Unpopular Kaiju Collecting Opinions

[canofhumdingers]

My two “unpopular” collecting opinions:

I dislike crowded, messy, overstuffed displays. A neatly organized collection with room to breath looks much nicer. I don’t care if it’s all one scale or multiple scales/styles mixed together as long as there’s clear effort to make it look neat and tidy in some way.

In a similar vein, I dislike collections that have clearly cost thousands of dollars displayed on the absolute cheapest shelves one can find. I disagree with the mentality of “if I spend money on shelves or cabinets that’s less money to spend on figures”. If you can spend thousands of dollars amassing MonsterArts and x plus figures, spend a little of that dough on some decent shelves and make the darn display look halfway decent. I mean, that’s one of the main points of a collection, right? Having something pleasing to look at?

[Executive Hamster]

In a similar vein, I dislike collections that have clearly cost thousands of dollars displayed on the absolute cheapest shelves one can find. I disagree with the mentality of “if I spend money on shelves or cabinets that’s less money to spend on figures”. If you can spend thousands of dollars amassing MonsterArts and x plus figures, spend a little of that dough on some decent shelves and make the darn display look halfway decent. I mean, that’s one of the main points of a collection, right? Having something pleasing to look at?

MM moment.
JK jk, Im guilty too, but in my defense I genuinely prefer the look of the cheap amazon shelves I got. They only cost like $60, sure, but I think they look decent. I never liked like glass display cases and ones with doors that cover the figures when they are closed. Its open air shelves for me.

[canofhumdingers]

I definitely prefer glass cases. But my current collection is on open air shelves. And they’re not super expensive. They’re actually garage storage shelves from the hardware store. But I at least went through the effort to cover the bare particle board shelves with white contact paper to make it more clean and presentable.

I get it, you have to make due where you can and life often doesn’t allow for perfection. But when I see a massive collection of expensive x-plus figures all crammed in on the cheapest wireframe shelves you can find on Amazon, I die a little inside, lol.

But it’s also important to remember this is an opinion thread. Don’t let someone else’s opinion stop you from collecting how you like to.

Added in 7 minutes 11 seconds:
As an example, my old display before I moved a few years ago:



Problem was I was having a really hard time fitting the larger figures inside.

My current display with much deeper open air shelves is in a spare bedroom in our new house. Where I clearly don’t follow my own advice as the shelves are not as nice as I want and some of them are getting too crowded for my taste.



My intent is for this to be temporary and hopefully one day I’ll finish remodeling the basement where I plan to build custom display units with glass doors and custom lighting.

[Legion1979]

Here's one. I find collections of MonsterArts that include effects parts and tons of plastic stands look hideous.

[Mac Daddy MM]

My two “unpopular” collecting opinions:

I dislike crowded, messy, overstuffed displays. A neatly organized collection with room to breath looks much nicer. I don’t care if it’s all one scale or multiple scales/styles mixed together as long as there’s clear effort to make it look neat and tidy in some way.

In a similar vein, I dislike collections that have clearly cost thousands of dollars displayed on the absolute cheapest shelves one can find. I disagree with the mentality of “if I spend money on shelves or cabinets that’s less money to spend on figures”. If you can spend thousands of dollars amassing MonsterArts and x plus figures, spend a little of that dough on some decent shelves and make the darn display look halfway decent. I mean, that’s one of the main points of a collection, right? Having something pleasing to look at?

I feel personally attacked with this post.

[G1985]

I definitely prefer glass cases. But my current collection is on open air shelves. And they’re not super expensive. They’re actually garage storage shelves from the hardware store. But I at least went through the effort to cover the bare particle board shelves with white contact paper to make it more clean and presentable.

I get it, you have to make due where you can and life often doesn’t allow for perfection. But when I see a massive collection of expensive x-plus figures all crammed in on the cheapest wireframe shelves you can find on Amazon, I die a little inside, lol.

My head spins when I see a figure collection on display shelves that themselves cost several times the combined total of the figures displayed on them. Sort of like buying a $10,000 painting and then spending $50,000 on the frame. Does that make you an art collector or a frame collector?

[canofhumdingers]

You don’t really see that very often though, do you? My nicer shelves with glass doors were from ikea, they *maybe* cost $1000 total for all the shelves plus the add ons like glass doors, lights, a few glass shelves (for the lighted sections) and such. And I didn’t get it all at once. I built it up over a few years.

But it looked a million times nicer than cheapo plastic garage shelves or the super cheap bookcases and things I used to buy before that.

My current shelves (which I don’t think look nearly as nice but do at least fit my larger figures properly) were a few hundred bucks plus a few dollars worth of white contact paper to hide the bare particle board.

[Mac Daddy MM]

You don’t really see that very often though, do you? My nicer shelves with glass doors were from ikea, they *maybe* cost $1000 total for all the shelves plus the add ons like glass doors, lights, a few glass shelves (for the lighted sections) and such. And I didn’t get it all at once. I built it up over a few years.

But it looked a million times nicer than cheapo plastic garage shelves or the super cheap bookcases and things I used to buy before that.

My current shelves (which I don’t think look nearly as nice but do at least fit my larger figures properly) were a few hundred bucks plus a few dollars worth of white contact paper to hide the bare particle board.

I think having the "expensive" shelves even more jam packed than what I currently have set up would look even worse. And in the end, my collection isn't set up to look nice for other people. It's set up in a way I like it, and I like using as much space as I can. My Spark Doll shelves, which hold over 100 figures per, is utterly crammed to the brim. I agree with your point on certain things, like SHMA which my old set up was getting way too packed.

I've seen set ups that use the expensive, glass shelving and they only have 1 figure like every foot apart. Frankly, I think that just looks boring.

[LSD Jellyfish]

There's a balance for sure, and intent is a big part of it. Camofhumdingers collection is located in while MM’s collection is located in a dungeon. Canifhumdingers' collection will be viewed by many others, and their collection is a reflection of that.

I'll share photos at a later time, I'm in the process of purchasing new shelves and a ton of new figures in a new apartment, but I think it's good to strike a balance with decent shelves, decently lighting, etc.... Shelves don't need to be gorgeous, but glass cases and other things certainy add pizzaz to a collection. I do think that sometimes, a cluttered collection, that is well arranged, can be amazing to look it. One of my shelves currently *clicks* like that based on arrangement, but the other one just looks messy. Ahhh.

Likewise, sometimes you're just stuck in a living space, where buying expensive shelves or whatever just isn't worth it.

[Mac Daddy MM]

MM’s collection is located in a dungeon.

That's certainly one way of seeing it.

[Petezilla]

Here's one. I find collections of MonsterArts that include effects parts and tons of plastic stands look hideous.

Well, you have not seen my display shelf then. It contains exactly that, but every items position is carefully thought out and everything's well composed ~

EDIT: I keep stands and effect parts to a minimum, though, because cramming EVERY effect part into the display makes no sense. I like how everything keeps looking organized, yet still dynamic.
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[Executive Hamster]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I don't mind how modern MMS figures look. Obviously I will acknowledge that the lack of paint is a result of cheapness and laziness, but I would be lying if I said that I really cared all that much.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Depends. The SP vinyls look fantastic for the most part.

[Executive Hamster]

Depends. The SP vinyls look fantastic for the most part.

I genuinely love all of the SP vinyls I have, and I know thats gonna be a controversial opinion. I will admit that I did paint the red onto my ultima, but it REALLY needed that.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Yeah Ultima is probably the worst of the bunch.