I have gone down multiple paths in my pursuit of displaying my collection. A brief history of it should reflect many other collectors similar path
0. any available surfaces - dust magnet
1. Ikea Detolf - great value and looks decent. Need to raise, dust proof and very common look as most every collector starts w these.
2. Acrylic covers, displays - back 10+years ago most shops I quoted were not willing to make and sell them at a reasonable price and even wanted to charge a minimum order fee so I ended up spending 2K+ worth on tools, accessories, even build my own crude heating/bending table and started experimenting building acrylic covers/cases.
3. Ikea Granas coffee table mod display - amazing idea from FigureFreaks on SS. Love this display for large grail peaces but you can only display so many of these and I maxed out at a double side by side setup.
4. Ikea Besta - replaced Detolf for a more premium look. If you leave it open it's relatively affordable but ones you add some fancy doors it gotten expensive real quick. Still needed to dust proof.
5. used store displays - never ended up picking any up as they were bulky and difficult to move and nothing to my liking came crossed my path. However ....
6. custom shelf - .... picked up some retail modular shelf systems parts which Ikea made multiple attempted to mimic, w the latest iteration Elvarli. I created my first very custom large sized display w CFL backlit floodlight setup for each level. All parts, custom cut 1/4 acrylic and lights ended up again on the pricy side.
I was trying to figure out how I can expand my display space going up the walls as I ran out of floor space long time ago and really do not like replacing perfectly good furniture. For this solution to work I needed something sturdy yet light and preferably more affordable than my previous custom solutions. My attention was drawn back to Ikea's Lack series meeting all criteria which even had floating shelf options. Good thing most of my displays have been from Ikea and I managed to figure out a way to tie it all together tetris style.
But more importantly I realized a lot of the Lack parts share some dimensions making it possible to mix and match them without looking off. All tops are 2" thick and come in many sizes spread across different products. I had enough parts to even stack a large 3 level display just as proof of concept. And they have an even larger coffee table to make an even larger shelf if yo have the space!!!
For my bat case I stacked a small coffee table top (C$30) on top of two side table top on its edge for increased height of 22” and a different look(C$10/ea).
You can see it more clearly in the picture of a similar mirrored version that for now sits empty over my Pioneer speaker. In this case due to limit in height the coffee table top ended up as the base, again two side table tops form the sidewalls and for the top I used the mid shelf from the same coffee table.
You could of cause just use the table legs that came with it but the height clearance will be reduced to 15”. You can see that in a few sample pictures as well. Of cause this would make it even cheaper.
Once I’m done and am sure I won’t change my mind I will order some custom size acrylic to close it all up. I will demonstrate a few different option in another post w different cost factors.
Hope this helps some of you and inspires you to tetrisize your Ikea setup for some awesome displays!!
btw I really love the open corner idea but of cause you have to decide if that’s for you. Mine don’t have any weight to support up on top so it will work fine. Also because of that I just use 3M VHB tape to hold it together.
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