How do you display minifigs?

sid3windr

^ \o/ Cloud cuckoo land set!

I'm going to convert all possible oldskool Unikitties to the new neck, I think.. then need to also think up a display thing.

stlux

I was also already thinking of "upgrading" the old Unikitties, however the parts are not available in all required colours:

20482 Tile Round 1 x 1 with Pin is not available in

• blue (Astro Kitty)
• dark grey (yes, Apocalypseburg Unikitty still came with the old neck solution)

35459 Tile Special 1 x 3 Inverted with Center Hole isn't available in

• blue (Astro Kitty again)
• bright light orange (Angry Kitty, Super Angry Kitty and Apocalypseburg Unikitty)
• black (Unisithy)

But yeah, probably should already convert those where it's possible, as the old neck is super fragile.

560Heliport

Kragle! just kidding...

mak0137

stlux said:

Assembled my SDCC Unikitties and expanded my Unikitty display a bit.

Not sure whether Apocalypseburg Unikitty/Super Angry Kitty/Unisithy would win in a fight (or maybe Camouflage Unikitty would beat them with a surprise attack?), so appointed N-POP Girl to reign over them all.

Now my daughter wants all this. (Should'nt be looking at the forum with her playing close by.)

kbw

mak0137 said:

stlux said:

Assembled my SDCC Unikitties and expanded my Unikitty display a bit.

Not sure whether Apocalypseburg Unikitty/Super Angry Kitty/Unisithy would win in a fight (or maybe Camouflage Unikitty would beat them with a surprise attack?), so appointed N-POP Girl to reign over them all.

Now my daughter wants all this. (Should'nt be looking at the forum with her playing close by.)

R.I.P. your wallet

sid3windr

@stlux Yeah Astro kitty came to mind as not having all the parts. Still 90% fixed is better than nothing :-) And who knows in the future those parts may pop up...

kbw

Curious if anyone has tried this.  Good reviews on the website:

https://www.amazon.com/Legos-Figures-Minifigures-Display-Cabinet/dp/B018ZX2ZWE/ref=pd_sbs_201_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B018ZX2ZX8&pd_rd_r=cd6de85f-b029-11e8-96dd-777fa7fb2507&pd_rd_w=XtioW&pd_rd_wg=WX0oY&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=0bb14103-7f67-4c21-9b0b-31f42dc047e7&pf_rd_r=GPXG610F7T37YE3ACJB8&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&refRID=GPXG610F7T37YE3ACJB8&th=1

Rakul

@kbw I have not tried that in specifically but I have ten or so other cases from that same company in for minifigs ,  shot glasses and baseballs.  All have worked great and good quality.  For the minifig ones I use 4x10 and 4x8 plates in reddish brown and they blend in great.

kbw

Very much appreciated. Thank you!

MaffyD

Can I derail slightly and just ask @stlux and @sid3windr what the solution is to the fragile neck on Unikittens? TIA!

sid3windr

The 2018 Unikitty sets and blind bags introduced a new part for the bottom of the head, 1x3 reverse tile with a hole in the middle which fits a 1x1 round doohickey.

More clutch power than the 1x1 round plate.

SumoLego

Historically, doohickeys have questionable clutch power.  

(Insert inappropriate Yakov Smirnoff cadence Clutch Power doohickey joke here.)

mak0137

And I thought doohickey was an American term. Good use @sid3windr.

JohnR80

sguser said:

Just wondering if anyone here labels their minifig collection that is on display?

Maybe something like the photo below that was mentioned in another post https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/25020/star-wars-mini-figure-display-labels  quite some time back? 

Unfortunately the original poster @Bromwich has not been active for the past 11 months.

I'm thinking of embarking on enhancing my display in a similar way and hope that you can share your personal experience / suggestions on how to obtain / make the labels.

I created my own labels based on the SDCC '14 pictures found online.  Excuse the poor quality photo

JohnR80

sguser

JohnR80 said:

@JohnR80 Care to share how you got your labels printed?

JohnR80

@sguser Yes mate, nothing fancy.  I use a drawing package to create a 16x32mm rectangle and apply my choice of text, so year, name and 'sw' number.  I have a Brady label printer with white vinyl labels which I then print onto.  It's a simple way of doing it, but the finish is fine for my needs and I can trim where necessary.  The label is pretty durable and can be removed two or three times without reducing the quality or leaving crease marks.

I made some enquiries about printing directly onto the 2x4 tile and was quoted 2.00 GBP per one,  I have over 300 minifigs and have not won the lottery so i decided to do them myself.

sguser

JohnR80 said:

@sguser Yes mate, nothing fancy.  I use a drawing package to create a 16x32mm rectangle and apply my choice of text, so year, name and 'sw' number.  I have a Brady label printer with white vinyl labels which I then print onto.  It's a simple way of doing it, but the finish is fine for my needs and I can trim where necessary.  The label is pretty durable and can be removed two or three times without reducing the quality or leaving crease marks.

I notice that your labels are white print on black background. How did you manage to do it on a white vinyl label? 

And what model is your Brady label printer? I'm thinking of buying one if it's not too expensive

oldtodd33

@stlux You ASSEMBLED your SDCC Unikitties? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

stlux

oldtodd33 said:

@stlux You ASSEMBLED your SDCC Unikitties? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I assembled my Inside Tour set, so me opening a SDCC set should not surprise anybody ;)

Even though I have hundreds (1000+?) unopened sets at home suggesting otherwise, I'm a builder, not a box collector!

AllBrick

I found 3 glass fronted cabinets with glass shelves and strip lighting inside.

