Editor’s Note: Apologies for not getting this up yesterday as scheduled, it was all ready but we were exhausted from the convention on Saturday and it completely slipped my mind to actually click “Publish.”

It seemed fitting to begin this series by talking about one of my all-time favorites games, and definitely the board game I’ve put the most money into: Legendary! I own everything for the base game and Villains side-game (except the Champions expansion as it just released recently)  as well as 2 of the Encounters boxes (Alien and Firefly).

Sufficed to say, that’s a lot of content! I bought the Broken Token insert for the base game box awhile back (I didn’t know there was one for the Villains box as well until after I had already gotten rid of that one) but I quickly outgrew that space one I started acquiring the big box expansions (350+ cards each!). I needed something more, and the idea of having just a bunch of small boxes stacked on top of one another didn’t appeal to me.

So I started searching around, and some people were having luck using the Hobby Lobby Artist’s Supply Sketch Box with a Broken Token generic card frame inside it. This seemed like a good option for me as I already like and trust BT inserts and the artist’s cases aren’t super pricey. The problem was, which of the inserts to use? There were several different sizes with different amounts of cards that they hold. I wasn’t sure if the Legendary cards were too tall to stand upright in the vertical insert or if I needed the one where they lay horizontally (but I wanted as much space as possible).

I started a thread on Board Game Geek to inquire if other people had experience with the different Sketch Box inserts and was told something interesting: you don’t actually necessarily need an insert. Someone suggested just using the large box expansion boxes inside the Sketch Box in lieu of an insert as they fit almost perfectly. So I tried it out.

The result is something that is cheaper than getting an insert and works very nearly as well (though without the fancy wooden dividers). As you can see above, 2 expansion boxes fit snugly next to each other in the Sketch Box with only like half an inch or less of extra space depth-wise (so the boxes can slide a little but not enough to risk damage). Inside each expansion box I can easily fit an entire expansion’s worth of cards in one column with foam dividers between sections and the cardboard/paper dividers that come with various sets between card types or sets.

This yields 2 expansions per box and 4 per Sketch Box. With the base game cards and all small box expansions (100 cards each) in the base game box (with the BT insert), I can then fit all other current non-Encounters content into my 2 Sketch Boxes (including the Villains base set and expansion) with room for new sets. My second Sketch Box is actually rather empty right now as it only has 1 big box set in it and the Villains stuff, so I have plenty of room to expand without having to look at additional storage solutions for a long time.

I have it organized with each expansion in its own column (except Secret Wars vol.’s 1 and 2 because they’re basically one huge set) currently because I haven’t had a chance to play through each set independently yet (I usually start with that because the cards were designed to work with each other and it’s fun to see the new mechanics and such work together). Once I do I will take some of the foam out and do more streamlined organizing which will free up even more space. This setup should last me quite awhile! (or if I decide to get rid of the base game box I should be able to fit all those cards into the Sketch Boxes as well)

Currently I’ve decided to keep each Encounters set in its own box 1) to keep them organized with themselves and 2) so that I can keep the playmats with them. I have an under-bed bin where I store all my various playmats for other games (including the Villain one) so I might move these to there at some point and may combine them both into a single box (it depends on whether or not I decide to pick up the expansion for the Alien set) but this works just fine for now.

Overall, this storage system provides a LOT of room (even if I end up deciding to sleeve my collection later) and plenty of different ways to organize the cards (depending on your personal organizational style). I hope this insight into how I organize/store my collection is helpful for those looking to do something similar with theirs. I’d love to hear how others have done things differently or similarly so feel free to comment here or send me a note on social media!

Game On!
Scott – The Solitary Meeple