suppose you buy an expansion kit for that specific game. You can easily expand the unit to meet these additional needs. You can’t do that with a tackle box.
I believe the reason this works so well is due to the use of wood and Chicago screws. Plastic would seem to make obvious sense, but most industrial plastics at these dimensions have too much flex and play to be sturdy. Wood is the only resource that makes sense for this purpose. The addition of Chicago screws ensures that your fasteners don’t eventually loosen or strip the wood over time, especially in the hinges, making for a better experience overall.
These superior materials unfortunately result in additional costs. At time of writing, a drawer module kit costs $54 and and tray module kit costs $32. A tray hinge set costs $10 and a box lid goes for $25. That’s about $120 for a very basic DIY kit. Vaikin offers bundles that range from $139-$259. Admittedly, that could buy a lot of Plano tackle boxes.
Final observations
The Vaikin Box is a product of superior design and materials, that deftly yields an experience of convenience and personalization. Does that experience warrant the associated costs? That’s something that you have to decide for yourself. I will here remark, however, that I personally witnessed Kris take his own bundled cube, contents and all, and stand on it…multiple times. While I don’t think “step-stool” is one of the recommended functions of the Vaikin Box, it’s nice to see a product that a manufacturer not only stands behind, but confidently upon.
