Curio Cabinets...what's the best brand? (1 Viewer)

[TomNT]

My cabinets are all glass and I have 3 types, 3 large at 870mm long x 430mm wide x 1810mm high. The one medium is 990mm long x 430mm wide x 900mm high. My 4 smaller cabinets are 380mm x 380mm x 1540mm high. I purchased them new from a commercial shop fit out place in Darwin and as you can see they don't have lights which I don't really want anyway. I could have gotten the large cabinets with lights though. The large one's cost around $700 AUD each and the small one's around $300 AUD each. I can't remember what I paid for the medium cabinet but from memory I think I got it for a good price. They all came un-assembled in a flat pack and I put them together myself.

Tom

 

[Partner]

I use wooden plinths and lucite risers to make my shelves multi level

Similiar to Zack I made one of my cabinets two level.
It is a cheap barrister's bookcase from a Department store . I cut boards to fit on both ends of the shelf . Routered a groove in each board and inserted a piece of bevelled glass to form the top shelf . It is 3/4 the depth of the shelf to allow easy access. I had the glass cut and bevelled at an auto glass shop.

I also also layed a board on the bottom of the shelf and covered it in greem felt . It fancies up the shelf and also allows for a better view when the cover is closed as the figures now sit above the trim on the cover.

The third image shows the changes best

Not nearly as fancy as some cabinets on here buts it allows me to utilize otherwise wasted space

Best regards

Kirk

 

[Andanna]

Kirk, very nice.

No wasted space and the felt clearly elevated the quality of the case.

 

[Andanna]

Are those custom Andanna ?

You bet. I do not know whose they are, though. I think Warrior mentioned Malcolm Forbes, but I found no substantiation for that.

I believe lighting is essential. Especially for colorful figures and certainly for gloss. At least in my opinion.

The other option that is often discussed is mirror glass or plain background. I find mirrors to be distracting most of the time, but also have seen examples where it worked. Glossy ceremonials or individual connoisseur-style figures come to my mind.

 

[PanzerAce1944]

Now that we are on a tangent anyway, I may do a repeat and post a picture of my favorite collection:

Andan, Simply Beautiful ! Looks like your own Toy Soldier shop or Museum.

Wayne

 

[NEVINSRIP]

I have all different types of cabinets that I have collected over the years. Since I can't afford to have custom built cabinets, I learned to adapt cheaper pieces into something useful and presentable.

THRIFT STORE CABINET...Bought this in a Catholic Church thrift store for 100 bucks, back about 20 years ago. The piece was originally a China Cabinet. It has glass doors, lights and 3 partitions for displaying plates and such. It's large. Measures seven foot high by 6 feet wide. The bottom has wooden doors and I used that to store buildings in.

I took the doors off and shelves out. I then measured out how many shelves that I could fit into the space at 8 inches apart. I took one of the shelves, that came with the unit, and brought it to a glazier and had identical shelves cut. I installed the new shelves and this is what you see in the photo.
Not in Malcom Forbes' class, but for under 200 dollars, this holds most of my ACW 54 mm's painted figures and keeps everything dust free.



HOMEMADE INTO THE WALL.....When I was finishing my basement, I had these simple wooden cabinets built into the wall. They are spaced between the studs of a non bearing wall. Strictly bare bones wooden boxes that hold glass shelves. These ran me about 75 bucks each to make, including the glass. There's a shot of the whole cabinet and then some shots of what's inside, so you can see how much it holds.









SHARP WATCH CASES.... I picked up 6 of these for 10 bucks each from a guy I met at a flea market. Perfect for 54 mm figures. All plastic, with locking doors and storage underneath. The shelves are stationary, but very sturdy. Originally designed to display SHARP watches. If you notice, the far left cabinet has the SHARP letters removed. It took a few minutes with a hair dryer to heat up and remove the decal lettering. I actually had 12 of these, but I gave 6 to a collector friend. Excellent display pieces.







JARNA CD CABINETS.... IKEA specials! 20 bucks gets you the wooden cabinet, 2 sliding glass doors and 2 (or 3, I forget) glass shelves. These are Jarna CD cabinets. Again, removed the doors, took a sample shelf to the glazier, drilled additional holes in the wood, added shelf pins and you can fit almost three hundred 28 mm figures in one of these suckers. Jarna comes in a kit, so it s very easy to customize and fit shelving to your specifications.



That's it. A lot of hodgepodge pieces that ended up being extremely useful display cases

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I like the flat wall mounted cases with lots of shelves for individual figures. Stand alone curios for small dioramas and larger vehicles. I don't like using the larger stand alone cases for figures because there is to much wasted space unless you add shelves or risers. The problem with the wider shelves in these cases is that it's easy to knock over figures when your trying to reach for one towards the back of the shelf.

I use wall mounted acrylic cases with a mirrored back made for displaying die cast cars. They make it easy to view your collection from all angles. If you want light you can set one on top of the case. You can get them in lots of sizes or special order them if you need an odd size. And their not too expensive. The only issue I have with them is the shelves aren't adjustable.

