Forum - View topicFigure Collectors, what do you put your figures in?
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Porcupine
 Posts: 1033 |
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I collect a lot of anime gashapon, PVC, and resin figures. But I'm always faced with the problem of what to put them in, when I want to display them. To the other figure collectors here, what sort of containers, cases, or shelving, if any, do you use?
I've been putting my figures into little clear plastic display cases, which I purchase from local shops which import them from Japan. The side walls are made of some flexible clear material. They are sort of similar to the kind of cases that people put Japanese dolls in, except more plain and not as fancy. This solution works fine for me but these cases are a bit expensive, and I ran out of shelf space long ago so only 10% of my figures are in these cases. The rest are just sitting in plain view scattered all about my room gathering dust, or stored away in boxes. Another problem I have is that the stores which sell these little plastic doll/display cases ran out of the sizes I want years ago and they seem to have no intention or capability to re-stock. I'm not sure what is the name of the Japanese company that produces these...next time I buy another one I'll check the bottom but the name might be in Japanese. I've also been looking at large curio cabinets and large glass display cases, but they are very expensive. I purchased one recently but it hasn't arrived yet. Even when it gets here, it's not going to solve my problems as it will immediately be filled with all the figures scattered everywhere in my room in the open. |
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Gage
Posts: 480 Location: United States |
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The main series of figures I have collected was from Dragon Ball Z... I was a BIG fan and still am one. I have a three door bin thingy which currently resides in my closet - it's filled! Not to mention some other misc .figures of other series downstairs packed away. I tend to lay off buying toys now ah days because I don't really play with them and they would be taking up a lot of space that may be needed some day.
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Viga_of_stars
 Posts: 1240 Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier |
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I just like to put mine on a shelf or my dresser. I think of them as great little collectable decor. But porc I gotta question for you? Do you know any great websites to get PVC's and Gashapons? I lot of the stuff I saw were 70, 80 or 90+ dollars! Too much for me! Also do any sites specialize on those little figures. The last place I saw offline is in NYC chinatown. I want to expand my FMA chibis figures and find other chibi figures.
If you can't tell im still sorta new the figure collecting. 
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Emerje
 Posts: 7395 Location: Maine |
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I'm a horrible example. I save my money for the figures with little thought put into displaying. I keep my shelves a uniform style, but everything is just open to the air (and dust) and packed full with no "breathing room". Here's an old pic to give an idea of what I deal with. Believe it or not I've got even more things on those shelves now and there are two more of them on the other side of the room.
But to help, trying searching for "acrylic display cases" I think you'll find some good options there. Emerje |
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Viga_of_stars
Posts: 1240 Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier |
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WOW. Im really amazed and impressed! That would take up a whole room in my house! Its so cool! |
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Porcupine
Posts: 1033 |
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Lol at that picture, but I've seen worse, too. I feel sorry for them all squished up like that but at least they have organized and dedicated shelving to them, even though it's open to the air.
To me, protection from dust is the main desire for nice display cases. Protection from falling over is also important. Acrylic display cases are okay but not really what I want. I think most of those are hard on all sides (made of a hard plastic or glass sort-of substance). The ones I use are similar to the ones for Japanese dolls. The sides are clear, flexible plastic. They become semi-rigid only because they are attached to a rigid base and a rigid clear top, otherwise they are flubby. I'm not sure what the material is called. They are really good for expensive resin figures in particular which can shatter if they ever fall. By placing an expensive resin figure in a properly sized doll case, you can really protect it from falling over and breaking itself. Especially for figures which balance themselves precariously. I can still easily buy the cases I've been buying but only certain sizes. The good sizes ran out years ago, which sucks (and I only managed to buy one of the good size). I've got several pricey resin figures I want to put into those now, I just wish I could buy them somewhere. Viga, hmmm....gashapon and PVC figure collecting is a tough hobby. I've never found any one completely reliable source for them and jump around a lot over the years. I advise not buying any gashapon or PVC in Chinatown if possible...they might be bootlegs. Chinese and HK bootlegs of gashapon and PVC figures are rampant right now...worse yet is the fact that they replicate the box and everything and try to pass it off as original in every way possible. The only way to know for sure if you got a bootleg from a random place is to have a reasonable eye for quality and know what the figure was supposed to look like. These days I get most of my PVC figures from Hobby Link Japan, but they are indeed expensive. Gashapons are even more annoying in a way because they are usually randomized in boxes or capsules and getting the ones you want is a true pain. Hobby Link Japan is about the cheapest place though, for PVC figures. The main problem with them is that they will usually only stock figures that just came out and often you have to order or even pre-order the ones you want, or else you won't get them because they sell out fast. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16961 |
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I'm another bad example. I liked mine to be out in the open for all to see. I mostly collect PVC figures though I do also buy some gashapon and resign figures. Actually I build some resign figures. I keep the in this small curio cabinet, thought I need to buy a bigger one or I can't make anymore of the figures since the small cabinet is full. My PVC and gashapon I just display for all to see. To help get dust off I actually use those compressed air cans for computers. Ya know the ones with the straw like tubes to get in the keyboards? I use those to blow the dust off since it's just air and won't damage the figure itself.
