Displaying a collection without a glass cabinet

Hey all. While reading a recent thread about the expense of the hobby, it reminded me that I'm currently struggling with something that is having a knock-on effect on my ability to continue working on my figures. And that is, I don't have enough storage space to keep everything in a closet or cupboard, nor do I have a means of displaying my figures in a glass cabinet to keep them dust-free.

I was going to go into more detail about why this is the case, but realised I've already explained before about my multiple stressful house moves and the detolf nightmare, where some detolf shelves I had planned to use ended up shattering all over the place, and hence why I'm trying to avoid glass completely.  

After all the money I've spent on these figures, it does make me feel worried and anxious that they are just inevitably going to get ruined. I feel extremely frustrated because I don't know how to acheive my ideal display area while simultaneously keeping my figures safe, and if I'm being honest, it's causing me to lose a lot of enthusiasm. I keep thinking 'why I am spending so much time, money and energy on all of this, if it's just going to get ruined the minute I try to put it on display?' Some might say to just leave everything safe in boxes. But... I don't want to keep these things hidden away indefinitely, as it seems pointless to make and/or collect stuff if I will never be able to properly enjoy it.

Last summer, I finally started trying to set up my Star Wars collection area. The area in question is only a tiny room (it has a window, but it is blocked with black curtains). There is very limited wall space, so it's a bit tricky to balance having shelves *and* leaving enough room for the SW art (framed posters, prints, fan art, etc) as well. This has been a big part of the struggle: I can't put up super tall shelving, as it will eat up what little wall space I actually have. Also, I don't *want* my 1/6 figures all really high up and out of reach -- I'm quite short for one, but I also want to be able to see them at eye level or lower. Likewise, I want to be able to pick my figures up easily and take them out to pose and photograph whenever I want. Keeping them permanently in boxes or behind glass may be the 'safest' option, but I personally find it very boring and inconvenient. I want to still have access to them, even when they are set up on display.

I have researched all kinds of display areas. Watched youtube videos galore to see how others set up their displays. It's all very fancy, with lots of cool LED lighting and glass shelving. Looks pristine, etc.

However, not only are those types of displays very expensive, they also aren't really 'me'.

For one thing, I find detolf shelves extremely boring looking. (Same goes for other similar glass shelving). I don't actually like the idea of having my 1/6 figures on lots of separate shelves, all at different levels. My absolute ideal set up (and what I'm currently aiming for) would be to have all my sixth-scale figures on a tabletop display all in a row . Presently, my intention is to line them up for display on top of the half-sized billy bookcases, and the top of my sideboard/cupboard (the pieces of furniture are more or less at same height). The row of 1/6 figures will wrap around much of the room, lining the walls, and the walls behind them will be decorated with various artwork, forming a natural backdrop.

Obviously, this leaves one major issue -- how to set them up them like this, but still protect them?

Right now, my 1/6 figures (Hot Toys, custom ceations, and WiPs) are spread out all over the place -- the WIPS are kept in boxes downstairs in my craft area, along with all the accessories and supplies I need for each figure. I'm fine with that solution, as these figures are (obviously) not complete so there's no point displaying them yet. However, my finished customs and HT figures are all currently stored in several different cupboards. A few of them are out in the 'open air', albeit covered up (will explain more about in a moment). I'm getting frustrated, because I really just want to be able to set them up properly. I don't feel like anything I've done so far is really finished or 'there', otherwise. And it has the effect of making me delay finishing my WIPs, because I just keep thinking, 'I have nowhere to put them once they're done, so what's the point?'

So, I really want to settle on a solution, and soon.

Backing up a bit...when I started setting up the display room, I began first with the smaller plastic figures (3.75" and 6 inch). These are currently on the abovementioned small billy bookcase shelves, but are out of sight behind a temporary 'screen' I put up at the front of the shelves in an attempt to keep dust off the figures for the time being. I'm currently just using some acid-free tissue paper and tape to enclose the shelves (basically wrapped the shelves up like a giant present to myself, lol), but I'd like something a little more substantial. Perhaps some clear vinyl sheeting, set up like curtains, might be something I could look into, but I'm not sure yet. (could affix it with velcro or something? Then take it off when I wanted to look at everything?)

