Darth Skellington's Collection

[darthskellington]

Well, I've got company coming this weekend, which meant an immenent deadline for my current Star Wars display projects. (The better to show off, of course)

I'm still getting the hang of this digital cam, but I'll start off with a few decent pics. Why not start off with a bang? Here's my new Emperor's Arrival display.


BTW, this room started off as a bedroom, with a retro/nostalgia theme and a minimalist Star Wars approach. I quickly became bored with this, and SW took over again. Hence, you will see various other interests hidden amongst the Star Wars masses. Sort of like "Where's Waldo"

 

[r2dee2]

WOW :worship: Magnificent display there!! Do you have some sort of "sticky" on the bottom of the figure's feet? A lot of work you've done there

 

[darthskellington]

Thanks R2! No sticky involved. Since I don't enough stands (or money to buy stands), I opted to wire the figures together using wire I've saved from various SW packaging. The Stormtroopers have a convenient canister on the back of their belts. I just looped the wire around the canister and between the legs to teh next canister.

I had some black wire (possibly from SW figures) that worked great for the officers. Since the figures all stand very close, you don't really see the wires, especially in a photo.

I put a cheap $6 Walmart door mirror behind them, and cut/broke another one to set at the end, thus quadrupling the number of fires. (My 36 stormtroopers became 144!) I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. This is a very quick and dirty, but attractive display. The shiny black floor is none other than a garbage bag.

I designed it for cheap, relatively easy, and temporary.

 

[r2dee2]

Oh my goodness! I would not have thought of connecting the figures by wires; that had to take a LOT of patience and dexterity to get that all done. Nice effect and as you say you can't really see it when the figures are so closely grouped. I caught onto the mirror enhancement and it's a great way to achieve the masses

I tried to help someone with his display for a week-end event, hence it wasn't to be a permanent thing and time was limited; and it was so difficult to get the figures without stands to remain standing. If I'd had some sort of white tack it would have been great, though I don't know if that sort of thing is good to use on vintage figures, though only SOME of the figures were vintage? (I don't know how to make the image a thumbnail)

I'm sure your company will find it all most impressive!

 

[darthskellington]

Nice set up The wiring takes time, but after a little practice, it went pretty quickly. I don't remember hearing anything bad about white tack, but I think I would be cautious about using it on white figures, especially vintage.

I think thumbnails are default depending on which REPLY setting you are using. If you go to manage attachments under the message, and upload an image. I guess your just linking to a picture though. Borsk can help you there.

 

[darthskellington]

Here are some more colelction pics. First is one of the whole tv stand, including my Death Star set up. More on that later. My current pics are all blurry. You can also make out my glass legal case next to it.

The next pics are the four shelves of the case, including a Jabba theme, my vintage figs (minus a few that are participating in dioramas, or otherwise out of service), my vintage Micro Hoth World set, and my vintage die-cast ships. The bottom case is hard to see in, so I just slapped some interesting books up behind them.

 

[dustrho]

You can also make out my glass legal case next to it.

That is an awesome display case! Where did you buy a case like that? Something I am going to be looking for are display cases where I can put my stuff behind glass, and that case of yours looks really nice. I'm sure you got that locally, but maybe other people here might have some places in mind.

Oh yeah, AWESOME collection!

 

[darthskellington]

Thanks dusthro I bought that maybe 6 years ago now at Service Merchandise. I they're completely out of business these days I think I payed more than $50, but certainly less than $100 for it. Most places they are called Legal cases. They come in all different sizes. Unfortunately some of them are really pricey, and usually don't look very attractive (at least in a home setting). Still you could probably find one at Walmart, K-Mart, Office Depot, maybe an IKEA is you live near one. I bet Lowe's or Home Depot might carry them too. They have all sorts of neat shelving and modular units. I'd just walk around you local Lowes for some basement ideas. It wouldn't hurt to check out their kitchen cabinets for ideas too.

