Neat-Oh produces a range of high quality Lego Zipbin storage cases that also double as a Lego Mat.
The zipbins are portable Lego storage bins/cases that both store Lego pieces and also unzip at the top and sides to form a playmat. Both as a case and a playmat the zipbin is highly colorful and decorated with Lego theme based images.
These things are amazing and kids love them!
The zipbins give children a sense that “this is my area” and may encourage kids to take pride in clearing up and packing away. Kids love to have a defined area they are responsible for, especially one which is colorful/playful and easy to pack up.
Sigh! Just another Lego creation I wish I had when I was a kid :0)
You can find the full range of zipbins here.
Lego Zipbin
By thinking outside of the box, the Neat-Oh company has hit on a wonderful way for parents to contain a child’s Lego collection but also give them a play area that is vibrant and multi-dimensional.
The Lego zipbins are all solid and very durable and feel nice to touch under the fingers (important if your kids are going to be playing with them for hours at a time).
Another important note for parents is they are easy to clean, just wipe clean for most low-grade stains and the materials meets child safety standards.
The zipbins are sealed using big zippers and, in some cases, velcro. Some models are stackable while others are not so much. The square/rectangular, box shapes are the most sturdy if you want to store these on top of each other.
The zipbins are also portable, coming with a handle to hold or sling over your shoulder. When you get to your destination (be it Grandma’s house, the doctor’s surgery or the Bahamas) just unzip the box and you have a ready-made play area.
If you don’t need the zipbin for a while or want to ship it separately from the Lego pieces, the whole thing folds down to a small flat pack.
The zipbins are available in a number of sizes, theme-styles and shapes and while we take a look at a few below, this is only a small selection of the full range of Lego Zipbins.
Lego Star Wars Zipbins
LEGO Star Wars ZipBin Medium
- Dimensions Bin 13.5 x 12 x 8 inches Mat 29 x 26
- Recommended Retail Price $19.99 (Cheaper on Amazon)
This bin is great for storage and stacking, due to it’s rectangular shape. The outside has colorful images of Lego Star Wars characters from the Original Trilogy, that is Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Darth Vader etc.
Inside the playmat depicts a scene from A New Hope, in the Death Star Hangar. Kids can use this space to launch or land space vehicles or interact with characters in the scene.
Depending on how large your child’s collection is you can fit alot of Lego in this sized zipbin, just make sure your child likes the Original Trilogy Star Wars theme before buying :0)
Other Star Wars Zipbins are available in “less standard” sizes and shapes. The Battle Bridge version folds out into a multi level playmat. These are great for play and storage but not so great for stacking.
Lego City Zipbin
The Lego City Zipbin is similar to the Star Wars Medium Zipbin above.
- Dimensions Bin 13.5 X 12 X 8 inches Mat 29 X 26 inches”
- RRP is $19.99 (Cheaper on Amazon)
Product description: Dread the sound of thousands of LEGO pieces being poured out in the next room? Take on the urban environment with the LEGO CITY ZipBin Storage Toy Box.
The cityscape background and construction foreground let you explore your city with whatever LEGO you desire. When the work is done, pack it all inside and store it for another day.
With the capacity to hold thousands of bricks, it stores just about any mess. LEGO Blocks not included.
There are a number of other Lego City Zipbins available in larger/smaller sizes and with different case and playmat images.
What Others Are Saying About the Lego Zipbins…
- “I recently purchased this item for our son to use for storage for Legos but also to use as a playmat. He was so excited when it came in the mail and hasn’t stop playing with it. It is very easy to unzipper and use. He really has liked the images on the playmat; he says he thinks it is like being in the Death Star.”
- “I wanted something to store our son’s legos. This is perfect. It holds all of them, he can zip/unzip it himself, and it gives him a more even surface to build on than our carpet.”
- Me and my son love this lego box playmat we take it every where we go and it doesn’t take a lot of space up. He puts his lego in it every night when done playing with them.”
How Does A Zipbin Work?
A zipbin is one of those hard things to describe in words -storage…zips out…playmat…huh? :0)
Luckily for me the Neat-Oh company made a video to give us an idea on how the storage bins work. The video depicts their dinosaur zipbin, which is not Lego, but it gives a pretty good idea of how the zipbin-to-playmat-to-flatpack function works.