Collectible Minifig display case

15 February, 2014 (00:43) | LEGO© Creations

A warning – If you’re not really into the LEGO hobby or collecting, this might not be interesting or impressive. There’s a fair amount of thought and planning in this build though, and I’m sure some enthusiasts will enjoy it.

When I came out of my dark ages, I thought collecting LEGO sets was silly. I still do. I want parts. However, when I started to stumble on collectible minifigs, I really enjoyed them. At first, I stuck to my rule that everything I own must be listed for sale on bricklink. I began collecting all the CMFs by putting the cheapest few of each minifig on my wanted list, so that if I placed an order at any of those stores, I’d know to buy it because it was the cheapest available. I’d then turn around and list it for a higher price. This strategy was working well. It was satisfying my need of “gotta catch ’em all” while maintaining a reasonable investment. All was going fine, until I was only missing a handful of figs to have a complete set…I started questioning why I had been accumulating these…I needed to stop the madness and display the full collection! I betrayed my words and have deemed CMFs my guilty collection.

But, how to display them? I’m not the only one wanting to do this. A quick search around the internet for what other collectors do provided some interesting and pretty solutions, but none struck me as “right”. With LEGO releasing a new series frequently, a fixed height/width solution wouldn’t be scalable. A stair-like display would easily grow out of control. Using store bought display cases seemed like cheating and expensive, and also took up too much real estate since you can’t stack them. So, necessity inspired creativity.

My “modules” snap into a rotating stand. Each row of 4 spins independently. Number of rows is customizable. Easy to take down and store, easy to swap out modules, and easy to expand. Each module is built using the color of the corresponding series. A notable challenge here was series 5, which uses azure, but between the medium azure and dark azure available in parts, neither match well. My solution here was Maersk blue, a color exclusive to Maersk sets. As luck would have it, that color matches the question marks in the packaging perfectly AND it comes in all the needed brick, tile, and slope parts! As far as I can tell, I’m the first and only person to make this match.

I do have the LDD file if you’re interested in building one.

I still have to build the module for the olympic figs. Since there are only 9, not sure if I’ll make it the standard size or not. I also have to come up with a solution for the individually released figs, like the BR guy, toy soldier, and whatever else comes with the minifig stand. Balance to the stand may be a factor with both. Anyway, this might be a good solution for any collection of minifigures, as the size of the case and number is customizable and interchangeable. I left a 4 x 4 tiled area on top to use the number decal from the old soccer sets, as I did with my version of Settlers of Catan, and have the sticker applied according to the series they represent. It could also be applied to the front vertical bricks, or you could event get some custom printing done. I should also try to come up with a nice top for the stand too…