To display or not to display...That is the question

[Merrion]

Hi All,

I restarted my love affair with collecting vintage Star Wars items in the last 6 months.

Thing is most of the items I have purchased have gone straight into boxes with a view to preserving
their condition. So I appreciate some collectors will say why buy them if you dont display them and to be honest I agree with this position to a certain extent.

However my fear is that displaying certain loose figures or MOC's / ships / original boxes etc will discolour them due to exposure to natural daylight etc.

So what I'd like to ask you is, am I being overcautious? i.e is displaying my items really going to cause discolouration (white coloured loose figures and ships in particular). Is there a way to display your collection that reduces the risk of causing futher discolouration etc? (apart from keeping them in a dark room ) Also the boxes for the ships / playsets etc figures and MOC's. What can affect their condition by displaying them?

Would appreciate your thoughts on this

Cheers

 

[Joseph_Y]

I put UV blocking film on all the windows in my collecting rooms, as well as room darkening shades. No problems with fading or deterioration on any items in 20 + years of collecting vintage other than POTF bubbles which would have yellowed no matter what I did. Personally if you have the room to display them, I'd say go for it. Use UV blocking and safe lighting(and sturdy shelving) & your items will be fine. A nicely displayed collection in my opinion is a huge part of the enjoyment of collecting.

 

[.Q.]

Display in cabinets to keep the dust off, you could keep it covered with blackout cloth or something to keep light out if a darkened room not the way for you. Or just move to Yorkshire, we haven't seen sunlight here in 6 months!

 

[Joe]

Or just move to Yorkshire, we haven't seen sunlight here in 6 months!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Badderius]

Display all the way, as Joe Y said there is a huge number of ways to slow down the degrading of figures and MOCs in general.

Remember though these MOCs and loose figures have had a huge amount of exposure already when they were on pegs in retail stores, very strong lightning and kids picking them up non stop! Still many years on they are still in a superb condition, and will remain so well past our lifetime!

Everything degrades over time, all we can do is slow that process down, enjoy what we have and to be fair they will still be there when we are 6ft under!

Garry

 

[jedisearcher]

I love them displayed, mine are cased and out of sunlight. I'd lose interest if I couldn't pop in to see them once in a while and my wife doesn't mind the space they take

 

[Black Falcon]

Display and enjoy your collection.

Sure - preserve and conserve as best you can. As others have said, in cabinets and away from direct light.
You could wrap your boxes in plastic film if they are too big for a glass cabinets

- Graham

 

[Joe]

I have had 3 incarnations of a display area over the years (funnily enough in 3 different houses!) and I found that having things on display is rather obviously far more fun than having things in boxes. Unfortunately though due to various moves, renovations and breaks most of the stuff I have ever owned spent more time boxed up rather than on display.

I wouldn't worry too much if a certain percentage of your collection is boxed though. It's kind of part of it I guess, having a display room is a luxury not everyone can afford to have and space constraints usually mean our toys get hidden away (because however small our display space is we still keep buying them!!)

I reckon if you have the room and an understanding partner get it all on display, if not and if you are overly worried about things deteriorating while on show you should just have a small display which shows off your favourite items.

My personal opinion on the whole "keep it boxed up to keep it safe" idea is that it is a bit over the top, surely we collect to enjoy these things - we aren't museums trying to save figures (that exist in the millions) from the ravages of time like they were the only example in the world.

Like Joe Y said - if you take care of the environment you keep your stuff displayed in you really have no reason to worry and enjoying it is all part of the fun of collecting.

 

[Merrion]

Or just move to Yorkshire, we haven't seen sunlight here in 6 months!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol: thing is I can top that , I live in Ireland not exactly the costa del sunshine spot we hoped it would be 8) I think the direct sunlight factor is covered

 

[Merrion]

I have had 3 incarnations of a display area over the years (funnily enough in 3 different houses!) and I found that having things on display is rather obviously far more fun than having things in boxes. Unfortunately though due to various moves, renovations and breaks most of the stuff I have ever owned spent more time boxed up rather than on display.

I wouldn't worry too much if a certain percentage of your collection is boxed though. It's kind of part of it I guess, having a display room is a luxury not everyone can afford to have and space constraints usually mean our toys get hidden away (because however small our display space is we still keep buying them!!)

I reckon if you have the room and an understanding partner get it all on display, if not and if you are overly worried about things deteriorating while on show you should just have a small display which shows off your favourite items.