Now, I'm trying to figure out something similar for the 1/6 figures. But obviously it's trickier as they are going to be on the *top* on the shelves, so I can't just enclose them like with the smaller figures. I did look into tabletop acrylic display cases, but even those are out of my price range at the moment. Because, I am sorry, if it comes to spending an inordinate amount of money on a fancy display case vs spending money on my figures, I'm always going to choose the latter. So it's just unrealistic to wait around until I can afford super fancy display cases for each figure, as it will probably never happen. ;p

The current method I have devised is to just set everything up how I want it, but then cover each 1/6 figure individually to keep the dust off. I figured out a way to do it so the cover is easily removeable while keeping the figure as protected as possible. The most sensitive area (from my perspective) is the headsculpt, and that's what I'd want to keep dust off the most. So I make a little 'hood' out of bubble wrap and tape to just easily slide over the headsculpt. Then, I just drape some of the same acid-free tissue paper over the entire figure, and if need be, tape it down to the shelf with tamiya masking tape (that leaves no residue).

It's not a very elegant solution, but I'm wondering if that would be enough to tide me over until I can figure out something more substantial. The only other issue I can think of with this is that while it might protect somewhat from dust, it wouldn't protect from damp/water/moisture. It certainly wouldn't save my figures in the horrific event that my roof started leaking or something (I mean, I live in the UK and British plumbing and insulation is the WORST, so it's not that far-fetched). I could possibly try some clear vinyl sheeting over the figures, instead, but I don't actually have any of that at the moment, nor do I know how the figures would react to that being directly against them for long periods of time, so idk.  Also, this method only works for figures that have entirely plastic/sculpted heads, and not for figures with rooted tibetan lamb hair (which would be completely crushed by the bubble wrap 'hood'). My solution for those types of figures is to leave the body in the display area, but to keep the re-haired heads stored in the cupboard underneath (as they are particularly suceptible to being ruined by dust, since you can't 'dust' tibetan lamb hair).

So, ehh... maybe it's not a perfect solution, but it's all I've come up with so far that satisfies my OCD need to have all my figures in the 'right' place.

If anyone has any further insight or advice as to how to accomplish the kind of display I'm aiming for.... I would welcome the input.

Im trying to picture everything you are discussing, and I’d like to be able to give you solutions. I know you are a very private person, and don’t really like to share much of your private life (so imagine my shock at reading this much of your struggles with this), but it would definitely help to have pictures of your display room and the area to which you have to work (much like what I’d have done with my Man-Cave thread). If we can see what you have to work with, we may be able to better help. Right now, all I can think of is going to a building supply store and getting the large 8’ x 4’ sheet of clear acrylic, a cutter, and acrylic glue/apoxy to make your own display cases. You should also be able to find wall mounting shelf brackets and long pre-laminated boards to make shelves at same stores.

Stryker2011 wrote:Im trying to picture everything you are discussing, and I’d like to be able to give you solutions. I know you are a very private person, and don’t really like to share much of your private life (so imagine my shock at reading this much of your struggles with this), but it would definitely help to have pictures of your display room and the area to which you have to work (much like what I’d have done with my Man-Cave thread). If we can see what you have to work with, we may be able to better help. Right now, all I can think of is going to a building supply store and getting the large 8’ x 4’ sheet of clear acrylic, a cutter, and acrylic glue/apoxy to make your own display cases. You should also be able to find wall mounting shelf brackets and long pre-laminated boards to make shelves at same stores.

Thanks, Stryker, those are good ideas. And something I might like to try eventually. And sorry to shock you...

Apologies also for the lack of illustrative images... I'll try to get some pics soon. Right now the room is in a bit of disarray, but I'm hoping to get it to being presentable again asap (in fact those were my plans this weekend, lol).

