Looking for display options for my minifigs

[1derman]

I haven't been collecting that long, but I've pretty quickly gotten quite a few little minifigs. My first idea for display was to buy some cool lego set and stand them all over it, but at this point none of the sets have enough surface area. I've got almost 30 guys. I thought it might be cool to put them in some sort of acrylic plastic case with a lego base with a little label. In other words, I want to put it in a display that resembles a glass case. I find the minifigs themselves really hilarious and fun so I think it would be really funny to put them in a display that seems fit for something far more valuable. It would also symbolize how valuable they are to me. I think they're cool as hell and I want them to look like they deserve to be shown off. Spending more on the display than the minifig is not a problem. Anbody doing anyhting like this?

[Darthhenry1]

Just buy something like http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/752437_Large_Minifigure_Display_Case it is LEGO and includes a LEGO man!

[TheOrcKing]

I've seen builders create unique display cases for their characters out of Lego; something I would like to do in the future.

[comicblast]

I was thinking about doing the same thing for mine. I wanted a display so I wouldn't have to buy a $100+ one off eBay. Hasn't worked out yet, but I really like the idea of acrylic displays. There are plenty smaller sized ones from the Beanie Babies craze that are around the right size to display a battle pack or two. I also have looked at the Minifigure Display Cases that Lego has produced, but I don't really like how they look. To me, they look like they can topple very easily, plus there are some larger minifigures like the Rancor or Jabba or the Hulk that can't fit in there. Plus, I like the idea of making my own then showing it off to other people. ;)

[Blackjack]

If you say that cost is not an issue, I would build a display case out of brown bricks, with chrome or mirrored inlay, and large Lego window plates. If I only had the bricks... :)

[TheOrcKing]

If I only had the bricks...

Famous last words of any builder. ;-)

[Blackjack]

I really do wish I had the time (because I hardly spend any here ;D) on building, and who doesn't need more bricks?

[steakyboy]

I hit the jackpot at a store called The Container Store. Found acrylic tray that has 4 rows with 6 slots per row. Minifigures fit perfect with the little black minifigure stand. Has a hinge in the top, closes real tight, and I bought a couple of those 3M adhesive tabs for the back and hung them on the wall. Similar to this, but not exact one, gotta hit the store for the one i am talking about: http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10028194&******=&Ns=p_sort_default|0&Ntt=acrylic+trays Also bought a display box with stacking black base pieces to create stairs for 3 rows. Avengers are in that one. http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/display/cubesCases?productId=10022884&******=233&Ns=p_sort_default|0 Even bought a basketball display case to keep the dust off the #7263 Tie Fighter, with light up vader saber, first lego wife got me back in '05. Gotta throw the wifey some love to keep her at bay. WARNING: If you do have a container store near you, make sure you give yourself LOTS of time and an emergency contact, cause you will obsess over each aisle of how you can display every figure, every set, in every container, and even the darn directions can be stored in one of the million options. You will need to be pulled outta there. Place is NUTS! You were warned!

[Blackjack]

I hit the jackpot at a store called The Container Store. Found acrylic tray that has 4 rows with 6 slots per row. Minifigures fit perfect with the little black minifigure stand. Has a hinge in the top, closes real tight, and I bought a couple of those 3M adhesive tabs for the back and hung them on the wall.

Similar to this, but not exact one, gotta hit the store for the one i am talking about: http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10028194&******=&Ns=p_sort_default|0&Ntt=acrylic+trays

Also bought a display box with stacking black base pieces to create stairs for 3 rows. Avengers are in that one.

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/display/cubesCases?productId=10022884&******=233&Ns=p_sort_default|0

Even bought a basketball display case to keep the dust off the #7263 Tie Fighter, with light up vader saber, first lego wife got me back in '05. Gotta throw the wifey some love to keep her at bay.

WARNING: If you do have a container store near you, make sure you give yourself LOTS of time and an emergency contact, cause you will obsess over each aisle of how you can display every figure, every set, in every container, and even the darn directions can be stored in one of the million options. You will need to be pulled outta there. Place is NUTS! You were warned!

