Transformers Room Construction - any tips?

[Batfan007]

Just my opinion, I don't know how much of a movie buff you are, but I'd lose the DVD display area, or least minimise it. DVDs or BD on a shelf take up HEAPS of space that could be better used for something else either functional or purely aesthetic, I mean what is more attractive, a big pile of movies in plastic cases, or a really cool framed mounted picture of your fav movie, or transformers art or whatever.

With the rise of digital media, I find myself only buying the odd BD these days, and even then it usually site on a shelf or box to be forgotten, and its quicker just to grab something from online for convenient watch.

If you are a BD home cinema enthusiast, you could look into buying those big movie wallets which can hold over 100 discs in each, and be tucked away anywhere in the house out of the way, which means freeing up more room for cooler displays or whatever in your mancave.

Just looking at the crap on my shelf, the toys and books look okay -it is a bookcase FYI - and the movies are just the ugliest part, I try to keep one small section for stuff I want to rewatch this year or whatever, anything else goes in the sleepout for storage.

Box set can look okay if they have cool covers or art, but vanilla movie covers are pretty ugly.





I used to have a really nice hard wood bookshelf that was nearly 8 feet all and quite deep, but after I moved all I could afford was crappy IKEA sawdust shelves that strain with the weight of books on them. Only thing I do like about them is that with two sets of kit shelves next to each other, gives me heaps of space, and the shelves are easily removed to give bigger or smaller areas.

so yeah, swappable shelving is a must, the peg system is okay, but for higher quality stuff you would want a stronger type of peg that can take the weight, or whatever you use, plastic, metal, glass whatever make sure it is not going to bend or break as the shelf gets heavier with stuff.

My mancave is actually a dedicated space for me to write my blogs and stuff, and all around is pictures, posters, couple of framed things of Spider-Man and just stuff that inspires me, and while I read books for fun, most are for reference in my writing.

It's surprising how much use you can get out a shelf, if you use the back portion of it, as well as the front, if you are going for a nice display don't be like me and just cram everything you can on there, give things room to breathe, and maybe think about having some sections that are more long term displays, or even permanent, and some areas that are easy to swap stuff around (like you most recent acquisitions etc).

Those same boring shelves are crammed with transformers now instead of hero stuff. Well still some hero stuff.





Another thing you might want to think about is levels

"The bets off... I'm not doing the levels..."

"But that WAS the bet, that you wouldn't do the levels!"

Now, this is just a crappy old wooden closet thing, and is not actually mine, it has old clothes in it (again not mine, my partners stuff) but seeing as it's in this room, I stacked toys on top of it, and the ones at the back are just on top of toy boxes so you can see them raised up.

to do this properly, you could have some staggered platforms / shelves / whatever, so that you can see a whole bunch of stuff in a SMALL area, making good use of space. Again, I overcrowd things, also the wallpaper here is like from the 70's and pretty ugly, so excuse that if you will.





Anyhow again this is just my writing room, so toys are not the priority, but I believe that large or small, you can dedicate a portion of space to any type of collection and have it brighten your room up a bit, or be a more professional looking display area. But you have got to have FUN with it too.

I tend to just chuck stuff *wherever*, so yeah I get as a "display" my stuff looks like shit, and I don't really care - but with a bit of planning and thought, you can do a much better job, but I hope you get the basic ideas I wished to communicate.

Also, those glass display cases are awesome for upscale stuff, if you take a look at the Kool Kollectibles site - awesome photos of collections, you can see some great display options for glass case stuff.

https://www.instagram.com/koolkollectibles/

[Bladestorm]

When (if) I ever get the chance to do my display room back in Oz I am leaning towards glass and under-shelf diffused lighting. There are some amazing examples of that here in HK which make the figures and boxes - beit Gundam, Transformers, breasty anime, die cast cars - they all look stunning as long as the shelf isn't too dusty or cluttered.. but even the cluttered shelves draw you in.
As always though it is the $$ that is going to restrict how awesome any display can be.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Just my opinion, I don't know how much of a movie buff you are, but I'd lose the DVD display area, or least minimise it. DVDs or BD on a shelf take up HEAPS of space that could be better used for something else either functional or purely aesthetic, I mean what is more attractive, a big pile of movies in plastic cases, or a really cool framed mounted picture of your fav movie, or transformers art or whatever.

With the rise of digital media, I find myself only buying the odd BD these days, and even then it usually site on a shelf or box to be forgotten, and its quicker just to grab something from online for convenient watch.

If you are a BD home cinema enthusiast, you could look into buying those big movie wallets which can hold over 100 discs in each, and be tucked away anywhere in the house out of the way, which means freeing up more room for cooler displays or whatever in your mancave.

Just looking at the crap on my shelf, the toys and books look okay -it is a bookcase FYI - and the movies are just the ugliest part, I try to keep one small section for stuff I want to rewatch this year or whatever, anything else goes in the sleepout for storage.

Box set can look okay if they have cool covers or art, but vanilla movie covers are pretty ugly.

I used to have a really nice hard wood bookshelf that was nearly 8 feet all and quite deep, but after I moved all I could afford was crappy IKEA sawdust shelves that strain with the weight of books on them. Only thing I do like about them is that with two sets of kit shelves next to each other, gives me heaps of space, and the shelves are easily removed to give bigger or smaller areas.

so yeah, swappable shelving is a must, the peg system is okay, but for higher quality stuff you would want a stronger type of peg that can take the weight, or whatever you use, plastic, metal, glass whatever make sure it is not going to bend or break as the shelf gets heavier with stuff.

