The Energon Pub

the shelves i have on display are on their last leg. they are cheap plastic walmart shelves and i need new ones. wood preferably. which ones do you recommend that are cheap?

I forget what they're called, but there're some really nice, really inexpensive shelves from ikea.

RAcast wrote:I forget what they're called, but there're some really nice, really inexpensive shelves from ikea.

funny someone on 4chan suggested something from ikea too. they are detolfs. and way to expensive for me. 64 bucks a set, hell no.

Doubledealer93 wrote:

RAcast wrote:I forget what they're called, but there're some really nice, really inexpensive shelves from ikea.

funny someone on 4chan suggested something from ikea too. they are detolfs. and way to expensive for me. 64 bucks a set, hell no.

Oh ouch o_o I thought someone said there was something for around 20-30 that was nice, but I must be remembering wrong...

RAcast wrote:

Doubledealer93 wrote:

RAcast wrote:I forget what they're called, but there're some really nice, really inexpensive shelves from ikea.

funny someone on 4chan suggested something from ikea too. they are detolfs. and way to expensive for me. 64 bucks a set, hell no.

Oh ouch o_o I thought someone said there was something for around 20-30 that was nice, but I must be remembering wrong...

Nope, they got more expensive.

I can never remember detolfs being much cheaper than they are now. I went through what you are going through now. I bought some nice bookcases for $40+. The issue is that they will warp if they are particleboard and dust is everywhere. Even the cheap shelves are $30 now at target and Walmart. Do yourself a favor and get Detolfs. $65 they are still a steal. The lack of dust is the real selling point for me. Here is part of my collection http://imgur.com/a/S8s6k

Ruthless Cynic wrote:I can never remember detolfs being much cheaper than they are now. I went through what you are going through now. I bought some nice bookcases for $40+. The issue is that they will warp if they are particleboard and dust is everywhere. Even the cheap shelves are $30 now at target and Walmart. Do yourself a favor and get Detolfs. $65 they are still a steal. The lack of dust is the real selling point for me. Here is part of my collection http://imgur.com/a/S8s6k

To be honest, keeping figures inside DETOLFs only "lessen" the accumulation of dust, unless you seal up the two seams on the sides of the door.

I've got a DETOLF at home for TF displaying; while it takes about a month before the TF's require dusting inside a DETOLF as opposed to less than a week on an exposed bookshelf, it still doesn't really solve the dust problem.

That said, figures do look much better in glass shelves, as you can look at them from all angles. And unlike other collectibles that have hard-to-clean elements like cloth, synthetic hair and rubber skin, TF's can be cleaned relatively easily with a rag, compressed air or even a mini vacuum cleaner.

My Hot Toys figures, on the other hand, are kept in airtight acrylic display cases, as these usually have fabric clothing and rubber skin that are hard to dust.

The cheap shelves from IKEA are called Billy.
They're bookshelves, but you can add glass doors to them, and put more shelves than they come with if you're so inclined!

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/83688210/

Va'al wrote:The cheap shelves from IKEA are called Billy.
They're bookshelves, but you can add glass doors to them, and put more shelves than they come with if you're so inclined!

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/83688210/

That's exactly what I was going to say. I just moved into a new house and I'm putting this in the basement for my collection: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S49858180/ with glass doors.

Bed Bath and Beyond has these little stands for spices; they're about one square foot in area, with three tiers - kind of like bleachers or the risers that a choir stands one. They're made of white plastic, so they'll blend in with the white Billy bookcases. I'm going to get a bunch of those and put them on the bookshelves so I can display three rows of standing figures and the ones in back will be visible.


As for the Detolfs, I think they're more suited for showcasing a small number of large figures, like Unicron or Fortress Maximus sized figures, ones that are real showpieces. I think the Billys are better for displaying large amounts of Voyager, Deluxe, and smaller figures.

Billy's are great, but they are not deep enough for my taste (no homo). They really are meant for books.

I use some from ikea too, they are not as long as billy, but they are about twice as wide. Forgot the name. Cool tip: Its best to leave the bottom shelf or too with an opaque door, since it's too low and out of sight for any good display, so might as well get some storage...

You can always check out antique & consignment store. Sometimes you can find great stuff for cheap. I found a nice wooden bedside table for $20 a week or two ago. Has a few scratches but nothing all that noticeable and it was way cheaper than anything of similar quality at a general retailer.

You'll probably have more luck finding stuff at cheap prices at a general consignment store than an antique one, simply because, generally speaking, antique dealers know how to price things / can better advise their sellers. But you never know. Sometimes you can find real treasures at antique stores too, especially now with the antique market being all but dead.

GuyIncognito wrote:

Va'al wrote:The cheap shelves from IKEA are called Billy.
They're bookshelves, but you can add glass doors to them, and put more shelves than they come with if you're so inclined!