I know it's difficult to impossible to picture this sort of thing without exact references, so I'll try to make an exception this time. The only reason I hadn't shared pics yet is because I was hoping to do a big 'reveal' post about my SW display room once it was actually finished, sigh. But at the rate things have been going, that wouldn't be for several years from now, and I'm just really tired of dragging this out so long.

Yeah I get a lot of that, still looking for the right solution. I also browsed quite some display options elsewhere, sideshofforum for example. There are basically two types of approaches: cramming everything into detolfs etc. or having figures shine with a lot of space alone in their cube,
like they are museum pieces. All good solutions, but as you mentioned we are looking for something else.

I also don't like 'stacking' figures, also really want to have them displayed in one height, maybe twoxstories if muste be but not more. Also don't really want to put them in tight spaces with cube walls, although single walls on the sides might be ok. If they fit the theme, and maybe if they are not that rectangular to give the figures more space.
But I don't like 'ceiling' etc. I like your idea of encircling the room with a ring of figures.

I approach this hobby like a savage so dust protection etc. is not a big issue for me, but I think drapings of some kind might be good solutions, or these segmented plastic cover things. Transparency/glass is not needed, just cover the figures if noone is there to look at them.

Maybe I will find some pics I stole from the net when I am back from work, also have some ideas for coverings.

Pretty sure someone already designed the perfect furniture for our problems, although we might have to look in different directions like book shelves etc.

Here’s a couple ideas (personally, I would add clear acrylic boxes or fronts):

Floating shelves:



wine crates:



Shadow boxes:

Stryker - Those are simple yet creative and attractive displays, thanks for sharing. : ) Bear with me, I need to take some photos of the room in question to show why they unfortunately wouldn't work in my case. But I do think they look nice, and much more interesting than the rigidly cubic detolfs.

Ovy wrote:Yeah I get a lot of that, still looking for the right solution. I also browsed quite some display options elsewhere, sideshofforum for example. There are basically two types of approaches: cramming everything into detolfs etc. or having figures shine with a lot of space alone in their cube,
like they are museum pieces. All good solutions, but as you mentioned we are looking for something else.

Glad you get my struggles on this, Ovy! And yeah, that definitely seems the way most people go, which is fine if it works for them. And I have nothing against the 'beautiful museum piece' look, it does look very classy. But it's just not the style I'm going for. If I were collecting statues, then maybe. But these action figures are more personal for me, and I want to be able to 'interact' with them whenever I feel like it, which makes something like a detolf feel a little unnecessary to me.

Ovy wrote:I also don't like 'stacking' figures, also really want to have them displayed in one height, maybe twoxstories if muste be but not more. Also don't really want to put them in tight spaces with cube walls, although single walls on the sides might be ok. If they fit the theme, and maybe if they are not that rectangular to give the figures more space.
But I don't like 'ceiling' etc. I like your idea of encircling the room with a ring of figures.

Yes! That's exactly it. One of the draws of 1/6 scale is to be able to delight in all the figures being part of the same 'world', and I feel like having them all floating around at different heights somewhat spoils that effect. Of course, with really large collections, having different levels of display is unavoidable. But my 1/6 SW collection is still *just* small enough that I think it's doable. (At most, I may use some of those clear acrylic risers to make sure certain figures get seen behind others, depending on how many rows I end up with.)

And likewise, I get why people want a 'ceiling' on their displays, because many collectors want to put fancy lighting in there. And again, that's fine. but I don't really need it. It's mostly just me who goes in there, and I already have this LED light hanging in the centre of the ceiling that's called a 'mini-sun' and it basically sends out diffused light through the room. It's not perfect, there are still many dark areas, but it gives enough light to see the figures, and I can place some small strategic LED lights from below, if need be.

Glad you like the idea! I hope I can make it come to pass... :'D

Ovy wrote:I approach this hobby like a savage so dust protection etc. is not a big issue for me, but I think drapings of some kind might be good solutions, or these segmented plastic cover things. Transparency/glass is not needed, just cover the figures if noone is there to look at them.

