Shout out to Battlefoam.com!




After seeing a youtube video by Romeo at Battlefoam, I knew I had to have one. So, after a quick phonecall out to Phoenix, I had one on the way!

First of all, why? Why did I need Battlefoam? Well, if you ever saw my Army Sabol Division case, you would instantly know why. The thing was a loose fitting miss match of ill looking pluck foam trays. Half the trays were falling apart and I rarely got them all to fit correctly in the bag twice in a row. Worse yet, the trays bounced inside the tray, sometimes standing up the models, then getting them broken under the other trays. When I saw Romeo's movie on youtube, I knew he had the answer.

Battlefoam 1520 Case with custom space marine loadout:

He has a couple of different ways to help you. The most simple way, and the way that helped me, was to give me a pretty much custom load of trays in my new case for my large space marine army. He asked me in particular if I had any major needs, then filled my case with trays that would meet my needs. He did not actually have to cut any trays for me, but he could have! That is what is fantastic about Battlefoam.com.

You read right! If you have a weird shaped model, they will custom cut your trays to fit it! No more need to pluck foam and have your tray fall apart. Instead, you will get a sturdy tray with a hole cut in it that is perfect to fit any model you want.

That was not a huge deal for me, but the coolest part was the branding for my trays. They laser inscribed Blood Angels into most of my trays, and also gave me some thin foam dividers with my Jawaballs! logo and Blood Angels on them. You can see them in the video.

The first video I am posting is of me receiving my new transport and opening the box. I will also be uploading a video about how my army fits into my new case in a couple of days. I am finishing my army up for my trip to Bolscon and will show a tray by tray breakdown.

I only have two cons to the transport. It would not be a fair review without expressing them. The first is that the slots in the trays were pretty tight for my marines. If you have standard bolter marines on GW bases, they will fit fine, but my marines are mostly assault marines, with their arms flailing about holding swords and guns, on thick Scenic Resin Bases and in short, did not fit into any of the standard trays I received. But this was easily solved with a quick phone call to Romeo! I should have explained to him the girth of my models and he would have suggested thicker trays with "Assault Marine" slots cut into them. So I make that suggestion to you! Be sure to ask for larger slots to fit your assault marines. In fact, I suggest you go to his website and print out his "Custom Tray" form and make sure you have filled it out for ANY and all models in your army. The pro to my con is that if you have a model problem, Romeo has a solution. Just take the time to fill out your investment and communicate what you need!

The other con I have is minor. The 1520 is a huge, modular pack. It can be divided into two parts if you choose to only play with a smaller part of your army, or carried as a whole if you need to bring it all! The bottom and larger of the two parts has backpack straps, which are a nice touch... but the "backpack" feature is a little clunky and tight, especially for larger dudes like me. Once I had it on my back I needed help to get it off! It was actually sorta claustrophobic, and I would hate to have to travel and walk across a huge airport carrying it on my back. I would suggest the addition of shoulder straps to both parts of the case, or at least connector parts that shoulder straps can be snapped onto if the user desires. The actual straps can be put on as desired, and removed and stored inside the case when not in use.

So there you go! Over all, the Battlefoam.com 1520 army transport gets a huge Jawa-nod. If you have been eyeballing them, I suggest you go ahead and take the plunge. You will be 100% satisfied. It is a sturdy and attractive army transport solution, and will definitely stand out in that boring sea of black.

Oh, in addition, Romeo made the statement that the transports meet airline regulations for carry on luggage. This was important to me since a major reason I bought this transport was to take it to Bolscon! I called jetblue, my airline, and gave them the exact dimensions of the transport to make sure I would have no problem bringing them on the plane, and Romeo was right! A+

This review is only partial since I think that in this case, the videos will do all the talking. Be looking soon for part two of this review, once my army is finished and the transport is packed up.

Go buy a Battlefoam transport!

Don't forget to tell them Jawaballs sent you! Hey may even throw you a little bone.

Jawaballs

12 comments:

CJ said...

Hey Jawwa,

Looking at their website I can't quit make up all their tray system they have 3 kinds of costum trays but what's the difference? and is it really 30$ a tray?

Cheers CJ

Schnitzel said...

These trays are totally top notch. The foam is thick and highly durable. I ordered my 1520 SM load out a couple months back and love it! Wish I had thought to ask for the slots to be cut slightly bigger though... not exactly CSM friendly.
My only real gripe is that the glue holding the foam together often catches some of my minis when I pluck them from their tray. This issue has degressed overtime as the glue has lost it's "stick" in regards to my minis, however I have had to glue one figure too many back together after transport.
I still need to buy the 1520 transfort case. I imagine I will here shortly... after my next pay check. Along with another troop tray to fit my mass of Obliterators. ;)

pissclams said...

battle foam makes trays that fit there own case, the GW cases and the sabol army transports. Hence the 3 different types.

Thx for the review Jawa. how long did it take to get the case once delivered ?

Jawaballs said...

It is not cheap, but the expensive ones are the ones that are custom cut for your army. You can save some cash by simply getting precut generic army loadouts, like the "necron" set. And it took 6 days to arrive. They sent it FedEx with a tracking number. The shipping was reasonable, and if you tell him I sent you, hey may even help you out... ask him!

Jawaballs said...

If you have questions, don't be confused, just call and ask Romeo, he is pretty helpful.

Doc Railgun said...

Damn. Now I HAVE to hit the lottery... with Space Hulk and this out there for me to get.

Lucky JB... will your fiance be upset now that everyone knows how hot she is? I fear her feet will never grace another JB video.

Jawaballs said...

If I have my way its not her pair of feet she has to be concerned with...

Anonymous said...

I think this review sold me; I'll be picking up some Battlefoam for my Elysians once I flesh out the army a bit more.

Jawaballs said...

Make sure you tell him I sent you!

Flekkzo said...

"especially for larger dudes like me."

Larger than life dude, larger than life :)

And I hope your minis fare better than mine did in their last flight. Investing in good transport makes a difference. I look forward to your "having used it"-review.

SorcererDave said...

I've never used foam at all really. Couldn't afford it... Up until now I've always used an old toolbox, but my models would always get trashed when I took them somewhere. Thanks for the heads up on Battlefoam.com, I'm strongly considering getting a small set from them.

Sabb said...

It's a great product, but I can't warrant buying one based on how Romeo treats his 3rd party vendors (aka your LFGS Owners). He's a giant prick with some pretty crazy demands. It's only a matter of time before Sabol gets their act together(which is in the rumor mill), or some with a laser decides to do the same as BF.

I love how the 1520 no longer comes with full loadout of foam like it originally did but the price stayed the same

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