First off, for the moderators, I wasn't really sure where to put this thread. I thought I remembered seeing a forum for collection advice/suggestions, but can't seem to find it. This was the next best thing, I guess. The point of this thread isn't really to show off my collection, but to share something I put together quickly that I thought has a lot of bang for the buck as far as display goes. Feel free to move or advise where this thread should go if there's a better place for it.

And on to the show...

For a good while, the cornerstone of my collection has been just a single white Billy bookshelf from IKEA. No doors, a couple of glass shelves that I've adjusted as necessary. Lighting has always been a problem and while the white color of the shelf has helped tremendously, it still wasn't enough. I've tried adding lamps and creating indirect lighting in a variety of ways, but almost everything I've tried just didn't do the job (or wasn't very elegant with switches and wires hanging all over the place).

Recently, I came across Nanoleaf's Aurora smart lighting kit: Nanoleaf - unique light that could change the world

I won't bore you with the details as I'm sure you can view Nanoleaf's product resources yourself, but in summary, the starter kit provides 9 triangular LED panels that you can mount together in any fashion and customize and control via smartphone app. Below are some pictures of my initial set up; as you can see, the options are limitless.

 

What kit do you have on Devestator? Is it the DNA kit? Great display!

 

Yes.

 

Good god those lighting panels are expensive.

 

I love how the lighting behind the guys, especial the combiners, give them more character. Also i love the whole g1 type crew of autobots. Great collection, but one thing you should do is try and increase your deception collection and if so then do it with g1 related guys like you did with the merry gang of autobots

 

The panels allow changing color patterns and brightness adjustments galore. Simply changing the colors changes the mood a great deal. With just a bit of dabbling with the patterns, the panels bring the entire display to life.

I actually have 4 other displays for the rest of my collection:
1. An IKEA Detolf with a bunch of MP Decepticons where the top is covered with more legends Decepticons at the foot of MakeToys's Pandinus (Scorponok) city-bot.
2. A white IKEA 8-cube shelf with a bunch of random scale Autobots, topped with an army of legends Autobots at the foot of Hasbro Titan Class Metroplex and Fortress Maximus.
3. Built-in shelf with more MP Autobots.
4. Standing shelf-lamp with Generation Toy's OP-EX (IDW Optimus Prime).

Anyway, I wasn't really intending to show off my collection with this thread. I really just wanted to share what I did with the Nanoleaf panels.

 

You should show off the rest. I love to see what people do with their collections and i know im not alone.

 

What is lighting the bottom shelf?

 

Maybe. As I said, I'm struggling with lighting outside of the Nanoleaf Billy, so the other displays may not do well in photos. But I'll see what I can do.

A couple of adhesive RGB LED strips (stuck to the bottom of the shelf above it). Not a great solution, but it was cheap and clean enough. Those strips and the Nanoleaf panels are on the same outlet switch, so both come on at the same time via switch. If I'm lucky, I'll probably replace those strips with Nanoleaf panels. Hell, my other displays could use them too (a set on the back of a IKEA Detolf would be sooooooo nice).

 

Here's the rest of my collection (again, I apologize for the lighting):

 

Nice rest of your collection. I love that Bludgeon. Congrats

 

What a gorgeous setup!

 

If you're near a MicroCenter, they have the most insane deal on the Nanoleaf panels right now in-store:

Micro Center - Computers and Electronics

The holidays are a great time to let the panels do their thing, too:

 

Grabbed a 2nd set and upgraded the Billy as well as the Detolf shelves:

 

Very cool!

 

Video to showcase the color changing effects:

 

very nice 

 

This is incredible work! You should be commended for the creativity and use of light!

Someone here posted that the cost of panels can be high. I've tried to source them to make a "colour wrap effect", but the cost is prohibitively high. The closest I could come to this is a set of the multicoloured LED pucks from IKEA cycling through the colours, but the wiring hiding would be problematic, and not nearly as clean as your install.

 

I'm certain there's a way to come close to what Nanoleaf Aurora does, but it would be expensive, unreliable, require a tremendous amount of custom work, or all of the above. $200 for a set of these is certainly not cheap, but deals on them DO exist (I paid $290 for 2 sets). At the same time, it's a little silly to complain about cost on a forum where most members have spent as much money on a single figure that does little more than sit on a shelf. If I abandon this hobby, at least these light panels can easily be repurposed.

 

Very true - and they do look really cool.

The thing about most lighting is that it is a static set-up. You need dynamic lighting or posing to take advantage of the incredible sculpt and work that has gone into the aesthetic.

For me, the most important thing is that the light is clean and even from a point source.