Haha, well, I wouldn't care so much about dust myself either if it weren't for the fact that a) some of these are Hot Toys, and I want to keep them in decent enough condition that I could sell them in future if I was desperate for the money, and b) the dust has a pesky tendency to show up too much in close-up photography, and spoils the scale. Otherwise, a little bit of dust here and there wouldn't bother me too much.

I would very much prefer to just place the figures in the spots I want them to be, and then cover them with some kind of dust cover. Whether clear or not, doesn't matter -- as you say, it's mostly just me who will see them in those coverings. I'd remove those when taking pictures or while showing any (rare) visitors the collection.

Ovy wrote:Maybe I will find some pics I stole from the net when I am back from work, also have some ideas for coverings.

Oh, I'd love to see what you have in mind!

Ovy wrote:Pretty sure someone already designed the perfect furniture for our problems, although we might have to look in different directions like book shelves etc.

Yes, there has to be something out there already. It's definitely clear to me that while a lot of display cases that are designed specifically for 1/6 collectors are very useful for keeping things in pristine condition, they are perhaps not ideal for my preferred display set-up.


( And just to clarify, I *do* have a bit of closet/cupboard storage space in another area of the house, but most of it is currently taken up by my non-SW figures, like my Beth and Daryl, some other non-SW WIPs, and my growing collection of Mr.Z horses. )

Since you mentioned not having a lot of wall space, have you thought of doing “library style” back to back shelves in the middle of the room? Like this (only big enough spacing — obviously book shelves, not media shelves):

skywalkersaga wrote:
For one thing, I find detolf shelves extremely boring looking. (Same goes for other similar glass shelving). I don't actually like the idea of having my 1/6 figures on lots of separate shelves, all at different levels. My absolute ideal set up (and what I'm currently aiming for) would be to have all my sixth-scale figures on a tabletop display all in a row . Presently, my intention is to line them up for display on top of the half-sized billy bookcases, and the top of my sideboard/cupboard (the pieces of furniture are more or less at same height). The row of 1/6 figures will wrap around much of the room, lining the walls, and the walls behind them will be decorated with various artwork, forming a natural backdrop.

I know of someone who does this and to keep them dustfree he uses cans of compressed air to dust them off.

Something like this might help. Putting a few side by side in the middle of the room would keep wall space open:




Link:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Museum-Display-Case-Acrylic-Plinth-Display_60762671975.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikeexp.4.708c3a86CaqkTr

Definitely a quandry, and these are interesting ideas, although most of them run up against the desire to keep enough wall space dedicated to posters, etc. It is a tall order -- unless the framed art can go elsewhere, have you considered attaching it to the ceiling (they would be looking down from above), so you can have the walls free for shelving?

I think you could come up with a sort of frame that could go over a tabletop and have that wrapped in clear vinyl, sort of like a bubble, it probably won't look great but that depends on what you make the frame out of, it would keep the vinyl away from the figures while also providing protection from dust and any surprise water incidents.

It would be a good idea to look into what is available at the hardware store in order to make a frame, pvc pipe is good but depending on the look of the room it might be a bit too "urban rustic", could try wood or metal.

Another idea would be to use acrylic sheets instead of vinyl, that way you could build the frame and have the sheets cover the sides and top, it would look clear like glass and it won't sag overtime like the vinyl would.

TravelGuide -- that person is very brave. I wonder how 1/6 scale clothing holds up under that kind of treatment? I have heard of that with all-plastic figures and statues, but the various different (and often delicate) materials of 1/6 give me pause.

Stryker -- the back to back bookcases are a great idea, and look really good in your man cave! I had forgotten about doing that to fit more shelving in. While there isn't room for that in the tiny thing that passes for my display room, I'm keeping that in mind for other areas of my house. Thanks : )

And likewise, that museum-style display plinth is awesome, would love to have something like that. If only I had about 3x more space...  

