The core trade-off
Storing miniatures comes down to two methods, and the difference matters most for painted figures. Foam trays cradle each model in a cut pocket — simple, protective, and easy to start with. Magnets glue under each base and hold the figure to a steel or magnetically-receptive sheet, so nothing ever touches the model's surface. Foam needs no prep; magnets are gentler on paint and store odd shapes better. Most of the debate is really about whether your minis are painted, and how often you move them.
Why foam is falling out of favor
For finished, painted models, the mood among hobbyists has shifted hard toward magnets, and the complaints about foam are consistent.
- Paint rub: models rest on their bodies in foam, and the contact points wear the paint over time — hobbyists regularly report dull grey rub spots even on varnished figures.
- Snapped detail: thin, spiky parts like spears, antennae, banners, and wings catch on the foam as you lift a model and snap.
- Wasted space: figures are designed to rest on the base, not the torso, so foam trays hold fewer models per inch of depth than a flat magnetic sheet.
- The sentiment you hear most: people who switch say they cringe looking at their old foam trays now.
Foam still has real defenders
It is not a clean sweep. A meaningful minority stick with foam, and their reasons hold up. Foam gives genuine drop protection — a magnetized base can still let a model tip if the sheet flexes, and some hobbyists simply don't trust magnets no matter how strong. Foam also conforms around slightly oversized or converted models with no per-model prep, which makes it the easy answer for a big collection you don't want to magnetize one base at a time. And it shines for unpainted or work-in-progress models you can't easily magnetize yet — many keep an old foam case as the 'jail' for backburner and WIP figures.
If you use foam, use the right foam
The type of foam matters. Pluck (pick-and-pluck) foam — perforated cubes you pull out to shape a cavity — beats fixed pre-cut trays for anything oddly shaped, because you can size the pocket to the exact model instead of forcing it into a generic slot. Another common trick is to cut out the dividing walls between compartments so a wide or winged model fits across several. Skip the old zigzag-foam cases entirely; they were built for a generation of smaller, simpler models and don't fit today's tall, detailed kits.
Space and prep: the practical difference
Beyond paint, the two methods differ in how much they hold and how much work they cost you up front. Foam trades space for zero prep — you buy the tray, drop models in, and you're done, but every model eats a body-height pocket whether it needs it or not. Magnets trade prep for density: you spend an evening gluing a magnet under each base, and in return a flat sheet holds a row of infantry standing shoulder to shoulder with no wasted depth. For a small skirmish force the prep barely matters and foam is quick; for a full army the space savings and paint safety of magnets tend to win out, which is why larger collections drift magnetic over time.
How to choose
Match the method to the minis and the use. Unpainted or sturdy plastic figures are perfectly happy in foam or a divider box — there's no paint to protect. Painted, fragile, or expensive figures are better magnetized, where no surface ever rubs. Many hobbyists land on both: magnets on stackable boxes for home storage, and a foam case reserved for the few oversized or ultra-fragile single models that magnets can't hold well. If you only pick one and your minis are painted, magnets win for most people — foam becomes the specialist tool, not the default.
The hybrid most people settle on
After enough chipped paint, a lot of collectors stop treating it as an either/or. The common endpoint: magnetize the bases, store the bulk of the army on receptive sheets in stackable boxes at home, and keep one foam or padded case for travel and for the handful of models — big single centerpieces, delicate conversions — that a magnet can't hold reliably. That way the day-to-day storage is dense and paint-safe, and foam does the one job it's still clearly best at, cushioning the awkward models against a hard knock. It's more setup than either method alone, but it's the answer most people arrive at once a collection grows.