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Porcupine
Posts: 1033 |
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I never thought about using compressed air to get the dust off my figures. I just used paper towels, towels, cloths, rags, my shirt, wash with water, whatever to get the dust off. I even have a modeling-grade air compressor (for airbrushing) which I've never used. So I could just use that and it's free compressed air (except for electricity). Still, I rather my figures not get dusty at all, and the soft doll cases are extra good for the fragile resins. Most of my figures are PVC too, but most of my most treasured ones are resins. The best thing about PVC figures is that they are nearly indestructible. I can play with them and touch them all I like and I don't worry about them breaking (the legs of most larger PVC figures are made of ABS plastic though, so the legs are not as indestructible).
In case you're wondering, I never used my compressor nor my Iwata HP-B airbrush because right after I bought them (and wasted a lot of money) I got too lazy to paint after that lol. So all that expensive equipment never got used once by me, what a waste. Before that I painted several resins with a cheaper airbrush and air cans (and wasted a lot of money going through 6 - 10 air cans because I didn't know what I was doing and I was using a poor choice of paint). I should paint again, I think if I did my next figures might be professional-looking (looking at the rapid improvement of my past ones and my far better equipment), but I am too lazy. And it's hard to keep my room clean when I paint (I've never seen any modeling hobbyist have a clean room before, most look like war zones). |
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Aromatic Grass
 Posts: 2424 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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I never considered where I would put my future collection of a jillion Range Murata and Mecha Musume figures...not that that's going to happen! (They're so expensive! >.<) I have two Murata figures right now: one random character and one Alvis w/ goat. I have another Alvis w/ goat that came with the Limited Ed. box set, but I lost the stand so it's on my floor somewhere. Those, along with one Motoko Kusanagi (you can tell I looove retro-futuristic / cyberpunk series), are simply placed on my small yet busy shelf. I have a few cheap Naruto, Chobits, and Haruhi figurines. (Actually, those are key chains. XP) But I still have a lot of cheap Naruto characters by my Naruto manga collection (which is very large).
Anyone else have any of the figures mentioned in the first sentence that I can drool in envy over? 
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riccardo
 Posts: 136 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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They go on my shelf at home, but I'e been looking into buying a display case for them, or even having one built.
Some aren't probably worth very much, but my Saiyuki statues and my Kyo Kara Maoh plushies are very important to me, and my puppy seems to like to chew my favourites. |
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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Well, so far I'm only getting into figure collecting right now. The only one I have is a Shana figure that I bought from AX, and it's still in the box. I think for now I'm going to keep it in the box until I can find some space for it, or I might just not remove it and keep it as is.
I'll tell my friend about this thread, he's got an awful lot of Kannu figures at his place. |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I believe that a recent issue of Wired magazine had an article with Martha Stewart which went over displaying figures. I tend to place most of my figures and MG kits in front of my books on my many (I currently have 7 full sized and really need more) bookshelves. I've given up on gashapon since they tend to take up too much space for complete sets and tend to be of lower quality.
Most of my figures are fixed pose PVC that I have bought from HLJ, or elsewhere on the net. I've yet to get a bootleg as far as I can tell from the internet, but I have always bought from sources with a good amount of feedback and are located in Japan, or occasionally in the States or Canada. I'm currently trying to complete the Seed/Destiny RAH DX series and am having the hardest time finding the Lacus from destiny (the really cool black outfit) figure! Is there a Kira figure to this series? I find it odd that the main character from Seed is absent especially with 3 Luna Maria figures and a Yzak figure available. Most of my shelves are filled with Gundam figures and MG kits. My most recent MG is the white Zeta 2.0 which is an amazing kit especially compared to the awful 1.0 kit. I also just got the Bome designed Rin figure which is really amazing. I think I'll need to buy the Bome Saber (will be my third Saber) figure. As for arrangements I have my figures arranged by scale. There are a few kits that don't fit in their designated scale spots. Part of this is from varying head and leg proportions, and some of it is due to poor math in size conversions. |
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ruro niko
 Posts: 109 Location: Tennessee |
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Mine usually stay on the top shelf of my fullsized bookcase, above my DVDs, and it is getting fairly crowded. My larger ones, though, like my MG Gundam Ez8, go on the top of my smaller bookcase that I actually keep books in.
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Fui
 Posts: 339 |
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I just got back from Tokyo and more than half of my return luggage was PVC figures (I'm surprised I didn't get weird looks when they did the luggage check). Since I live in a tiny studio with someone, there just isn't much room for them. My friend bought a multi-level glass case from Ikea for like 50 bucks, where he stores all of his figures. I think I'll do something like that when I move somewhere with more space. As of now, they're just sitting on a bookshelf.
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Viga_of_stars
Posts: 1240 Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier |
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Are you saying you make and paint figures too?! Whoa! Thanks for the bootleg tips. I also did'nt know it was such a tough hobby. But i don't know...I just think figures are so cute and some are so cool. I like looking at them on my dresser and self. Maybe its my former love for dolls from when I was a little girl playing with barbies. Who knows. Here's a question though. What is the difference of resin and PVC? |
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