BooBomb - those are really good suggestions, as well. I'll look into it more! : )

GF -  re: posters on the ceiling -- ha, funnily enough, I had Star Wars posters all over my bedroom walls and ceiling when I was a teenager. I made a large 'Rebel Alliance' symbol and painted it red, and stuck in the middle of my ceiling. Then I surounded it in a circle with posters. I had both OT and PT posters up there, but the ones right above my bed were the TPM official poster, the TPM promo poster with Little Ani casting the shadow of Vader, and the AotC promo poster of Anakin and Padme. I would look at them all while falling asleep -- think they must be forever burned into my psyche.  

Unfortunately, though, I can't actually do that with this current room. The ceiling is a sort of textured, patterned surface, for one thing, and unlike when I was a teenager and just putting things up with blu tac everywhere, all my current prints and posters are framed so would be too heavy and just come crashing down.. ;p

ETA: Some of the framed prints and posters will indeed be placed in other parts of the house -- some will spill out into the adjacent hallway, for instance, as there is no way I can fit all of it that room. (I have several full size film posters that will have to be relegated to the hallway or elsewhere, simply because otherwise they'd take up an entire wall.) If I really have to, I could 'sacrifice' one part of the wall in the display room and put a wall-mounted display shelf there (like the Ikea one Diana recommended me, I forget its name now). It's something I'm considering, especially for my 'grail' figures that I'd want to keep particularly pristine. I'm just trying to explore other options, first.

This used to be a bookshelf. It is made of solid wood with 2 long pieces of glass panels. The shelves' height can be adjusted. I diy led lights. The advantage is there is some dust-free environment (couldn't be really dust free, unless the cabinet is designed totally air-tight), movable furniture (if moving house is a thing), and utilized space top to bottom.

That's an impressive collection, brassco! Did you adjust the shelves manually to make them the right height for the figures?

no, i did not adjust, as you can see, the heights of each section is about right for any 1/6th, unless i want to display the bases. I wasn't into 1/6th hobby when i bought this bookshelf. I guessed it's just luck. The Detolf display cabinets that i also used are better suited for figures that required the bases to look cool, housing about 4-5 figures with bases in each department.

brassco wrote:no, i did not adjust, as you can see, the heights of each section is about right for any 1/6th, unless i want to display the bases. I wasn't into 1/6th hobby when i bought this bookshelf. I guessed it's just luck. The Detolf display cabinets that i also used are better suited for figures that required the bases to look cool, housing about 4-5 figures with bases in each department.

That's a lucky find, then. A lot of bookcases tend to have shelves that are too short for the 1/6 figures.

Nice job, brassco. I was going to suggest something like this. I have a bookcase component much like this (well, its upper part anyway), with adjustable shelf height, which can help a little when you need a little more room. But the reason I did not suggest it, is that apparently much wall space needs to be dedicated to framed art. Going with something like this -- and assuming can rig LEDs as needed for when you desire more illumination -- might be a very viable solution. Of course, you wanted your figures at eye level, and this will not be the case here, especially as you want to save your upper walls for art.

Sky,

The problem is that given your constraints of space, budget, and goals, you are going to have to compromise somewhere and have a less than ideal/perfect solution. You wish to protect your figures from dust and other airborne stuffs like cooking grease, smoke, etc, as well as UV, and you wish to be able to view them behind said protection, but you don't like glass cases, which are the perfect way to accomplish those goals. You don't like cabinets, especially tall ones, but those are the most efficient use of your limited space. It is a conundrum: like the old saying about contractors--you can't get it fast, cheap, and great quality, you can only get two of those three.

I hear you about Detolfs, I have two, but they are cheap looking and have gaps so you don't even get the dust/grease/smoke free protection, you still have to take things out once in a while and clean them. Never had the shattering issue though, so I think you were extremely unlucky given how it's the first I've heard of it and everybody seems to have them. I use them since I have them, but they are not a favorite of mine.

