I've been collecting almost my entire life, and after a few decades I've picked up some tips and tricks I wanted to share. Whether you're new to collecting in general, new to Transformers, or have been at this since the beginning, I hope there's something here for everyone.

A quick intro for what I'm into: I mostly collect loose CHUG and Unicron Trilogy stuff with a few exceptions and I collect on a figure by figure basis. I've never collected a complete toy line, sealed toys, variants, or anything like that. I have no G1 or Masterpiece toys.

I plan on adding to this thread with more pointers and ideas as time goes on. Some posts might be a simple DIY project for your shelves, some might be a long story of past experiences. Feel free to chip in with your own advice.

Rise(r) up!
Generally, I display my toys with the biggest figures in the back and the shortest in the front so that I can see all of them clearly. But sometimes, I might want to display short figures directly interacting with taller ones and the difference in height can be distracting. Similarly, a shelf of similarly sized toys can be tricky to display. The solution to both is simple; risers!



As you can see, the white area under Unicron is a riser. It's an old corrugated cardboard box filled with an accordion-folded piece of cardboard in the middle for structure. I then wrapped it in straight up printer paper to match the white shelving. Now, Unicron can stand proud and visible on the shelf. This was particularly necessary because Unicron is on the top shelf of my display, which is one Lego Ideas Voltron away from the ceiling.

 

Fishing for Shelf Space

I've wrestled with shelf space countless times. A few years ago I set rules for myself tightly governing my collecting and display, which I'll talk about at length soon, but the point is that I can't expand my shelf space. So, how do you fit more figures on a shelf when you've run out of horizontal space? Use your vertical space!



Acid Storm here is suspended by beading thread and a pair of eye hooks, both of which can be found in any dollar store in the craft section. Beading thread is quite strong and stretchy, so its very forgiving and easy to work with. The eye hooks came from one of those picture hanging sets with all the brass hooks and nails and whatnot. All-plastic Transformers tend to be less than a pound, so you could easily swap out the beading thread for sewing thread or fishing line, whatever you have around. If you use beading thread tie it in reef knots. Bowlines would be great, but beading thread is flat and stretchy enough that I couldn't get one to hold. The lines aren't holding much weight anyway, and you can always double or triple up lines and test it over a soft pillow in case something falls.

As far as the eye hooks go, I couldn't find an alternative that didn't involve screwing into an upper shelf. So if you have glass shelves (detolfs), this won't work for you. I'm sure there's an adhesive out there that can do the job, but eye hooks worked great for me and my MDF shelves. I can always patch the holes and repaint if I change my mind.

Make sure that if you do use eye hooks that they aren't too long. If they are, they'll poke through the upper shelf and possibly into the foot of another figure. Measure twice, screw once.



On the far right of the above picture, you can see TR Six Shot. He's the tallest toy on this shelf, and the reason the shelf has to be at this height. But, that same shelf height leaves a lot of blank space over all the other figures. Hanging a toy fills the gap and provides more visual movement and variety. It's a great way to display toys in alt mode on the same shelf as toys in robot mode.

Also, I could use the same loops of beading thread to hang another figure, if I change my display around, or I can display Acid Storm in robot mode by hanging him up by the armpits or wings. Thread is also pretty cheap and readily available, at least in my area, which makes redoing lines a breeze.

I have another few examples attached, if you fancy a peak. Hanging toys is my most recent revelation, and I'm loving it. I want to fill out my Transformers Cybertron shelf specifically so I can hang my Cybertron Jetfire in his GORGEOUS jet mode without the shelf looking too bare.

 

It's also absolute hell to get anything other than a deluxe out (even with the newer scale) to play or mess around with unless there is a significant amount of "dead air" above the largest figures on the shelf. I still have my toys like this though because, I've always had an innate urge to maximize space (which was why I excelled in retail because my first job in it was at a KB Toys Outlet which didn't use planograms so I re-merchandised Barbie, Boys, Boys dress up, Girls dress-up while my store manager did pre-school, girls, plush, and the red steel). That experience took my collection organization to an entirely different level of maximizing space because it refined the raw talent I had for displays/merchandising. Thankfully I didn't have much of a collection prior to that, it was just RID2K and some odds and ends from BW/BM that I had picked up during/after RID2K.

