Meinl Percussion Board Game Bag Review
(AKA The Best Budget Board Game Bag)
The Best Budget Board Game Bag
I just returned from OrcaCon and had a wonderful time playing games for the entire weekend. What I didn’t like was having to continually go back to my hotel room to access my games. While I had a rolling suitcase that could hold 3-4 at a time, I needed something more! (I had quite few games on my to-play list)
After seeing some folks posting about the ChromaCast Bags
First off, I opted for a bag that was designed to be carried by hand, and not on my back. I often have a backpack at conventions with video or audio gear in it, and conventions are where I need the games most! The bag I went with was the Meinl Percussion MSTCJB Standard Cajon Bag (click the link here to purchase on Amazon.com*)
The Meinl Bag Can Easily Fit 7+ Board Games
PROS (AS A BOARD GAME BAG):
INEXPENSIVE
As somebody who is eagerly awaiting my Game Canopy bag from Kickstarter, the first thing that took me by surprise was the price! My bag came in at $25, and the ChromaCast cases are even a couple of bucks cheaper than that! At that price, it was worth it to me to purchase even if the quality ended up being terrible. Luckily, that isn’t the case!
The Zippers and Stitching are Nice and Chunky
QUALITY MATERIALS
I was very satisfied with the quality of the case itself. The padding isn’t too thick, but the canvas material seems durable. The nylon handles are thick and the stitching is very good. I couldn’t tell if the handles extended underneath the bottom of the bag, but they seemed very sturdy. The inside of the bag is also nylon, but the material is much softer than the outside material. I am not concerned with my game boxes being scuffed. Finally, the zippers are quite chunky. They are the only part not covered by the bag warranty, but I don’t anticipate having any issues with them.
IDEAL BOARD GAME DIMENSIONS
The best thing about this bag is that it easily fits a bunch of games! The dimensions are 12.5” x 12.5” x 20”. This means that your standard “Square Box” games fit perfectly. If you’re planning on carrying larger games (Like the Gallerist or something similar) then you’ll have to place them on their side, but there would still be room for a bunch of other games too. As you can see from the pictures above, you can easily fit 7 or more reasonably sized games.
CONS (AS A BOARD GAME BAG):
VERTICAL GAME STORAGE
This actually isn’t a con for me, but I know that a lot of people prefer to store their games horizontally. I store mine vertically so this bag suits my needs, but if you are a staunch horizontalist, I would recommend getting a ChromaCast Bag
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PLANE TRAVEL
The padding on the bag isn’t good enough that I would trust my games being checked as luggage, and the bag is about 3” too wide to fit as a carry-on. However, if the bag wasn’t completely full it could probably fit in an overhead compartment, as it is soft-sided.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
All in all, I am really happy with this purchase. As somebody who is often the one providing games for game night, I am happy to finally have a perfectly sized durable bag to carry my games in! I highly recommend picking one up, and will absolutely keep an item like this on my list of gift ideas for the gamers I know!
-Chris
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