IMO the best showcase is a sliding glass door curio cabinet with a mirrored back, but these are extremely expensive (at least $500-$1200 and higher), and they tend to be large and tall so will not work given that you wish to preserve wall space. However, some do come in half sizes about waist high, but then the figures will be down below and not at an ideal viewing position. Your concern about not being able to access them is minimized because those doors are a joy to use and accessing your figures is easy. They also offer a completely tight seal so dust and other pollutants will absolutely be kept out. I have two of them, one with a custom LED setup which took ages to do, and I'm thrilled with it, but the rooms where they are located are spacious and I don't have the wall space restriction. Am I made of money? No, but at some point I realized that the display furniture was an investment into a critical part of enjoying this hobby, so I spent the money. But, twenty years ago, I wouldn't have been able to, so circumstances and priorities vary widely, I understand.

Your idea of having those IKEA bookshelves go around the room, putting the figures on the top while leaving the wall space above/behind them available is interesting and could look good, but for Pete's sake please don't bubble wrap the heads and then drape vinyl over them to "protect" them. I find that to be an incredibly inelegant solution for a display. You want to see your figures, but are fine with having taped bubble wrap over their heads, and then putting clear vinyl drop cloths or curtains over them? Doesn't that completely defeat the goal of "displaying" them? I guarantee you it will look terrible. The clear vinyl may sound like a good idea, but I've never seen vinyl sheeting that's clear and distortion-free enough so you can look through them and clearly see behind them. You're also worried about roof leaks and bursting plumbing--I'd say ruining your figures might be the least of your worries if this were to happen.

The first thing you're going to have to face is this: if you wish to have a display that's nice to look at and fulfills your protection needs, you will have to spend some money, unless you are extremely handy and know how to work with large acrylic sheeting and can custom build your own cases (not easy to do well). Even if you don't want to spend huge money you will still need to spend some. There are relatively inexpensive acrylic cases of all shapes and sizes you can order either on eBay, or through specialty shops that just do these cases. Some of these are meant for model ships, and the sizes can work pretty well for 1/6 figures. There's just no way around it: if you want to protect your figures from dust and potential water damage, and still be able to view them, you need to get acrylic or glass cases. The molded acrylic ones have the advantage of not having any seams where water could leak through. Each case will cost somewhere between $50-$200, depending on shape, size, and features, and I don't know how many you will need, but it will cost several hundred dollars minimum. So, the equivalent cost of 2-5 HT or similar figures? Think of the benefits from saving your money to invest in this solution.

You say you would rather spend money on more figures than on the display cases, but what good are more figures if you can't display them and have to store them in boxes out of sight? Isn't that what is frustrating you and making you lose "enthusiasm?" I'm hearing words like "pointless" "worried" "anxious" "delay finishing WIPs" "never be able to properly enjoy it" and it's clear your unwillingness to financially prioritize something that will solve so many problems and get you back to enjoying and working on your lovely projects is what's stopping you. I apologize if I'm being too blunt, but when there are choices to be made, I think it's best to confront them with a long term plan that will ultimately satisfy your goals, rather than trying to come up with makeshift solutions.

Some more thoughts. Dust does not "ruin" figures. Maybe it's true of Tibetan lambs wool, but do all your figures have that? While most of my figures are behind glass cases, I have several that I leave out. I dust them once every two or three months, using a synthetic duster (the poufy kind) and a squeeze rubber camera lens cleaner to blow dust out of the crevices. It does not damage my figures. But, I also have an excellent ventilation system that filters air in the house and numerous HEPA air filters around the house also filtering air, and I vacuum regularly so dust buildup is not too bad. Much worse is smoke from fireplaces, cigarettes/cigars, and cooking grease/smoke that gets atomized and floats through the air (once that starts building up on your figures, it won't come off without washing). Also, UV light will damage plastic and fabrics, so never let sunlight shine directly on figures, and it's best to not even let any unfiltered natural light in the room (if your windows are UV protected that helps).

