Trading Card Holder

I created this design to bring together two hobbies of mine and I hope there are others out there finding fun ways to combine different interests.

This is a LEGO-built trading card holder meant to hold sports cards or card decks to use with card-based games. Each of the five containers holds between 100-150 cards (depending on card thickness). The ‘LEGO art’ on the face of each container is meant to depict a theme or artistic scene representing the types of cards held inside. These faces are built on plates and can be easily removed and rebuilt to represent the colors of your favorite sports team or characters from your favorite card games. The containers are held together with clips and bars on top and hinge plates on bottom. The arch design provides compression force at the joints, giving it the strength needed to hold the weight of 750 cards. It can sit on any flat surface and does not tip or wobble.

The inspiration behind this design is rooted in necessity! I wanted to have quick and easy access to cards I play and trade with regularly. However, as I built the card holder, I realized there was much more to the design than just utility. Here are the design objectives which guided me:

Purposeful: Easy access to a large number of cards

Decorative: A display-worthy piece meant to be featured with a card collection or in a game room

Spirited: LEGO-built artistic scenes

Clean: Hold the cards in a simple and orderly way

Inevitable: It’s obvious where the cards belong

Unique: An original design mixing two different hobbies

Durable: Strong and able to stand freely without support or glue

Thanks for considering my project.