Displaying LEGO sets. Or creations for that matter. Part of the appeal of LEGO vehicles is that, once complete, they can look rather awesome on a shelf. LEGO themselves have recognised this, releasing ever more intricate (and expensive) sets, many with the express aim of being a ‘display piece’. The “Adults Welcome” advertising tagline isn’t for nothing you know.

However, displaying a LEGO model isn’t without faff. Particularly for those responsible for dusting. But what if there was a way to display a LEGO set, or a custom creation, in a crystal clear case, sized perfectly and exactly for the model within it, just like a frame for a picture…

Enter display case specialists BOXXCO, and their brand new officially-LEGO-affiliated range.

Constructed from premium acrylic (which is both recycled and recyclable), BOXXCO’s range of display cases encompasses over 150 LEGO sets at the time of writing, from Technic cars to Harry Potter, and everything in-between. Better yet, cases can also be specified to bespoke dimensions, so if you own a LEGO set not yet catered for, you can create a case to fit it. Or – as we did – you can design the perfect case for your own creation.

Designing a custom case is the work of but a moment via the BOXXCO website; simply input the dimensions of your model (plus a bit), choose your background and base type, and BOXXCO will machine a unique display case accordingly.

Ours – a suitably enormous case for an enormous vehicle – arrived promptly, well packaged, and with each of the five clear acrylic sides covered with a peelable protective film. If you’re the kind of person that revels in peeling the protection from the screen of a new phone, the act of removing BOXXCO’s film is worth the price of admission alone.

Once (satisfyingly) removed, you’re left with five clear panels, a black base, and a few little bags of beautifully machined metal blocks and screws. Read on to find out how we got on with assembly, and what we put inside…*

Assembling BOXXCO’s display cases is straightforward, if a little fiddly, but requires only a flat-head screwdriver/swisscard/butterknife, and took us around 20 minutes. It should’ve taken a little longer though, but more on that in a bit…

The case’s clear panels are attached to one another via the metal blocks and screws, with the resulting five-sided box not screwed to the base, but instead slotting into it, allowing the clear part to be removed from above rather like one of those cake dome thingies.

There is perhaps an argument for a case where the top panel removes, but an advantage of only the base staying put is that a scene or vignette featuring several models can be arranged in-situ and the case lowered around it, which is probably easier for more intricate displays. For our single large vehicle, this also allowed us not to have to squeeze our arms and the model into the case, rather placing the model on the base, then dropping the case over the top.

Said case fitted very well, but it’s at this point we should probably point out that the reason our assembly should’ve taken a little longer than it actually did is that we were four screws short…

Being a bespoke case this was probably a picking error, and our case still worked (the centre blocks perhaps being overkill), but nevertheless if we were a paying customer we would be asking for four more screws in the post. Fortunately our experience with BOXXCO’s customer service proved excellent, and the four missing screws arrived a mere day later.

Once inserted, the resulting display case is very good, with the acrylic proving strong and well cut, with smooth edges and well-aligned holes, holding our model within a beautifully clear box that not only looks very professional itself, it somehow makes our chosen creation look more so too. BOXXCO’s cases are also stackable, thus we can store more models vertically in an allotted space. And no longer have to dust them.

If you’re looking to display your LEGO sets, custom creations, or anything else for that matter, within perfectly-sized cases, take a look at BOXXCO’s LEGO display cases. Over 150 pre-designed cases are on sale for existing LEGO sets, several of which are available with excellent themed backgrounds, plus you can create a bespoke case to your exact requirements too. Just be sure to count the screws.

★★★★

*Nope, we’re still maintaining our secrecy!