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Very intersting alternatives, I really like the Ikea ideas! But cannot neglect that the expensive cabinets that have been shown here give a classy touch to the collections....And the flexible picks from yard sales are a fantastic temptation
I myself had to " negotiate" the space alloted to the hobby, between a functional study room and the hooby.....for I had to provide for work desks for computers and printers as well as books, books,and books......so my choice was to have cabinets built to order and bolted to the walls at a certain hight all around 3 of the rooms walls " really bolted due to the weight of the lead ".....
They are of two different depths, the one on the longest wall is 16" deep and 108" long and the smaller one is 32" deep by 16 " long....A third shelf is coming up at 16" by 32" long....The choice of shelves has always been tempered glass with movable pins so that the hights can be changed based on what I have on display....heavy glass sliding doors, that overlap each other when opening helped save space and are very functional. This overall solution helps display most, not all the collection, so I rotate the sets ( lead soldeirs only, the cars and 6" soldiers are permanent displays) once a year....The glass doors also help keeping dust away, although I confess that some dust does creap in and settles at the edges of the shelves and with a brush from time to time I have to gently clean that.......
As you can see, there is a bit of everything...shows how my collecting evolved since a young age...from trucks and cars, to Landrovers, to 6 " soldiers to 54mm soldiers.....{sm2}
Here are some pictures of the fixtures...^&cool
Cheers
A_C

 

[Artillery_crazy]

A couple more pictures, showing the railing arrangement....


Very intersting alternatives, I really like the Ikea ideas! But cannot neglect that the expensive cabinets that have been shown here give a classy touch to the collections....And the flexible picks from yard sales are a fantastic temptation
I myself had to " negotiate" the space alloted to the hobby, between a functional study room and the hooby.....for I had to provide for work desks for computers and printers as well as books, books,and books......so my choice was to have cabinets built to order and bolted to the walls at a certain hight all around 3 of the rooms walls " really bolted due to the weight of the lead ".....
They are of two different depths, the one on the longest wall is 16" deep and 108" long and the smaller one is 32" deep by 16 " long....A third shelf is coming up at 16" by 32" long....The choice of shelves has always been tempered glass with movable pins so that the hights can be changed based on what I have on display....heavy glass sliding doors, that overlap each other when opening helped save space and are very functional. This overall solution helps display most, not all the collection, so I rotate the sets ( lead soldeirs only, the cars and 6" soldiers are permanent displays) once a year....The glass doors also help keeping dust away, although I confess that some dust does creap in and settles at the edges of the shelves and with a brush from time to time I have to gently clean that.......
As you can see, there is a bit of everything...shows how my collecting evolved since a young age...from trucks and cars, to Landrovers, to 6 " soldiers to 54mm soldiers.....{sm2}
Here are some pictures of the fixtures...^&cool
Cheers
A_C[/QUOTE]

 

[sammy719]

Hi AC, I love the idea of displaying a variety of your collections be it toy soldiers,trucks,cars etc. very nice and displayed wonderfully...Sammy

 

[7th OVI]

AC, I have the same challenge, I have a room that is a cross between a functional studio and a place to display my collection. A lot of great collections and methods of displaying them on this thread. You have a great collection, makes me wish I kept all of my toy soldiers over the years. Chris

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

Look up Mike's (mestell) post showing the display in his toy room. He had a good idea using an off the shelf closet organizing system.

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Since we're all sharing...........here are few photos of my display cabinet. For lack of space I only have this one cabinet so not all of my collection gets seen. As a way around that I rotate my displays throughout the year, periodically putting out certain parts of my collection.

 

[REVWARBUFF]

Here are few more.............

 

[7th OVI]

Very nice. Chris

 

[thebritfarmer]

I like the idea of rotating your collection. It would be like Christmas every time you rotate

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I like the flat wall mounted cases with lots of shelves for individual figures. Stand alone curios for small dioramas and larger vehicles. I don't like using the larger stand alone cases for figures because there is to much wasted space unless you add shelves or risers. The problem with the wider shelves in these cases is that it's easy to knock over figures when your trying to reach for one towards the back of the shelf.

I use wall mounted acrylic cases with a mirrored back made for displaying die cast cars. They make it easy to view your collection from all angles. If you want light you can set one on top of the case. You can get them in lots of sizes or special order them if you need an odd size. And their not too expensive. The only issue I have with them is the shelves aren't adjustable.

Here's some in my toy room.

 

[Lo1863]

WOW!!!! That is a very nice collection room you have there, Paul! Who makes the cases you have on the wall?

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

Thank you. maybe one day I'll finish the display table. I just can't commit to where the roads details should go. I bought these years ago from http://www.carneyplastics.com/

 

[7th OVI]

I agree, just WOW!!! that is one nice collection and display cabinets. Chris