They used to be perfume cabinets in Boots, they have a drawer at the bottom and come with a key for all cabinets which locks the drawer and doors. Also has shelving on the outside down the right hand side.
Still has the sticker on the door saying "ask for assistance if door is locked... 

They stand at nearly 7ft tall, weigh a huge amount and were £20 each..... 20...



This is the colourful zone... I have other zones but I'll keep it to one pic for bandwidth purposes... 

Oh yes, forgot to mention, modularso fit inside.
I took a baseplate with me when I went to look at them.

JohnR80

@sguser

I use a Brady BMP51 labelling machine and then the M-91-498 cartridge which has a roll of 120 labels, size of each label is 25.4mm x 38.1mm (1" x 1.5"). Not sure if you're in the UK but the cartridges retail at about 30-35GBP.

The printer only prints black and white so you can't print colour. I just drew a 16x32mm box, filled it black then changed the font colour to white. Simple.  Printers don't see white as a colour so you can't print it, it just prints the black and sees the white as empty space. If you had the label under a microscope you'd see that the white it is the white of the label itself not white ink.

Any more questions just ask. 😁

sguser

@JohnR80

Thanks for the details! 

Looks like other than having my labels commercially printed, the next best thing will be using the Brady label printer. 

I tried using my brother p-Touch labelling machine to  print the labels but the quality and resolution is quite pathetic compared to you labels using the Brady label printer

JohnR80

@sguser

The only downside is you can only print one label at a time, but if you're using a design program you're only limited to the features of that program, all the fonts and styles to choose from. Get some pictures up when you're done. 

TheOriginalSimonB

This is just a draft build but I'm sure you get the idea. Also still not decided whether to group by character or wave or just go random. 

FowlerBricks

^Wow. That is impressive!

jnscoelho

@TheOriginalSimonB wow, my daughters were delighted to see your collection, as they love Ninjago. Very impressive. 

TheOriginalSimonB

Thanks both. Of course now I have to do something similar for the bad guys...

amok

Here is my minifigure display. This custom frame/enclosure has 12 rows with plates and led lights, and can house 32 minifigures in each row, for a total of 384 minifigures.

WatfordScottyM

My first homemade Batman frame is coming along nicely...

jonboy2000

Anyone know anyone selling an acrylic display cases (similar to this one) in the UK or Europe (or maybe the US).  The person I purchased these from no longer makes them.

SumoLego

WatfordScottyM said:

My first homemade Batman frame is coming along nicely...

Definitely, more Batman.

WatfordScottyM

SumoLego said:

WatfordScottyM said:

My first homemade Batman frame is coming along nicely...

Definitely, more Batman.

Many more Batmans/Batmen to be added!

jpeg07

Okay so this is a 90 x 90cm Acrylic display case with the door open (lockable). It is made by a company in Auckland, NZ - Acryfab (Custom made). Bit of a squeeze -not every fig I own fits (nowhere to put Star Wars yet)... The figs are on stands made from old Lego and some new plates. Still a work in progress (Lego keep making figs...) but it's fun rearranging. 

SumoLego

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

andhe

@WatfordScottyM how did you get the bricks aligned? Always interested to hear people's techniques.

benbacardi

^ For mine, I printed a template, used that to mark the corners of each brick with a tiny cut (I put the template on top and used a craft knife to piece each corner), and then stuck the bricks on using the tiny cuts as a guide. 

obi_g

andhe said:

@WatfordScottyM how did you get the bricks aligned? Always interested to hear people's techniques.

I made a couple of templates in ldd that I can then use to help build with a mix of technic and creator parts. I can size both ribba frames with a number of rows.

WatfordScottyM

andhe said:

@WatfordScottyM how did you get the bricks aligned? Always interested to hear people's techniques.

This was the first frame I've done, so it was pretty manual with a ruler and pencil.  I'm pleased how it came out, but if I do more I'm going to have to find an easier way.  Perhaps some kind of template.

My biggest concern was the spacing and whether once the minifigures were in they'd actually look good.  I think it's worked ok though.

KLOKRIECHER

My attempt on displaying minifigs:

SumoLego

I love that scene in Episode III when LEGO Bane teams up with the Wookies on Kashyyyk.

GentlyBenevolent

stlux said:

Assembled my SDCC Unikitties and expanded my Unikitty display a bit.

Not sure whether Apocalypseburg Unikitty/Super Angry Kitty/Unisithy would win in a fight (or maybe Camouflage Unikitty would beat them with a surprise attack?), so appointed N-POP Girl to reign over them all.



Still some work to do:

• Needs more pink/flowers/general fluffiness 
• Need to get parts to build Unikitties to display the alternate faces of the SDCC Unikitties
• Put it all somewhere dust-free

Nice collection you got there, I see you are missing Astro Kitty & original Unikitty LEDlite's & the Unikitty LEDlite night lite

I'm still need to get #SDCC2018-3 Apocalypseburg Unikitty for my collection then it will be complete until the Lego Movie 2 sets come out.

stlux

@GentlyBenevolent I did acquire both the Astro Kitty and Unikitty LEDLite's since I posted that picture :)

I wasn't aware of that night light, so one is on its way to me now...

Will post a picture of my updated Unikitty display once it arrives; in the meantime, a bonus picture of my Christmas Unikitties:

TheOriginalSimonB

Ho, Ho and, indeed, Ho!

redarmy

Beat this...

Frequency

I use display cases that hold 16 each. You can get them at Target.

flord

Thinking thinking about changing up my displays and adding lights. How safe are LEDs? Will they cause minifigs to fade like sunlight?

CommanderRaab

#noexpert but is it to do with the UV content of light? In which case light sources that didnt have that should be OK?