Building a Display, Part III: Case in Point

For those of you who are late to the party, we're looking at some simple display options for collectors.  Take a gander at Part I and Part II if you missed them the first time.

There's no shortage of high end shelving units, lit cases, and antique cabinets you can buy to show off your collection.

But I can't afford any of those things.  So let us discuss the poor collector's options.

The majority of my shelves came from Ikea or the The Container Store.  If you're looking to show off toys but still want some cash left over to buy said toys, I suggest you familiarize yourself with these locations.

Display cases are a little more complicated.  I recently picked a few up, though, and wanted to talk about options.

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Like shelving units, The Container Store is a good place to start your search for display cases.  For very small items, you may want to look at things like these.

You can get boxes like this at The Container Store as well as some craft stores.  I picked them up at a store specializing in plastics, but it's a little easier to find a Container Store in most areas.

They're good for certain things.  If you have very small figurines that you want displayed individually, these might be a good way to go.  They're pretty cheap - generally just a few dollars each.  On the other hand, I don't find them all that useful.  Especially when compared to some other options.

Like this "Multi-Level Doll Exhibit Box" I bought at the Container Store.  It includes three movable levels, allowing you to choose how you want your figures displayed.  It's relatively cheap - about ten bucks when it's not on sale.

And, while it's not huge, it is big enough to hold a few figures.  You can buy bigger cases, of course, but they go up in price fast.  Still, if you have the money to spend, it could be worth it: these make excellent displays.

Here's another option: this is an "Auto Show Case" I bought for around seven bucks at Toys R Us.  It's pretty good, though it's a little small for my needs: I was originally thinking of putting in my four inch Justice League figures, but they proved too big.  I was able to fit some miniature figures inside, though, and they work well enough.  I do want to grumble a little about the packaging: because its not see through, I didn't notice it was broken until I got it home.  It's just a small crack in the corner, but it's still disappointing.

Of course, sometimes you don't need a case: sometimes you just need a display stand.  There are a lot of options on the market, but if you want a deal, think spice rack.  I picked this up at - you guessed it - The Container Store.  These will cost you about twelve bucks - a little pricey, but worth it.

This particular model does have one drawback: it's supported in the front and back, but not the sides, meaning that placing it on a shallow shelf is an invitation for disaster.  Because that's precisely where I needed it, I propped it up with a pair of vases (courtesy of Michaels) and some "CD drawers" that came with some stackable cases I bought at Staples.  The sizes conveniently matched up, and now I've got a multi-layered display.  It just goes to show that it pays to keep these kinds of things around.

Multi-Level Doll Exhibit Box with custom Justice League: Starcrossed figures

Auto Show Case with Star Wars: Galactic Heroes figures

Spice Rack from The Container Store, supported by Vases from Michaels and CD shelves from Staples, containing/covering/surrounded by... ah... I'm not even going to try.