Anyway, my case has worked wonders for me. The glass keeps most of the dust and dirt off, keeps things from falling, and keeps others from handling. My vintage shelf has a custom stair-step for the figures. I made it out of green floral foam panels,a dn covers with blue material. The Jabba shelf was more hastily amde out of a bunch of Construx I had in the garage, again covered with a piece of material. My previous Saga display just had a blue pillowcase thrown over it. It's nice becasue you can fit almost anything in it.

Mine is 5 feet tall, 28" wide, and 12-13" deep. Each shelf section is 13.5 " high.

More collection pics coming soon.

 

[darthskellington]

Here's some more pics. First up are a couple Death Star Diorama shots. This started out as a "I wish I could display some more Death Star stuff next to my vintage playset" idea, and rapidly developed into a a full diorama with full backgrounds, a shelf mounted to the wall, and more. All backgounds that didn't come from Hasbro were courtesy of Niub Niub's.

That DS Hangar background behind the CAP-2 was availble from Hasbro .com, along with an Ewok Village and M.Falcon interior backgrounds. Not sure if they're still online.

Still a very impromptu diorama, but I like the results.

 

[darthskellington]

Up next are couple shots of my desk. On top are my (few) unleashed figures, plus the bulk of my non-star wars items that are on display. On the wall are the first four appearances of the Silver Surfer, one of my fave comic characters, and the one that got me collecting comics. Below are figures of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, SIlver Surfer, Ghost Rider, and Dawn, plus my Jack Skellington Clock. Behind them are mostly old Nancy Drew and not-so-old Hardy Boys books

In the other pic is my Jedi Council, which is simply set up on a metal tray (with a venetian style pattern). The whole thing is on a turntable, so i can spin to get any angle I like. Both were picked up at the Goodwill. Barely visible on the computer is a certain Bothan website. That little tan bottle next to the Death Manga book is a bottle of Tatooine (I mean Tunisian) sand. It was a gift from Mark Dermul (international SW collector extraodinairre), and contains sand from three different SW filming locations.


In the corner I have my small 12" Figure display. The black thingsa re actually produce crates. Theyre a lttle flimsy, but worked out really well for the dolls which I jsut wired to the crates for stability. The crates make a great hangar is turned upright. I attached a Niub Niub TIE Bomber girder to it and could hang a couple TIE bombers it it. A bunch of them would make a great Imperial Hangar. No room for that right now though

 

[Carbonite Jawa]

Darth,
I like what I see! You have a cool collection and very good ideas. If you will remember you gave me some advice a couple of months ago in regards to my collection. Some of your recent photos have given me some good ideas. The thing I like the best is your bookcase. I want to get one similar to it to display my vintage figures in as well. I think I would display my micro Bespin World in it like you did with Hoth. The "stair effect" is an awesome idea to display figures. I noticed you also discovered Niub Niub and his textures. I made the Bacta Chamber from his website and I love it.The corner big figure display is also real cool. I have been working on my room and I must say its coming along nicely. I bought 2 bookshelf units from Wal * Mart and I have filled them with everything from vehicles to 12" to exclusives to 3 3/4" to my vintage 12" collection all posing for a group shot. They stand 6' tall and in between them I tacked my Han Solo in Carbonite standee to the wall. On the adjoining wall I made a shelf unit which dispalys over 40 big figures from the modern line. Then on the other wall I have 5 dioramas on display. There is still a ton of work to do and money to spend but it is coming along quite nicely. So thanks for your input. The last wall has a 6' double window which I have hung a poster on each side of. One ESB and one ROTJ. I want the book case like yours to go under the ROTJ poster. Some Star Wars curtains for the window, a 6' long Hoth diorama with air brushed backdrop in front of the window and a couple more posters and I should be looking pretty good. All I need now is a digital camera to take some photos for you guys to see. My cmaera just blew up so I have to buy a new one but when I do I will get some pix up there for you to see. Thanks again for your feedback

 

[darthskellington]

Cool. Sounds like your room is coming along nicely. I'm looking forward to seeing pics

