The Energon Pub

I am a MOC/MOSC/MIB/MISB person, and as anyone could guess, this branch of collecting requires lots of room to display items. I’ll explain what I’ve done in the past.

I cannot “store” the items in my closet as it is too small for the hundreds of boxes, and I cannot put them in the attic due to the 118 degrees F heat that is normal for the desert here in phoenix, as this would cause issues with plastic warping, cracking and etc. The only other alternative is to create large displays which also serve to store the items.

Since 2003, i’ve been collecting, and I’ve addressed the space issue with boxes by buying shelves from the home depot, the modular ones that you need tracks screwed into the wall and brackets to support the shelves. For about $100, I was able to get one whole wall in my room done and covered with boxes.

As for the other wall, I use it to display all of my tf’s still on cards. I have quite a few though, and am running out of room. I used to just put masking tape on the backs of the cards and affix them to the wall. Over time, the tape failed on some of them, and they would fall off the wall. When I’d go to remove the tape, it peeled the backs of the cards/boxes off, so learn from my noob mistake. Next, I would tack them up on the wall but this method will put 100’s of holes into my wall, and I do not look forward to spackling, sanding, and painting it one day in the future, it just creates more work.

As they say, necessity is the mother of all inventions. So now, I’m brainstorming different ways to more efficiently display my carded tf’s. I wish to adhere to a few rules though, those being 1. cost efficiency (like in the $10 range), minimal damage to the wall (for example, 1 tack in the wall equals a 1 hole to one card/figure ratio (1/1) where I’m looking for something better, like maybe a 1/8 ratio, or even 1/16, (basically as many as can fit).

Here is what I’ve already brainstormed for the future. Please refer to Appendix A for each idea number.

1. I got this idea from those hanging fruit basket things that we may have all seen before at one time or another in our lives (on average). I saw one some time ago and thought to myself “why don’t I do that, but with tf’s instead of fruit?” It could consist of multiple tiers, each one being a platform, either of some lightweight wood or even cardboard. I could take 3 or 4 threads of fishing line, thread them through the 3 or 4 corners of the cardboard platform (painted to taste if desired), and this process can be repeated for as many tiers that you wish to add. The three (triangular designs) or four lines (rectangular/square designs) could then be tied to a hook in the ceiling.

Criticisms/problems: I can already imagine the platforms “sliding” down the fishing line because there would not be anything preventing them from doing so. This can be resolved several ways, either by threading the line through the holes in the corners several times to make sure it didn’t slide around, or by simply relying on the card/box below to support the weight of the others above. This would however put a lot of stress on the bottom platform of the tier, and could break it, so, something sturdier would have to be used at the bottom. Solid piece of wood or a metal frame or several layers of cardboard with lots of Elmer’s glue in-between. Or, if the cards/boxes were used to support the weight, the cards closest to the bottom would have more weight on them and could bow/bend/crease. Also, getting all of the tiers to sit flush at certain heights would require a lot of tedious measuring and balancing between all 3-4 strands.

2. My second idea was to take a strand of fishing line, and simply tie it around the hooks already built into the cardboard cards, and suspend them from a hook in the ceiling. You could even put the cards back-to-back, doubling the hanging capacity of one strand.

Criticisms/problems: I can imagine the cards not all facing one direction, as they may hang facing different directions. This problem could be solved however if the hooks could be spun in a mechanical or electrical fashion using a belt system where a motor could spin slowly, and be connected by a belt to the first hook/suspension device, then have another belt connect this hook/suspension device to the next, and so on and etc. This however would not bode well with the cost effectiveness constraint, or would it?

3. Lastly, I also thought about simply stringing fishing line against the wall in-between 2 tacks in the wall. Then, using the hooks already existent on the backs of cards, hang them on the line.

Criticisms/Problems: I can already envision the weight of the figures causing the line to sag in the middle. The weight may also pull the tacks out of the wall. This could be addressed by adding a support tack in the middle of the line, but it would reduce the efficiency of the holes per figure ratio, and create two smaller sags instead of one. One could add more support tacks, but this only reduces the ratio further.

I have enclosed some pics/diagrams below.

How do you display/store your cards and boxes? Any more criticisms or thoughts/ideas?