One more idea: Have you ever considered Metro shelving? (That's the brand name, but there are numerous companies that make the same style of metal shelving.) Unlike bookcases they have no backs, so you might be able to go floor to ceiling and still be able to display artwork behind them. I have a few I bought at Office Depot (knockoffs, but still great quality), they are incredibly tough and have a trendy industrial look to them which could be cool, especially for your sci fi stuff. Here's a pic of mine which I use to display some vehicles:


Yes, I know that means you have the "different levels" problem, but like I said, you have to compromise somewhere. These shelves are not expensive ($50-100) and can hold huge amounts of weight and the shelves are adjustable. If you have your figures on stands you can put them directly on top of the wire. Or put them in cases on the shelves. Also, because they are open, you can put them away from the walls, in the middle of the room (there are shorter variants), perpendicular to the wall like Stryker suggested, whatever you like.

BTW, the cabinet next to it is the BESTA from IKEA with glass doors that swing out. Not airtight, but pretty close and not too expensive (I think this was about $200). I don't know if they still have this particular configuration or color, but I saw with Google that they still carry the line. Don't mind the figures in it, it's my "overflow" unit and is a bit of a hodgepodge. Well, okay, top shelf is all Brit paras and commandos, and fourth shelf is my Cassino Fallschirmjager shelf, so sort of.

This is my "showcase display" with the custom LED lights; I'll be adding all my Yae figures to a shelf so will need to rearrange and take some figures out.


My other curio cabinet, pretty much all German WWII except for top shelf. It will need rearranging soon.


Hope these suggestions/ideas are helpful. I can't stand seeing you suffer such angst when solutions are available.

tankgirl -- thank you for the honest reply and the detailed suggestions! Your display shelves and curio cabinets look gorgeous! Those mirrors really do have a stunning effect.

And yes, you're right...the reason I've been struggling is because I want to 'have my cake and eat it, too', which of course is not realistically possible in this situation.

Today, I pretty much answered my own question anyway --- I went into the room to do a bit of dusting (I was curious how much dust had accumulated since the last time I'd cleaned in there -- it actually wasn't too bad), and to my dismay, when I was cleaning behind the black curtain that blocks out the sunlght, I discovered what looked either like damp dirt or possible mold along the bottom of the window. I've cleaned it all up and nothing around it was damaged at all (the only thing near it was framed pictures), but it still showed me that, yes, damp is potentially a big issue in that room.

So, my idea of displaying the figures in the open air (with or without bubble wrap, lol) is moot, as I'm not going to take that chance. I'll just be more patient about it and keep the 1/6 stuff safely in closed cupboards until I can afford and/or figure out something that offers a little more protection from 'the elements'. I still have fairly easy access to them in those storage areas, so at least it solves half my problem! :'D

And yes, I also agree that dust is not the end of the world. If it was *just* dust that was the issue, it wouldn't worry me much at all. In fact, in previous living situations, I would leave a lot of my plastic action figures out in the open and just dust them once or twice a week, and they were fine. But the fear of damp and mold ....that's another story. Sixth scale figures obviously have fabric and other materials that would be badly affected by that. Several years ago when we were living in a different location (a damp and drafty house in the countryside), I ended up losing a lot of historical reenactment gear due to mold.  I'm in no hurry to repeat that.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions, you've all given me a lot of good ideas to think about and hopefully work toward.

TGF, those are some very impressive displays and collections! Thanks for sharing -- and the advice, too. Like Sky, I don't have a proper display set up, so I'm happy to see others' solutions. I just don't get too worried about dust, although I am annoyed it has taken its toll on some of my super-glossy helmets that I did recently.

Sky, is there some sort of relatively cheap de-humidifier gismo you could plug in have running in that room? If not, I suppose you will have to add silica packs to your shelves once you set them up. Also, is there another place you can dedicate to your framed art -- although I understand the logic of keeping it all together -- from both the theme and neatness points of view. Alternatively, is there another room (hobby, entertainment) to host your display and this for something else? Open metal shelving with figures displayed in clear acrylic boxes/cases -- space allowing in every sense -- might not be a bad way to do it in the end, provided they are not subject to too much UV light.

brassco wrote:

This used to be a bookshelf. It is made of solid wood with 2 long pieces of glass panels. The shelves' height can be adjusted. I diy led lights. The advantage is there is some dust-free environment (couldn't be really dust free, unless the cabinet is designed totally air-tight), movable furniture (if moving house is a thing), and utilized space top to bottom.