My personal opinion on the whole "keep it boxed up to keep it safe" idea is that it is a bit over the top, surely we collect to enjoy these things - we aren't museums trying to save figures (that exist in the millions) from the ravages of time like they were the only example in the world.

Like Joe Y said - if you take care of the environment you keep your stuff displayed in you really have no reason to worry and enjoying it is all part of the fun of collecting.

Ok im leaning more towards putting some items on display. I dont have the room to display the playsets or ships so was just considering displaying the loose figures. Was mainly worried about the discolouration factor for the figures that had white based paint. But I will put some UV blocking film on a display case. Now the next thing is to get a display case at a reasonable price.

 

[tiefighterboy]

My collection of 20 plus years has always been displayed without UV protection. Nothing has fell apart, discolored or turned to dust as of yet. So go ahead and display your stuff.

 

[Merrion]

My collection of 20 plus years has always been displayed without UV protection. Nothing has fell apart, discolored or turned to dust as of yet. So go ahead and display your stuff.

But what has caused figures from my childhood collection to discolour, the yellowing effect on the white paint based characters? Is this caused more from moisture from the hands and the environment its been played in?

Cheers

 

[Joe]

In 2004 I was pondering the exact same thing as you, in fact the yellowing of decals on my R2+R5 was the reason I joined a forum in the first place because I wanted to find out if I was going mad or if they were indeed going yellow since being on display.

I can honestly say since 2004 up until last year (when I sold my loose collection) that those figures were the same colours as I remember them being when I was worried they were turning slightly all those years ago.

In fact the only time that figures I had actually "degraded" over time was when they were in storage and in zip lock plastic bags. I had a han carbonite figure whose torso completely turned yellow from reacting to the plastic bag and the carbonite block (his back was unaffected)

Get them in a nice display cabinet and not directly in front of a window and you will be fine - even if you don't go the UV route. These are toys to be enjoyed after all

 

[Sandpersonsflipflop]

My loose figures are all on display. I keep that out of sunlight by making sure the blind in the room is shut! I have even trained my Wife to keep it shut. Seems to keep them ok.

 

[Palifan]

Ok im leaning more towards putting some items on display. I dont have the room to display the playsets or ships so was just considering displaying the loose figures. Was mainly worried about the discolouration factor for the figures that had white based paint. But I will put some UV blocking film on a display case. Now the next thing is to get a display case at a reasonable price.[/quote]


I think you should definitely set your collection up as it should be enjoyed. All the advise above is really good for keeping them in good condition and your best bet is probably Ikea for a display case if you don't want to go too crazy cost wise.

One thing you could do is use a kitchen cabinet like I have and paint it the colour you want. Mine pictured below was from Ikea and I used a kitchen one as it was the size of what I was after. I fitted lights into it, although I rarely use them just in case they fade the items inside.

Best of luck with it and look forward to seeing your collection in the future.

Ian

 

[Merrion]

Ok im leaning more towards putting some items on display. I dont have the room to display the playsets or ships so was just considering displaying the loose figures. Was mainly worried about the discolouration factor for the figures that had white based paint. But I will put some UV blocking film on a display case. Now the next thing is to get a display case at a reasonable price.

I think you should definitely set your collection up as it should be enjoyed. All the advise above is really good for keeping them in good condition and your best bet is probably Ikea for a display case if you don't want to go too crazy cost wise.

One thing you could do is use a kitchen cabinet like I have and paint it the colour you want. Mine pictured below was from Ikea and I used a kitchen one as it was the size of what I was after. I fitted lights into it, although I rarely use them just in case they fade the items inside.

Best of luck with it and look forward to seeing your collection in the future.

Ian[/quote]

Hi Ian,

cheers for the advise, thats it im converted. I love the display you have there. I also like the diversity, really looks well visually. 8)

 

[Palifan]

I'm glad you've come around to the idea of the display, these things really do need to be enjoyed. Here's a link of some of the different ways you can change things around in the same display case. I tend to have a bit of a change round from time to time so that i can enjoy different things I've picked up over the years.

http://www.starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13119

 

[CRAZYHAZY]

Yeah agree with all the comments, you dont have to go mad, keep it simple and just display your fav items.
I have a five shelf display case in the spare room takes up little space and i can enjoy my figs etc. The other half is happy with that too