The Energon Pub

Hey, long time, no post.

We recently, found out that there will be a new addition to our family!

Many, of my TF collection, will need to be put into storage, and may be exposed to temperature swings. I went to my local Home Depot, and saw a variety of of sizes, but also types of plastic.

There was:
HDPE <2>
LDPE <4>
PP. <5>

What is the recommeded type of plastic container to house TFs in? What is the preferred size? Most of my collection are G1 MIB or MOSC, with a a few loose. I also have an affinity for colourfull KOs, in various states of carded/boxed/etc... The KOs are of different types of plastic, so I have no idea on how they will weather their time in storage, but hey they are KOs, so, you get what you pay for...

Any and all help is apprciated.

Congrats on the upcoming new addition to your family. My 6-week old daughter is in her swing right in front of me right now while I'm typing this. Absolutely amazing! Nothing like parenthood.

Your best bet is to store them properly in a climate controlled condition. If you don't have enough space for them in your house, I would look into the cost of a nearby climate controlled storage unit.

My entire loose collection is now stored in the 56 quart Sterilite tubs that you get at Target for $5. I use the Target "RE" ones, instead of the ones sold by Sterilite. They're both made by Sterilite but the Target ones are cheaper. Seems silly to me. If you watch after holidays such as Easter, Christmas, Halloween, etc ... you can usually find your local Target blowing them out for $3.50 a tub which is really cheap.

Each of my figures are stored in ziploc freezer bags (quart or gallon depending on the size of the figure). I store the accessories in ziploc snack bags and place them inside with the figure in the larger ziploc bag. Each tub is sorted by figures from a particular series.

I use the extremely awesome shelving units that you can by at Target also ... they're also the "RE" branded ones. You can't find shelving units this inexpensive at any other store. I don't know why Target sells them for so much cheaper than everyone else. Menards might sell one that is comparable in price (within $10), but the ones at other places are always considerably more expensive (somewhere around $100).

The tubs won't protect the figures from extremes in temperature. Storing them like that is doing so at your own risk.

I'll forward the question to my wife and see if she can answer it (no promises).

She's a PhD Chemical Engineer specializing in polymers.

Counterpunch wrote:I'll forward the question to my wife and see if she can answer it (no promises).

She's a PhD Chemical Engineer specializing in polymers.

She's still tasked with curing GPS!!!

Mrs. Counterpunch: they're just different polymers: HDPE = high density polyethyene, LDPE = low density polyethylene, PP = polypropylene

Mrs. Counterpunch: HDPE is probably better than LDPE it will hold up better to higher temperatures

me: Does that mean that any is better for storage? I think they are concerned about gassing or potentially injuring the contents over time with fumes

Mrs. Counterpunch: HDPE is better than PP too from a temperature standpoint all of them would be processed the same way with similar types of additives, so I wouldn't expect much difference there. Since HDPE is more thermally stable, I would infer that it is probably a tougher material which might correspond to less leaching of any additives. That's just a guess on my part, I don't know a lot about the differences in processing of those 3 polymers

Which should go back to protecting them from extreme temperatures by having them in climate control.

Thanx for the replies. I am also leaning towards <2> due to some reading on Wiki. It seems to have the highest strength, and is stable through most temp swings. I am woried about the temp swings, but, have litle choice. We already have 2 and with the new one, we'll have 5 humans and a 1 105lb dog, in a 3 bedroom house.

CP: RE Mrs CP, please find a cure for GPS...efective retroactively. I have MIB Killbison, that I only look at, and do not use in LK. I have a yellow KO Killbison, that I use as a stand in...so sad

Again, thanx for the input. I will keep you up to date, as I further investigate.