"The Container Store"... ^_^

[dakotahorn]

It's ok my man. Welcome to your guide. I have even thought about writing an article about this, but it didn't have a lot to do with investing. I can honestly say that I have spent at least 30 - 40 hours looking at display case options, and searching for all available options. Hopefully I can save you some time. As to what I collect; I am a Star Wars Minifigure collector. Minifigure collecting.... You have to have a case, quite frankly, because dust is a BEACH. Case requirements and considerations: Hang / Stack - most want their case to hang Covered - but it needs to have easy access Space - Many people overlook this and get the shelves too close together, so accessories can't be displayed properly Lighting - Lighting is nice, but I prefer natural, non-direct, room lighting, so the minis don't fade Fixed size / expandable - Preference here Lego built / traditional - Preference here Single cases / Big unit - Preference here Dividers / No dividers - Preference here Cost of slot per minifigure Personally I prefer a fixed size, acrylic, big unit display case that stacks, without dividers. After many hours of looking and searching, I have finally landed on this unit. http://clearwaterdisplays.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=36&osCsid=cf2ce77876ac94a4ddf7796a71e76b66 I chose this unit because the dimension between the shelf is 2.7" which is enough room to proudly display my Jedi with their lightsabers. In addition, I chose this unit over a 1:64 display case because of one minifigure; Jabba the Hutt. If I had gone with a display with dividers, I would have been extremely irritated that Jabba would not be able to be placed in the display due to his size, as he is my favorite mini. Now, some other options: http://clearwaterdisplays.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=30&osCsid=cf2ce77876ac94a4ddf7796a71e76b66 Great example of what I was speaking of, this is awesome if you are not including a bulky figure like Jabba. What I like about this is, when you turn it sideways, it is a beautiful display that gives you plenty of room to display accessories. Also has a decent cost per minifigure. http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-MINIFIGURE-COLLECTORS-DISPLAY-BOX-CASE-10PCS-Transparent-and-expandable-/130591367317?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item1e67da2095 These are very interesting. They are completely interlockable, which will allow you to create one giant display, or add cases, as you add minis to your collection. Cost per mini is medium. http://stores.ebay.com/Brick-Displays/Star-Wars-Displays-/_i.html?_fsub=4102296014 Brick Displays, a store on eBay, has some absolutely stunning cases. This guy has really created something cool (probably cheap to make, but hey). I linked just his Star Wars selection, but he has a lot of options, including the ability to make any you don't see custom. These are individual cases, and the cost per minifig is on the high end of the spectrum, but there is no doubt these would make any collection shine. He does have a few competitors on eBay, but IMO this is the shop if you want to go this route. As a final note, he does actually sell minifigures with the cases if you want them, so you know the case cards match the mini.... something to consider. http://compare.ebay.com/like/221184496793?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar Wood Cases. This is just an example of a wood case. I chose acrylic because as you can see, depending on your placement of this case, the minifigures can get a little dark, and hard to see. A few things I will note about wood cases like this, is they can be hard to get into sometimes, often the shelves are too low for anything but standard minis, and they can actually have some of the best cost per minifigure of all your options. http://stores.ebay.com/gee-creation/Acrylic-Display-Case-/_i.html?_fsub=481053119 Ok, these are SICK! Seriously love them. They are pretty self explanatory. I chose to go a different route due to their price, and because I am OCD about how I want my minis spaced out. However, I fully recognize that not everyone is as insane as I am, so I included it here. If if if... I decide to expand into collecting another theme, I may very well go with these. The LOTR display with the Cave troll on the side looks fantastic. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lego-Minifigure-Display-Storage-Collector-Case-Large-Red-NEW-KP004-Holds-16-/200911863104?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item2ec747bd40 Here is an official Lego Display case. I don't have much to say about these. They are not my favorite, and I believe the 16 slots were designed to pair with TLG's collectible minifigure series. http://www.fbtb.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6667 Finally I think you will enjoy this link the best. As far as LEGO built displays, they can be cheap, they can be expensive, they can be difficult, they can be inspiring. It really depends on you. You are the secret ingredient for any LEGO built display. I will say this, I have found few that actually protect the minis from dust.... and as I said earlier; Dust is a BEACH. Hope that helps my man!!!! Regards, Cody

[1derman]

