In the beginning, I had several companies in mind to work with. One of those companies I never believed would take any interested in my work at all was Wyrmwood Gaming. But it’s touching and thoughtful showings of their appreciation like this that still blow my damn mind.
Today, we take a look at the Custom Hero Vault!
Materials
We’ve taken a look at the base materials from Wyrmwood, and their design philosophy, three times now:
Wyrmwood Gaming Review: Dice Tray (Adventurer’s Gift Set Lottery)
Wyrmwood Gaming Review: Complete Zebrawood Dice Tower System
We see the same philosophy return this time around to great effect.
Wyrmwood takes great care to present their products in a very low-key fashion. They let the quality of the wood and the quality of their work stand for itself – which I think is a smart move. Other companies hammer you over the head with overdone bright and colorful packaging to grab attention without delivering any real theme.
Anyone else feel like you’re choosing a harry potter wand any time you pull out one of these Wyrmwood boxes? That’s the exact vibe they’re going for, and they nail it.
Cherry wood is a fantastic wood to use for practically everything: jewelry boxes, tables, cutting boards, buttons – you can use cherry for practically everything.
Those of you looking to purchase can rest assured – cherry is not only a pretty affordable offering but it’s striking and beautiful.
Fastenings
Wyrmwood stays true with the mechanically seated and powerful magnets that keep their cases closed. The benefits: you’ll never have a magnet slip, and in the incredible case that something happens – it can be easily repaired. Screws are almost always better than glue for seating these magnets. Almost always.
I’m not overly happy with how much ragged tearing there is around the magnets, the bore holes drilled for the magnets must have been done with a dull bit or maybe just the cherry needed a slower/higher speed. I’m told this is uncommon – and it’s one of the first times I’ve seen it, for sure.
Security
Not only does this case sport four powerful magnets on the base and the lid:
It has extremely ample foam cushioning in a deep recess. The Hero Vault is FAR deeper than I originally imagined.
The impressive amount of padding and an unshakable lid mean that whatever you decide to put in this vault will be, true to the name, as protected as you can make it.
Uses
So, I originally didn’t care to purchase a Hero Vault because they seemed pointless for me. If you cannot tell, I do not use miniatures at all – this one was a gift from a patron along with a few others. It works wonderfully for storing miniatures – it’s true.
But I had to take into account – how many people would be like me? Would not carry around a $30 Heroforge mini they hand painted (not pictured)?
Well, the hero vault is incredibly deep.
You get a solid 1/2 inch of clearance in the lid and in the base – and there’s a lot of things you can fit in such a space.
From the outside, the vault towers over traditional 26-30mm dice as well:
So – storing dice is a go to. It completely SWALLOWS a 7pc set. For those of you with Artisan dice or Norse foundry dice – this is THE BEST alternative to their provided packaging!
Even better than that, for all you Kraken Dice fans – the hero vault comfortably fits an 11pc set!
I know it looks like the dice are pouring over the sides, but once you snap the lid on, all of the dice are pressed into the foam liners and held firmly – they don’t even rattle. When you pull the lid back off, the dice naturally stack themselves to fill the space.
Considering there are few options (currently: keep an eye out in the coming weeks!) for storing 11pc sets of dice, this could be a great option for you collectors out there. You can even have your dice and the collection number laser etched onto the lid of the hero vault! “Iconic Blue 7/800”
Final Thoughts
Wyrmwood impresses me. Their business model, how thoughtful and appreciative they are of the community and reviewers like me. Their guarantees and thoughtful products… they impress me every day.
The Hero Vault flew under my radar for quite a while because I do not care for miniatures, but now I look at all the Gemstone dice I’ve crammed into other containers and think “what a missed opportunity!”
Take a look at these guys and see what you think. For as little as $30 (or as much as $205 with all of the engraving options and liner options) you can snag one of these Cherry Hero Vaults and keep those very expensive purchases as safe as possible – it’s just a bonus that the cases themselves are beautiful enough to be considered art in their own right!
I don’t always advocate rolling, but when I do… be sure you have to Drop the Die.
Review by JB Little, Follow me on twitter for more “useful” information.