So cool!!!!

GubernatorFan wrote:Like Sky, I don't have a proper display set up, so I'm happy to see others' solutions..

Yeah, I appreciate seeing what others have come up with. I'm open to all kinds of suggestions, I guess I was just not finding what I needed via all the various youtube tours of people's collections in their huge fancy and expensive display areas.

GubernatorFan wrote:Sky, is there some sort of relatively cheap de-humidifier gismo you could plug in have running in that room? If not, I suppose you will have to add silica packs to your shelves once you set them up. Also, is there another place you can dedicate to your framed art -- although I understand the logic of keeping it all together -- from both the theme and neatness points of view. Alternatively, is there another room (hobby, entertainment) to host your display and this for something else? Open metal shelving with figures displayed in clear acrylic boxes/cases -- space allowing in every sense -- might not be a bad way to do it in the end, provided they are not subject to too much UV light.

Re: the dampness issue --- from the moment I set up the room, I've had multiple 'charcoal bamboo scent and moisture absorbing packs' placed all around it (in various corners out of sight), and they do seem to help a great deal. The room itself is so tiny, there's hardly any space for a dehumidifier, but there *is* a dehumidifier in the hallway literally right outside it. So,in addition to the moisture-absorbing packets, every couple of days I open the door of the room either overnight or for several hours during the day (or more frequently if it feels particularly damp in there), and let the dehumidifier take care of it.

I think the window became especially damp because over the winter, the gutter on the roof right above the room had cracked and would drip directly onto said window on rainy days. It was stressing me out because I worried that it might have the precise effect that it did. We finally got it fixed, but it was like that for several months and I think that might indeed have been the cause. Fingers crossed that this coming winter it won't do that again, but I'll keep a close eye on it all the same.


Re: the posters and wall art -- I realise that it might seem silly to be so focused on that, but I've been collecting posters and fan art for even longer than the figures themselves, and I'm pretty attached to it all. And I especially want it all to work together as one big display, if possible. Of course, there are some things that simply do not fit (like the full size movie posters), but there are lots of smaller pieces that do. I've left one wall section 'blank' for now until I finalise everything, so there's still potentially a little bit of extra space for figures if I end up needing it.


Speaking of extra space, I went into the storage cupboards today and did some serious rearranging. Much of the seeming lack of space was due to the Mr.Z horses taking up wayyy too much room. But I decided to try to utilise the existing space a bit better, and found that I could indeed fit pretty much all my unboxed Hot Toys and customs between the two storage cupboards. While they aren't all in one place, it's as close as I can get at this point. And they are at least within easy reach and I can get them out and pose them for photos any time I want now. That's really what was causing me such stress -- I hated having to unbox figures and then put them back into boxes just to take pics. Maybe some don't mind that, but for me it's a just a prohibitively annoying pain in the arse. ;p

I'm still thinking about how best to display everything, but for now, this will do.

If you plan to use book cases, you can always get the kind with adjustable shelving. Not the fanciest, but you can remove shelves to make more room for your stuff, raise and lower the shelves as necessary, and if you decide to put them back to back be sure to place a couple shims under the bottom front so they literally lean just a smidge against each other — that way they don’t fall over.

Stryker2011 wrote:If you plan to use book cases, you can always get the kind with adjustable shelving. Not the fanciest, but you can remove shelves to make more room for your stuff, raise and lower the shelves as necessary, and if you decide to put them back to back be sure to place a couple shims under the bottom front so they literally lean just a smidge against each other — that way they don’t fall over.

Good advice, I'll keep that in mind! ^.^

Sounds like you are making progress on a temporary solution until you are ready to try a perfect one.