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/83688210/

That's exactly what I was going to say. I just moved into a new house and I'm putting this in the basement for my collection: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S49858180/ with glass doors.

Bed Bath and Beyond has these little stands for spices; they're about one square foot in area, with three tiers - kind of like bleachers or the risers that a choir stands one. They're made of white plastic, so they'll blend in with the white Billy bookcases. I'm going to get a bunch of those and put them on the bookshelves so I can display three rows of standing figures and the ones in back will be visible.


As for the Detolfs, I think they're more suited for showcasing a small number of large figures, like Unicron or Fortress Maximus sized figures, ones that are real showpieces. I think the Billys are better for displaying large amounts of Voyager, Deluxe, and smaller figures.

both of these are really nice. the billys would work best cost and space wise.

gavinfuzzy wrote:Billy's are great, but they are not deep enough for my taste (no homo). They really are meant for books.

I use some from ikea too, they are not as long as billy, but they are about twice as wide. Forgot the name. Cool tip: Its best to leave the bottom shelf or too with an opaque door, since it's too low and out of sight for any good display, so might as well get some storage...

i will probably get some of these later on to display my classics collection as it is my favorite part of my collection.

Doubledealer93 wrote:

gavinfuzzy wrote:Billy's are great, but they are not deep enough for my taste (no homo). They really are meant for books.

I use some from ikea too, they are not as long as billy, but they are about twice as wide. Forgot the name. Cool tip: Its best to leave the bottom shelf or too with an opaque door, since it's too low and out of sight for any good display, so might as well get some storage...

*snipped*

i will probably get some of these later on to display my classics collection as it is my favorite part of my collection.

Yeah, the shelves are nice and deep, and I made custom stands out of corrrogated brownish/black plastic that matches the frame colour. So as you see on the bottom left cube, the classics bots are all lined up in a"staircase" formation (for lack of a better word). You can fit like 4 rows of deluxes + back row of voyagers if you make "staircase" stands that gradually increase. Big improvement over Billy where you can only hold 2-3 deluxe rows.

The 5(really 6) shelf bookshelves from Wal-mart are about $30 after tax, are big and solid. Deep enough to fit 4 Gen deluxes and wide enough for the same with some angling(sealed boxes).

I like these a lot. I need to get some more of these.



Cabinets with glass are great too, but it can get dusty inside
too if you keep the doors open at all.

Buy one at a time and slowly build your upgrade
if your budget doesn't allow a complete swap.


Glass shelves are my favorite though.


This was a stereo shelf I thought made a better display shelf.

DISCHARGE wrote:The 5(really 6) shelf bookshelves from Wal-mart are about $30 after tax, are big and solid. Deep enough to fit 4 Gen deluxes and wide enough for the same with some angling(sealed boxes).

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I like these a lot. I need to get some more of these.

im sure you could fit a lot more deluxes if they were not in the box. because i can fit about 15-20 (give or take) deluxes on one of my shelves right now.

Doubledealer93 wrote:

DISCHARGE wrote:The 5(really 6) shelf bookshelves from Wal-mart are about $30 after tax, are big and solid. Deep enough to fit 4 Gen deluxes and wide enough for the same with some angling(sealed boxes).

020.JPG

I like these a lot. I need to get some more of these.

im sure you could fit a lot more deluxes if they were not in the box. because i can fit about 15-20 (give or take) deluxes on one of my shelves right now.

Yeah, I'm sure you could. When I moved I had to get something for my boxed figures. The totes many had sat in for years were sad to look at knowing what was inside.
I'd like to get 3 more of these...
Those Billys's look nice too

I bought three Detolf Cases from ikea here locally, they have always been 64.99$.
I completely restarted my collection to fit in those cases.

I hate bookshelves, it gives you an excuse to buy more junk you end up selling off later.

Erailea wrote:You can always check out antique & consignment store. Sometimes you can find great stuff for cheap. I found a nice wooden bedside table for $20 a week or two ago. Has a few scratches but nothing all that noticeable and it was way cheaper than anything of similar quality at a general retailer.

You'll probably have more luck finding stuff at cheap prices at a general consignment store than an antique one, simply because, generally speaking, antique dealers know how to price things / can better advise their sellers. But you never know. Sometimes you can find real treasures at antique stores too, especially now with the antique market being all but dead.

With all due respect, the question was about how to display TFs better, not cheaper. Everyone's tastes are different and you're entitled to yours, but I think antique furniture is not a good way to display Transformers. Hummel figurines, Precious Moments figures, maybe a glass menagerie, but not Transformers. Especially something like a bedside table that offers no protection. If you've invested a lot of money in your collection and you want it to look good and be somewhat protected, don't cheap out on the display.

GuyIncognito wrote:

Erailea wrote:You can always check out antique & consignment store. Sometimes you can find great stuff for cheap. I found a nice wooden bedside table for $20 a week or two ago. Has a few scratches but nothing all that noticeable and it was way cheaper than anything of similar quality at a general retailer.