I would like to move to risers but, that means less shelves and more floor space for additional cases/cabinets/stands.

 

Perhaps figures stands would be a good option? I use one for my HG Gundams, and it's great because you can display figure on the base of the stand while you have a figure mounted on the arm of the stand. They're expensive though.

EDIT: That's cool that you worked at KB. I used to work at Reorolabels doing a lot of database management, and now I am an absolute FIEND for nicely organized and labeled directories on my computers.

 

I have like 400 figures but only display 10-20 at a time due to space limitations. The rest are in storage bins in the garage on overhead racks.

I can only display my figures in my office/man cave per wife. But I don't mind because having 100 figures on a shelf makes it look messy and cluttered. I can't tell who is what. I like the clean look and switch them out every few weeks. I have them on a few floating shelves which doesn't take up floor space.

 

Anything that increases the height required between shelves won't work for me (it's a logistical issue, not an aesthetics choice). I don't use the top of the display for anything due to dust/weight/etc. and, there is no safeguard to catch anything once it inevitably takes a tumble all the way to the floor.

Yea, I can see how database management would completely change how one would manage their desktop/laptop/tablet/phone. It's already a bad experience if you have to use another person's device but, I would imagine it's vastly worse at that level of organization.

 

If there is anything I have picked up in the... 5 years of collecting, it's not to get freaked out/anxious about not getting an exclusive or something. There is always something else equally rare/personal/has 'grail status' that I can get.

A bit different than the rest of the posts, but it has really helped my mental health to be aware of this  

 

A lot of the time it's the character that is desirable, rather than its exclusivity, which means there's not always "something else" to fill that gap. I (and many others) would be glad if the idea of exclusivity went up in flames and got dropped down Everest.

 

Yea, all this absurdity of classic iconic characters (e.g Ironhide, Ratchet, Coneheads, Runabout, VW Bumblebee, Origins Bumblebee, etc.) as store exclusives has got to go. Store exclusives used to be for neat redecos like Ricochet or just random redecos/homages. What they've been doing recentky is borderline chase variant nonsense.

 

I hear ya. Mine's a personal stance; I'm hoping it helps anyone who needs to hear it. A lot of my collecting of late really isn't based on a character from a show, but more about 'it just looks cool' to me. And yes, the whole 'it's limited/exclusive to what ever retailer/convention thing turns my hair grey faster than it would naturally.

There was one time where I hit refresh on my browser for over an hour, conferring with people on IG while we gave eachother updates as the exclusives trickled onto the store I was buying from. There was another time (several, actually) where something I wanted sold out in ONE hour, and I couldn't get it. Oh, and one of my favorites - I actually had the item in my cart and when I got to the checkout, it had sold out by then   Finally, I was just like 'this isn't worth all the stress'.

When I take all this together, that's where my view of 'if I can't get it, f*ck it...' comes from.

Edit - also, to clarify by what I mean when I say 'fill the gap'; yeah, I totally see where you are coming from about specific characters and how you can't replace that. I'd forgotten where I was posting as I really don't collect TF's anywhere near as much as I used to (the most recent one was Siege OS, just a few weeks ago, and that was more because John Warden designed it, and I was sad to read the announcement way back that he was leaving the TF brand to do other things). So with that and the 'I collect things that are neat looking to me rather than trying to complete a cast' philosophy in mind, it helps me shrug it off when I can't get, say, Earthrise Skylynx, because then I could put the money toward something else. And there is always something else I want.

 

Pardon the multi-post, but I just wanted to say this is a great idea for a thread!

 

Right there with you. I was dying for a Power Rangers Legacy Titanus when it came out because I had the Megazord and Dragonzord and felt a mighty need. I don't know if it just never came to my are or what, but I never saw one at retail, at believe me I looked. it retailed for $200, and the first time I saw one was at a convention for something like $360 and I thought it was highway robbery. Now he easily goes for twice that, if not triple.

The last Transformers line I kept up with was Power of the Primes, and even then, only a handful of toys. With all the remolding and recolouring going on these days, I can't see myself paying retail prices again. I was curious about Siege Ultra Magnus, but the price was just too high for me. Now everyone's flogging him for half what he cost just to make room for their Kingdom versions. Now I can get a great Ultra Magnus toy for the right price. Yeah, I missed the hype train, but I also know all the ins and out, upgrade kits, and other things to know about the toy.