As for me, I'll try and post the rest of my pics this weekend. I've been so busy with work, etc, that I've hardly done more than check e-mail. That, and watch Buffy Seasons 2 & 3 which my friend loaned me. 2 more episodes and I'll have exhausted my supply, an I can get back to the real world (aka the internet)

 

[darthskellington]

Ok, here's some more pics. I might not get them all up tonight. First up is my autograph wall, which is actually my closet doors. This includes some of my favorite or most visually appealing autographs. Thesse frames are really cool. They're the kind where the glass pops into the frame. They cost less than $2 each at Walmart. Too bad they have any more. I bought their entire shipment and thay haven't gotten any since. These are 9X12, the 8X10s were too small (slightly smaller than 8X10).

In the corner is a modular store display unit I converted to a higher cause

 

[darthskellington]

In the Tusken Camp Ambush above, I also have a dead Schmi behind the tent, to makes things more movie authentic That's my cabinet of curiosities in the wall.

Next up is a dresser which is kindly hosting a Clone Wars battle. It's not in teh pic, but I have a Geonosian fighter hanging from the curtain too. If I ever finish it, my Torrent Clone Fighter might hang above this too.

Below is a Separatist Council set up on a turntable. On the dresser is a vintage wool blanket that is conveniently Geonosian in pattern and color. Next to all this is my Echo Base annex to my Battel Of Hoth diorama.

 

[darthskellington]

Next up is my Battle of Hoth Diorama on the bed. You've seen this before in it's own thread. However, it's been fleshed out a little more. I finally completed my Vintage turret too.

On the wall are more autographs. Rob Zombie autographed poster. Aurra Sing autographed fig. Autographed widevision cards, and signed Irvin Kershner Hoth photo. On the shelves are modern TIEs, a vintage Hoth Ice Planet, a Land of the Jawas I recreated using scans from either www.gadders.com or erikstormtrooper's site

Last up is the door, guarded by my grim friend. The carbon chamber border is just (extremely) enlarged texture from Niub Niubs. It's taped to the door frame, which happens to be plain boards.

Well, that's all for now. I'll put up some better Arrival pics as I come across them. Hope you enjoyed the tour. Feel free to come back anytime. Thie collection is maintained through contributions by viewers like you. Feel free to make a donation on your way out

 

[chris solo]

Really cool Warren!

And the way TBS's new setup is gives you the superior ability to make a very professional Collection page.

You have alot of great stuff.

 

[darthskellington]

Aww......shucks! :whoops:

 

[darthskellington]

Here's some old-school pics of my collection back when I lived in New Orleans. Think of them as Collection Evolution.



1: shelves: top circa 1998, bottom circa 2000
2: bookcase 1999, plus my Sigmas figurines
3: Carbon Freezing Chamber & Hoth circa 2001
4: Dewback Patrol & Rebel Briefing circa 2001

With time, the Applause figs got replaced by 12" figs, which in turn were replaced by 12" dewbacks, speederbikes, Kaadu, and Taun Tauns.

The lower sheles held figures and dioramas. I eventually started printing my own backgrounds, which really made a difference.

Rebel Briefing was custom fitted to teh shelf using Niub Niubs textures. I printed the hologram on a transparency, which I thought was pretty original and looks nice. The only other hologram attempt I've seen is a painted clear (Fill-it-yourself-type) christmas ornament. That didn't look bad either, and was 3D.

The rebel briefing now resides in an Ultarama, for lack of room for the custom built one.

 

[darthskellington]

If anyone wants to make their own Rebel Briefing Hologram, check out my download here

 

[darthskellington]

Here's a couple updates to my Emperor's Arrival diorama I have set up on top of a tv stand. Most notable is the addition of my new vintage Imperial Dignitary (aka Sim Aloo). Also, with so many new updated troopers and officers coming out recently, I've been able to add at least one figure to every row.

Now there are roughly 100 figures in the diorama, but thanks to the mirrors, it looks like there are 400!