The Energon Pub

I'm starting to display my Transformers collection and want to get your opinions on the best way(s) to do so.
Right now I have stacked plastic shelving that I'll be using (maybe temporarily) and I'm concerned about the possibility of my figures constantly falling over. I don't want to be playing 'dominoes' on a daily basis. I was thinking of using tape on the bottoms of the figures but didn't know if this could have a negative effect on the figures over time.
Is there a better type of shelving to use? And also is there something I can do or buy that would prevent the figures from falling over constantly? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I'd go with wood or glass shelves instead of plastic. And as long as you leave them posed in stable positions, they should be fine.

Sometimes I put some tack (like the kind you use to hang posters on walls) on the feet of the TFs that have a tendancy to shift around or if I'm standing one TF on top of another. It's not a miracle cure, but it'll keep TFs in place if they're in a stable position on a slick surface.

If you use plastic, you can look forward to some truly catastrophic acrobatics by your TFs if you so much as breath on the shelves, let alone accidentally nudge it while positioning a figure. This is how I started out in the days of yore, but when one day my wife (gf at the time) tagged the shelving with her foot ( quite accidentally ) and the result was akin to the side of a mountain disintegrating, I swore off the plastic forever.
Your best choice, if you live in a place where you can do this, is to invest in those melamine coated shelf boards from home depot, cut to the size of your choosing. Bolt some of those long metal standards into the studs of your walls, and use the metal brackets that lock into the standards to hold your shelves. This is the system I have been using for years and it is by far the most stable solution possible. You will also be able to fit at least seven shelves on the wall if the ceiling is a standard height.

Adhesive isn't good on paint. It will warp and bubble the surface paint overtime. My advice is to stand them in the best possible position without them falling. Put the less stable figures against the wall if possible. And put your collection somewhere it won't get bumped into or shook. If you like to take your figures down and play with them or what not, put the ones you'd be most likely to do so in the front so you're not reaching through the middle of your collection causing a chain reaction. But yea, If you have unstable or top heavy figures those are the ones you put against the wall so they are backed. My figures really don't have standing issues, MP Megatron does if you put his oversized fusion cannon on him, gives him a left-sided lean. It's really more about positioning rather than bondage tactics.


PS. Plastic since it is polyurethane based is a bit slick and will often act as ice under your TFs.

Wood is porous and gris them better. But as long as shelves are undesturbed plastic is fine.

If you can't get better shelves atm, there's a good solution that I used to do on my vinyl, SW, GI Joe figures. Get some of this clay that are used in modeling kits and apply a little "balls" of each on the bottom of their feet. They'll keep standing as long as there isn't an earthquake or w/e, and they aren't sticky when removed.

i lean my bots up against each other when displaying to maximize stability

I hung shelves on the wall as opposed to using free standing. They're less likely to shake when you walk around the room and unless you bump them really hard, they seem less likely to give and transfer vibration.

Use doll stands. Seriously. You'll need a large size for TFs.

http://www.collectingwarehouse.com/Prod ... 2godu0XhQw

Totally random pic with small doll stand. The metal is thin and somewhat flexible.

Lapse Of Reason wrote:Use doll stands. Seriously. You'll need a large size for TFs.

http://www.collectingwarehouse.com/Prod ... 2godu0XhQw

Those are pretty space consuming imo but a good solution to those figs that can't stand property on their own. i.e. Blazemaster.

shonenfan4 wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:Use doll stands. Seriously. You'll need a large size for TFs.

http://www.collectingwarehouse.com/Prod ... 2godu0XhQw

Those are pretty space consuming imo but a good solution to those figs that can't stand property on their own. i.e. Blazemaster.

They don't take any more space than the figure you are holding up. The round base can go right under the figure.

Display them in alt mode


seriously, though I'd keep the larger, heavier or more expensive ones off of the top shelves. I cringe everytime I see a Fort Max or reissue on the top shelf, waiting to fall off and splinter into razor sharp shards.

SnapTrap wrote:Display them in alt mode


seriously, though I'd keep the larger, heavier or more expensive ones off of the top shelves. I cringe everytime I see a Fort Max or reissue on the top shelf, waiting to fall off and splinter into razor sharp shards.

Wouldn't alt mode be more space consuming? I agree, Fort/Grand Maximus should be kept on the bottom shelf.

Wood and glass shelves are expensive but you could make the plastic ones more stable for the time being by putting heavy objects (bricks, books, old newspapers, but cover them with something so they don't look so ugly!) on the bottom shelf.

Using any kind of sticky thing on your figures will damage them. Ever tried to get blu-tak or cellotape off a wall after a few years? Tape leaves sticky residue, tak leaves oily marks.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! You have some great ideas

Cobalt Prime wrote:Your best choice, if you live in a place where you can do this, is to invest in those melamine coated shelf boards from home depot, cut to the size of your choosing. Bolt some of those long metal standards into the studs of your walls, and use the metal brackets that lock into the standards to hold your shelves. This is the system I have been using for years and it is by far the most stable solution possible. You will also be able to fit at least seven shelves on the wall if the ceiling is a standard height.

Exactly what I wan tto do, but it's not cheap. The setup I want to build would run about $300 for all the shelves, standards, and brackets. For now, I'll buy the shelf boards and just use regular L-brackets. I have a 1-year old (the 5-year-old knows not to touch without asking), so they'll have to start about 3 feet off the floor.

Hip-Hoptimus Rime wrote:

Cobalt Prime wrote:Your best choice, if you live in a place where you can do this, is to invest in those melamine coated shelf boards from home depot, cut to the size of your choosing. Bolt some of those long metal standards into the studs of your walls, and use the metal brackets that lock into the standards to hold your shelves. This is the system I have been using for years and it is by far the most stable solution possible. You will also be able to fit at least seven shelves on the wall if the ceiling is a standard height.

Exactly what I wan tto do, but it's not cheap. The setup I want to build would run about $300 for all the shelves, standards, and brackets. For now, I'll buy the shelf boards and just use regular L-brackets. I have a 1-year old (the 5-year-old knows not to touch without asking), so they'll have to start about 3 feet off the floor.

With all the work put into it, I'd srly just consider those Billy shelves from Ikea.

Hip-Hoptimus Rime wrote:

Cobalt Prime wrote:Your best choice, if you live in a place where you can do this, is to invest in those melamine coated shelf boards from home depot, cut to the size of your choosing. Bolt some of those long metal standards into the studs of your walls, and use the metal brackets that lock into the standards to hold your shelves. This is the system I have been using for years and it is by far the most stable solution possible. You will also be able to fit at least seven shelves on the wall if the ceiling is a standard height.

Exactly what I wan tto do, but it's not cheap.

Man, you got that right. I have eight such complexes in my toy room which cost between $150 and $300 each to build, depending on their size and complexity. I started work on this room about ten years ago and have JUST recently completely covered the last wall. I'm in the process of designing a four sided stand alone unit for the middle of the room out of the same materials complete with adjustable shelves and storage drawers at the bottom. I'm currently guesstimating a cost of anywhere from $300 to $400 bucks . Thank Primus for the Home Depot charge card!
All things considered, though, it was totally worth it to provide a stable, permanent, and professionally built (if I do say so myself! ) home for my collection.