Thanks or the advice guys. The display case made by lego is kinda cool, but I don't think it does enough to draw attention to the figure itself. I want a case that says "this figure is important. It's be cool to at least put a few of my favorites in a really nice one. I ended up finding a few things, and ordered them just to see what I like best. I ordered a single golf ball display box. It's a transluscent 1 3/4" cube. Most of my figs are a little taller than 1.5" so it should fit them. We'll see. it was only $3.81. I'm hoping to glue a little lego piece to the base for my minifig to stand on and put a laminated label in front of it. Here she is. this one is probably gonna be the toughest fit http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RA0L3E/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The next thing I ordered was thhis ball. same idea. but i just wanta see how it looks. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044SEKA0/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AGHAJIVOJ8MAY This one was the most expensive but I imagine this will eventually come in handy as my collection grows. I'd keep my favorites in the small fancy cases and all thee rest on this nice wall case that seems to have been made with these guys in mind. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KPO4YU/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and then i have this one.. all i gotta do is flip iy upside down and use a flat lego as a base to stand my figures on. Might be good for displaying a duo like c-3po and r2-d2, or a big guy like the hulk. I'm sure bigger acrylic cases for displaying all types of things would be good for displaying groups of guys like the whole extended avengers team, or the ninja turtles with splinter

[Blackjack]

That is a massively awesome case!

[dakotahorn]

That is a massively awesome case!

Which one were you refering to?

[comicblast]

http://www.fbtb.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6667

Finally I think you will enjoy this link the best. As far as LEGO built displays, they can be cheap, they can be expensive, they can be difficult, they can be inspiring. It really depends on you. You are the secret ingredient for any LEGO built display. I will say this, I have found few that actually protect the minis from dust.... and as I said earlier; Dust is a BEACH.

This is what I call a quality response! I really like that FBTB one. Comes from experienced displayers. I may try to make a smaller scaled one.

[dakotahorn]

This is what I call a quality response! I really like that FBTB one. Comes from experienced displayers. I may try to make a smaller scaled one.

Why thank you sir.

I have an obsessive personality.... it comes out from time to time.

[Specialka22]

I put about 15 solid hours of research into this topic, and after many visits to the Container Store, ended up settling on modifying LEGO's display box (850423) to fit my needs. I looked into a lot of storage options built for other purposes (baseball display cubes, hockey puck display cases, jewelry boxes, and such), but felt that they never quite fit perfectly or didn't look top notch when filled with LEGO minifigures, or weren't sealed in the front, etc. And when they didn't fit perfectly the minifigures slid around inside their individual containers whenever I moved them. I found a way to build a base with LEGO plates that could fit perfectly in some of the containers and then placed the minifigures with their black bases on top of these, which helped, but then I was still left with the problem that the containers never really "framed" the figures well. So, like I said, I ended up going with a modified set of 850423. I bought enough 850423 sets from LEGO store while they were 50% off to display 11 series (176 minifigures total!--great deal!) and created a design in LDD that used almost all of the pieces from the original set + whatever I needed to enlarge the boxes so they could fit figures like Aztec Warrior (long spear) and Ocean King (mermaid tail) comfortably. I basically doubled the floor plate and added a few rows to raise the height (while still looking very clean). Then I shopped around for the cheapest bricks on Bricklink and online & in-store Pick-a-brick (sometimes the stores had the pieces I needed, which can be really nice to avoid shipping charges). The modification ended up costing me about $2.50 per minifigure (all expenses accounted for), which can really add up if you're like me and have 9 series to display so far, but in my opinion totally worth it in the long run, and especially worth it if you're looking to display a single series. After all, you're just investing in LEGO bricks and can use them for any project in the future if you're not satisfied. Also, you can save money if you already have a lot of the pieces that I needed. Hint: Online Pick-a-brick ended up with the best deal on 1x5x6 translucent clear windows, beating all Briclink competition, which is great for quality insurance since those ended up being my front windows. The only other option I would ever consider is making a custom wood display case in a wood shop, but I don't have the resources at the moment. For those of you who do, and can get wood at a cheap price (or free?) this might be the way to go. As long as your craftsmanship is good... If you want I can show you some photos and hand my plans over for your use (don't have access to these right now at work).

[1derman]

so i spent some time searching for acrylic cases, and I decided on this one. It cost me $6, so it won't be a realistic option or storing all of my miinifigs, but here it is. I'll post again when I try the next thing.

[Blackjack]

I'm really envious of the TC-14! O_O

[1derman]

Thanks man! I envy people like you who apparently have a little more self control when it comes to online shopping or lego guys! I knew I'd never be buying the fancy Gold C-3PO so I was pretty happy when I discovered the TC-14. I think he's just as cool.

[comicblast]

I'm really envious of the TC-14! O_O

Thanks man! I envy people like you who apparently have a little more self control when it comes to online shopping or lego guys! I knew I'd never be buying the fancy Gold C-3PO so I was pretty happy when I discovered the TC-14. I think he's just as cool.