You'll probably have more luck finding stuff at cheap prices at a general consignment store than an antique one, simply because, generally speaking, antique dealers know how to price things / can better advise their sellers. But you never know. Sometimes you can find real treasures at antique stores too, especially now with the antique market being all but dead.

With all due respect, the question was about how to display TFs better, not cheaper. Everyone's tastes are different and you're entitled to yours, but I think antique furniture is not a good way to display Transformers. Hummel figurines, Precious Moments figures, maybe a glass menagerie, but not Transformers. Especially something like a bedside table that offers no protection. If you've invested a lot of money in your collection and you want it to look good and be somewhat protected, don't cheap out on the display.

Ah... is there a reason for going into a full on spat? I gave a bedside table of an example of something I got that looked really nice, is made of wood and is cheap. No where did I mention I got it for my collection.

If you'd ever entered a decent quality antique store before you'd know you can get really, really nice display cases and shelving at them. With and without glass doors. So... seriously, quit with the attitude. The comment was unnecessary.

If you can get a nice quality display case at an antique store, made of actual wood, why go with something cost the same that's press-board? That is all I was getting at. If he doesn't like the stuff then he doesn't like, doesn't mean I can't cay say "hey, this is out there too" in case they didn't think about it.

Jeez.

Erailea wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:

Erailea wrote:You can always check out antique & consignment store. Sometimes you can find great stuff for cheap. I found a nice wooden bedside table for $20 a week or two ago. Has a few scratches but nothing all that noticeable and it was way cheaper than anything of similar quality at a general retailer.

You'll probably have more luck finding stuff at cheap prices at a general consignment store than an antique one, simply because, generally speaking, antique dealers know how to price things / can better advise their sellers. But you never know. Sometimes you can find real treasures at antique stores too, especially now with the antique market being all but dead.

With all due respect, the question was about how to display TFs better, not cheaper. Everyone's tastes are different and you're entitled to yours, but I think antique furniture is not a good way to display Transformers. Hummel figurines, Precious Moments figures, maybe a glass menagerie, but not Transformers. Especially something like a bedside table that offers no protection. If you've invested a lot of money in your collection and you want it to look good and be somewhat protected, don't cheap out on the display.

Ah... is there a reason for going into a full on spat? I gave a bedside table of an example of something I got that looked really nice, is made of wood and is cheap. No where did I mention I got it for my collection.

If you'd ever entered a decent quality antique store before you'd know you can get really, really nice display cases and shelving at them. With and without glass doors. So... seriously, quit with the attitude. The comment was unnecessary.

If you can get a nice quality display case at an antique store, made of actual wood, why go with something cost the same that's press-board? That is all I was getting at. If he doesn't like the stuff then he doesn't like, doesn't mean I can't cay say "hey, this is out there too" in case they didn't think about it.

Jeez.

I'm fairly fond of hitting antique and thrift stores for shelving. You can run into some really good hutches with perfect display up top and storage space down below for things like Masterpiece or "higher grade" characters. Also, some of those slightly used tables make for cheap ways to get a battlefield going. Cyberverse, I'm looking at you.

Erailea wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:

Erailea wrote:You can always check out antique & consignment store. Sometimes you can find great stuff for cheap. I found a nice wooden bedside table for $20 a week or two ago. Has a few scratches but nothing all that noticeable and it was way cheaper than anything of similar quality at a general retailer.

You'll probably have more luck finding stuff at cheap prices at a general consignment store than an antique one, simply because, generally speaking, antique dealers know how to price things / can better advise their sellers. But you never know. Sometimes you can find real treasures at antique stores too, especially now with the antique market being all but dead.

With all due respect, the question was about how to display TFs better, not cheaper. Everyone's tastes are different and you're entitled to yours, but I think antique furniture is not a good way to display Transformers. Hummel figurines, Precious Moments figures, maybe a glass menagerie, but not Transformers. Especially something like a bedside table that offers no protection. If you've invested a lot of money in your collection and you want it to look good and be somewhat protected, don't cheap out on the display.

Ah... is there a reason for going into a full on spat? I gave a bedside table of an example of something I got that looked really nice, is made of wood and is cheap. No where did I mention I got it for my collection.

If you'd ever entered a decent quality antique store before you'd know you can get really, really nice display cases and shelving at them. With and without glass doors. So... seriously, quit with the attitude. The comment was unnecessary.

If you can get a nice quality display case at an antique store, made of actual wood, why go with something cost the same that's press-board? That is all I was getting at. If he doesn't like the stuff then he doesn't like, doesn't mean I can't cay say "hey, this is out there too" in case they didn't think about it.

Jeez.

He did say "With all do respect" so it's legal.

I've just been using a bookshelf for my Prime figures. I've had plans to make a glass enclosed "battle scene", but I never got around to working out the details.