There is a ton of stress in toy hunting these days with scalpers and figures getting announced the same day they're released. It's not worth it to me. Personally, I play the long game, and what it's cost me in social status and emotional high it has saved me in money and frustration. I like a calm collection.

 

Baggies! Baggies Everywhere!
Okay, maybe not everywhere, but have you ever had a terrible time trying to put a figure on a populated shelf because of an accessory? Say a toy in the back row is holding a sword that's poking out or a gun that's pointing in just the wrong spot. Say a toy has a firing missile on a hair trigger, or an accessory so small you're worried you'll genuinely blow it away. Those figures look cool on their own, but more densely-packed shelves can benefit greatly from a few Ziploc bags (or store brand, I'm not the baggy police).

This one is somewhat obvious, I just wanted to put it out there because it took me years to realize that you can stash all those accessories in plastic bags. I take this another step further and stash the bags under some of my bigger toys on the top shelf so they're out of sight but close at hand. Another bonus with this is that you can label the bags. There is no shame in not being able to recognize which missile belongs to which toy on sight. On that note,

Transformer Identification Sites
transformerland.com and tfu.info both have pages to help identify toys and their accessories. These are also hugely helpful with digibash and custom ideas, if you're so inclined. Say you want to make a G2 Clench custom out a Voyager class toy, but you're not sure what toy to use. You can search for a black Voyager class truck by whatever series you like. 2007 Ironhide is a great pick, in this case.

 

Oh, I'm a risers kinda fellow. I've been rising for years. Big ones, tiny ones, I'm all over the place with those suckers.


But it doesn't end there, sometimes I use the toy packaging material itself as a sort of riser.


I know Hasbro is phasing out the transparent plastic, so this may become useless as a tip in the future. However, if you get a large enough piece, wrap it into a tube, glue or staple it, you get yourself a halfway descent transparent stand for your display.

 

Oh wow. Might have to try out that last one...

 

My contribution is: FELT!

Felt is excellent. If you have glass shelves, you can glue some felt strips onto the edges to keep dust from getting inside. Felt makes a nice backdrop instead of a plain ol' wall sometimes. A bit of felt on the "flooring" can help your heavier figures keep their traction so their legs don't slide out from under them. It's very useful when working on Fossilizer creations and similar stuff. A little piece of felt wadded up and placed inside a figure's foot or knee joint can give it some extra strength and stability if you're weighing it down (such as by having another figure stand on its shoulders, etc). It's versatile and there are many ways to use felt!

 

I buy a lot of used transformers. I've built a nice collection of older CHUG figures for rather cheap. Here are some tips as to how to do that:

1. Embrace eBay, there are deals to be found if you don't mind second hand
2. Always read the description, read the shipping price, check feedback, and message the seller if you have questions
3. If you do not know what you are doing, avoid international sellers. Check this thread for help.
4. Buying a used figure may seem like a gamble compared to buying sealed, but it is actually a good way to tell if a figure has QC issues, as they will be more apparent outside of the box
5. Every once in a while you will be let down (I got an extra dusty figure recently), but for the most part people are not trying to rip you off...so long as you avoid the people that are actually trying to rip you off (refer to advice point two and three)

 

As far as display advice (and yes I know we are collecting kids toys), space permitted, as an adult, budget 15% on cases and things like risers. See collections worth tens of thousands of dollars sitting (and sometimes crashing from) glorified cardboard boxes. Adult displays should look like adult displays.

Storage: Keep it organized as your collection grows. I can't currently display everything, and playing catch-up on organizing and tubbing a collection is a pain if you fall behind, work out an organized system (whatever that may be) for both the figures and collection. I have also shifted to one brand of tub, stacks cleaner, moves easier, etc. However, the purge is coming if I either don't have my dream house in the next few years, or do have my dream house and can't display everything.

Also learn to toss boxes. Sure some may be worth keeping, but there comes a point where you run out of room to play tetris with retail boxes. Took me the longest time to chuck them, after I started, I never looked back (still have WAAAAAY too many with G1, MPs, 3P, box sets).

 

Sell plasma. More money for figures while keeping your energy levels low enough to induce memory loss and boom, old figures are new again.

 

Keep your collection under control and don't buy stuff just because it's on clearance...