Are OnBrick's Custom LEGO Display Cases Worth Buying?

Whether you're a casual LEGO enthusiast, a passionate collector or a MOC builder, you've likely searched up LEGO display case options online at least once. Chances are, you encountered steep prices, a lack of in-depth reviews or you just haven't got enough information to determine if a display case is worth buying. In this article I'll be reviewing a custom LEGO display case from OnBrick. You can also scroll down (or click here) for a video review.

Important Factors for Buying a Display Case

Before I give you my thoughts on the OnBrick custom LEGO display case, let's break down some important factors that you should consider when purchasing a display case. We'll be addressing these points throughout this article. These are:

• Portability - can you pick up the displace case with the LEGO still inside and transport it?

• Assembly - is it easy to put the display case together? Will it get damaged easily?

• Price - is it worth buying a display case for my LEGO set or MOC?

• Production Time - how long will it take to receive my display case?

• Shipping - is there free shipping or do I need to cover the shipping too?

Now that I've listed these points, let's cover them one-by-one so that you can have a better understanding of what you're buying.

Portability

The OnBrick custom LEGO display cases typically have a black base, four clear acrylic walls (or sometimes three clear walls and one printed wall) and a clear acrylic top. While the walls are screwed together and connected, they are not fixed to the baseplate or ceiling plate. This means that if you attempt to transport your display case, you'll need to take the LEGO out and move it separately, and possibly completely disassemble the display case.

In short, you can't use these display cases for transporting your LEGO sets/MOCs.

Assembly

For the display case we're reviewing (measurements 40cm x 40cm x 50cm) it would have been significantly easier to assemble with a second person helping. Smaller display cases can be easily assembled by one person, but for display cases with walls taller than 30cm, we would recommend having a second person available to help.

There are ridges on the top of the display case for the cover to sit inside, but nothing to secure it in place. This is to allow for easy access to the LEGO inside of the case.

Each panel of the display case is covered on both sides by a protective sheet. In our experience, this could sometimes be very difficult to remove and took 15 minutes to remove all of the protective sheets. You might find this easier with long fingernails.

While the baseplate and ceiling plate are loose, the walls must all be secured together using screws. A screwdriver is included when you purchase your display case - you don't need to have your own screwdriver. This is something we noticed was not addressed on the OnBrick website. You'll also find an assembly guide on their website. In future we'll likely upload our own assembly guide too!

Another quick note is that OnBrick does allow for holes in their acrylic plates, so if you need to connect lighting components to power by plugging into a wall socket, they can include an open section in their panels for you to feed through a power chord.

Price

If you thought buying a quality display case was cheap, you thought wrong. For a custom 40cm x 40cm x 50cm display case from OnBrick, this set us back a total of $249.37 AUD. While the display case itself was $219, shipping cost $30.37. This price is also inclusive of a $30 printed back panel, and would've been cheaper had we used another clear acrylic panel instead.

Production Time & Shipping

At the time of writing, OnBrick publicly states on their website that their production time is 3-8 weeks. For our custom display case, we placed the order on the 22nd of May, and it was shipped on the 27th of June (36 days after we ordered it). It was sent through Australia Post and arrived a few days later. OnBrick creates their display cases in-house in Brisbane, Queensland, so if you're located in another state in Australia or overseas, you can expect a longer wait time for shipping.

A photo of the display case in the dark, with a LEGO MOC and lighting components inside. The photo unfortunately doesn't give this case justice - the display is very clean and reflective, causing glare in our photo.

Is The OnBrick Custom LEGO Display Case Worth Buying?

Now that I've covered those important factors above, let me give you my honest thoughts. $250 for a display case that fits one large LEGO baseplate with a tall structure on it sounds steep. However, it will keep dust off your LEGO, is easy to clean, is great for presentability, and the easily-removable ceiling plate allows you to make quick adjustments without having to unscrew and fully disassemble the display case.

If you're located in Brisbane, Australia, you can go directly to OnBrick to pick up your finished display case. Otherwise, they ship both domestically and internationally for a fee. They took great care in packaging our display case securely, and had protective covers on both sides of every panel. I should mention that there were two small but noticeable scratches on the printed back plate - these aren't noticeable at a distance, but when you're close to the display case and looking in, it's hard not to see them. Given that there was a protective cover on the panel, it seems it was accidentally scratched prior to being shipped to me.

Another gripe I had with the display case is that even after allowing 2cm of extra width and length, this didn't provide enough room to be able to lift the display case without the corners hitting/scratching the edge of the LEGO MOC. I would strongly recommend any MOC builder using a baseplate to allow 3cm of extra width & length if you would like to be able to lift the walls without damaging your display or having it be obstructed.

Finally, customer service can only be contacted via a form on their website, or through email (service@onbrick.com.au). They don't have phone support, and from my experience their response time was typically 22-24 hours. There was one instance where I had to wait about a week for a response and had to follow up. However, they did provide detailed answers and were helpful. I do wish they would have told me about the corners potentially obstructing the baseplate, but now that I'm aware I'll allow for extra room in future orders and can recommend others to do so as well.

Overall, I would recommend this display case for collectors and MOC builders who plan to set up and display their builds in the same location. However, if you're looking for a display case that can be transported without removing the LEGO inside or disassembling the display case, this will not be the right solution for you. I appreciate the easy access to make adjustments by simply removing the ceiling plate, and I also appreciate just how clean the acrylic is and how surprisingly sturdy the display case is despite the bottom and top plates not being fixed to the walls.

You can check out OnBrick's various display cases at https://onbrick.com.au/. We aren't sponsored by or affiliated with them, so this review was completely unbiased and hopefully helpful to you!

Keep an eye on Brick News for more LEGO and LEGO-related reviews! If you've got any suggestions or would like to know more, leave a comment below.