My mancave is actually a dedicated space for me to write my blogs and stuff, and all around is pictures, posters, couple of framed things of Spider-Man and just stuff that inspires me, and while I read books for fun, most are for reference in my writing.

It's surprising how much use you can get out a shelf, if you use the back portion of it, as well as the front, if you are going for a nice display don't be like me and just cram everything you can on there, give things room to breathe, and maybe think about having some sections that are more long term displays, or even permanent, and some areas that are easy to swap stuff around (like you most recent acquisitions etc).

Those same boring shelves are crammed with transformers now instead of hero stuff. Well still some hero stuff.


Another thing you might want to think about is levels

"The bets off... I'm not doing the levels..."

"But that WAS the bet, that you wouldn't do the levels!"

Now, this is just a crappy old wooden closet thing, and is not actually mine, it has old clothes in it (again not mine, my partners stuff) but seeing as it's in this room, I stacked toys on top of it, and the ones at the back are just on top of toy boxes so you can see them raised up.

to do this properly, you could have some staggered platforms / shelves / whatever, so that you can see a whole bunch of stuff in a SMALL area, making good use of space. Again, I overcrowd things, also the wallpaper here is like from the 70's and pretty ugly, so excuse that if you will.

Anyhow again this is just my writing room, so toys are not the priority, but I believe that large or small, you can dedicate a portion of space to any type of collection and have it brighten your room up a bit, or be a more professional looking display area. But you have got to have FUN with it too.

I tend to just chuck stuff *wherever*, so yeah I get as a "display" my stuff looks like shit, and I don't really care - but with a bit of planning and thought, you can do a much better job, but I hope you get the basic ideas I wished to communicate.

Also, those glass display cases are awesome for upscale stuff, if you take a look at the Kool Kollectibles site - awesome photos of collections, you can see some great display options for glass case stuff.

Cheers for that - great pics by the way!

When (if) I ever get the chance to do my display room back in Oz I am leaning towards glass and under-shelf diffused lighting. There are some amazing examples of that here in HK which make the figures and boxes - beit Gundam, Transformers, breasty anime, die cast cars - they all look stunning as long as the shelf isn't too dusty or cluttered.. but even the cluttered shelves draw you in.
As always though it is the $$ that is going to restrict how awesome any display can be.

Yeah I'd love glass display cabinets but too expensive to outfit an entire room with. Thinking of one for the centre of the room though

[Bladestorm]

Yeah I'd love glass display cabinets but too expensive to outfit an entire room with. Thinking of one for the centre of the room though

I think as long as the figures are protected behind glass doors they can still look pretty good in regular cabinets if the design doesn't overshadow the display. I love your idea of a central glass display. That would draw people to the centre of the room.

If I had the $$ and didn't think movers would smash them to bits I would have glass cabinets made here in HK and shipped to Oz because custom cabinets are reasonably priced which is why I think so many stores and collectors in HK can afford them.

I dread to think how much custom glass cabinets would cost to have made back in Sydney... although when we move back and do have some $$ I will probably be crazy and price it.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Well it's a full 3 years later and at a completely different address (and in a different State) but the Transformatorium is finally happening!

At our old place it was going to be an extension of the main house, but we could never get builders who were available, but its a good thing it didn't get built since we moved anyway. Now instead of being attached to the main house its going to be its own separate building. Signed with the shed designers and builders yesterday. Here is a rough mock-up I've done of what we are building (the real plans have our address all over them so obviously not posting them in a public forum):

EDIT: I drew that wrong. It is actually 11.5m long, not 8.5m. So those car spaces are 3m wide and 5m long, not 3x3. So the building is longer than wider, as opposed to how I drew it

So yeah, the shed will comprise a 3-vehicle sealed & covered carport with a rollerdoor leading into a storage room. The main room will be for my collection with a glass sliding door but no other entries or windows, and will be putting a curtain over the glass door. Between that and the insulation it should provide enough protection from varying temperatures for my collection to be safe.

Hopefully within 4 months this will be built. Of course then will have to get electricity hooked up and start to build shelving, as well as a big table in the centre to play on.

So yay - after near a decade I will finally get to get my entire collection out of storage

So now I no longer require any tips on the construction, but if anyone has any on how to build cheap yet strong shelving yell out as there is no way I can afford to do all glass cabinets. Also I'll have to think about lighting, since all natural light will be blocked out.

[Seraphim Prime]

But if anyone has any on how to build cheap yet strong shelving yell out as there is no way I can afford to do all glass cabinets.

I hear cinder blocks and pine wood boards are pretty cheap...

But in all honesty - congratulations! Very exciting news to hear that the dream hobby room is finally taking shape.

If you're looking at flatpacks, I think more than a few of us have at least of few of the Billy bookcases that Ikea produce. They're a pretty sturdy and reasonable storage shelf.

[DaptoDog]

Wow congrats Trev, that is very exciting that it is finally coming together. Once the concrete gets poured it should progress pretty quickly. Look forward to seeing the photos with your collection once it's all set up!