I'm pretty envious too. Might buy one in the future, since I agree that is is a valid replacement of a chrome C3P0. I'd rather I had less self control, because then I would have way more sets. But as funds are limited, self-control must be activated. ;)

[1derman]

I'm glad I'm not alone on that one. Maybe the value on these tc-14s will sky rocket when other people catch on.

[comicblast]

I'm glad I'm not alone on that one. Maybe the value on these tc-14s will sky rocket when other people catch on.

Wow. You are making me really jealous, 1derman!! Hey, if you shine a orangish incandescent light on it, it may look like a chrom C3PO instead!!

I hope it doesn't skyrocket before I can get at least one for my collection and 1-3 for an investment!

[1derman]

I'm glad I'm not alone on that one. Maybe the value on these tc-14s will sky rocket when other people catch on. As a life long Star Wars fan, I should point out that although 3po is famous for his golden body, he was probably the only protocol droid of his model ever to have that gold plating, and at some point in his life, he was silver just like tc-14. Therefore, if you get a tc-14 and pose him with your r2-d2 minifig, you can call him c-3po all you want. Backing up my claim: we all know of the absurd coincidence where anakin builds c3po. Anakin obviously didn't design this robot model, so what he did was the equivalent of a kid building a custom '69 camaro in his garage. Because we see three other protocol droids(are there more than three? I could be wrong) in the sextilogy, and both are dresseed in silver chrome, we can assume silver is the standard color. If anakin acquired the parts from one or more decomissioned unit, he probably got some of them from units with silver bodies. Even if that's not the case, c-3po didn't get his gold plating until he came to be in service of padme. Gold plating probably didn't come standard on these models, so it's reasonable to assume he was silver for some time. Further proof that Gold parts weren't available is that his right shin was replaced somewhere between episode 3 and 4 and in 4 his right shin is silver.

[comicblast]

I'm glad I'm not alone on that one. Maybe the value on these tc-14s will sky rocket when other people catch on.

As a life long Star Wars fan, I should point out that although 3po is famous for his golden body, he was probably the only protocol droid of his model ever to have that gold plating, and at some point in his life, he was silver just like tc-14. Therefore, if you get a tc-14 and pose him with your r2-d2 minifig, you can call him c-3po all you want.

Backing up my claim: we all know of the absurd coincidence where anakin builds c3po. Anakin obviously didn't design this robot model, so what he did was the equivalent of a kid building a custom '69 camaro in his garage. Because we see three other protocol droids(are there more than three? I could be wrong) in the sextilogy, and both are dresseed in silver chrome, we can assume silver is the standard color. If anakin acquired the parts from one or more decomissioned unit, he probably got some of them from units with silver bodies. Even if that's not the case, c-3po didn't get his gold plating until he came to be in service of padme. Gold plating probably didn't come standard on these models, so it's reasonable to assume he was silver for some time. Further proof that Gold parts weren't available is that his right shin was replaced somewhere between episode 3 and 4 and in 4 his right shin is silver.

Tsk, tsk. Looking for excuses! I'll keep these in mind so when people ask who it is, I will reply the old C3PO.

[TheOrcKing]

As a life long Star Wars fan, I should point out that although 3po is famous for his golden body, he was probably the only protocol droid of his model ever to have that gold plating, and at some point in his life, he was silver just like tc-14. Therefore, if you get a tc-14 and pose him with your r2-d2 minifig, you can call him c-3po all you want.

Backing up my claim: we all know of the absurd coincidence where anakin builds c3po. Anakin obviously didn't design this robot model, so what he did was the equivalent of a kid building a custom '69 camaro in his garage. Because we see three other protocol droids(are there more than three? I could be wrong) in the sextilogy, and both are dresseed in silver chrome, we can assume silver is the standard color. If anakin acquired the parts from one or more decomissioned unit, he probably got some of them from units with silver bodies. Even if that's not the case, c-3po didn't get his gold plating until he came to be in service of padme. Gold plating probably didn't come standard on these models, so it's reasonable to assume he was silver for some time. Further proof that Gold parts weren't available is that his right shin was replaced somewhere between episode 3 and 4 and in 4 his right shin is silver.

That is a rather thoughtout explanation and makes perfect sense actually. Every other protocol droid was basic silver, just not C-3PO. Heh heh, I always remember the one part where C-3PO comes across another protocol droid in Cloud City and although he is happy, the other said something that sounded like he told C-3PO to eat s**t! XD