I Have a Problem; or The Wall of Shame

by Tresob Yr
on 2012-05-28, 17:01:48

As I might have mentioned, I'm in the process of moving again. The last time I did this, I bought a large tupperware tub, placed each figure into a ziploc baggie, and then carefully layered the figures into the tupperware.

That took a lot of time.

I also concluded that it was not the safest way to transport figures, despite the precautions. Even though I thought I solved the problem that friction might cause, I hadn't given enough thought to gravity. The figures on the bottom had to bear the weight of the rest of the tub for several days, and I hadn't anticipated how heavy that tub was going to get. It was not wise.

This time, I decided to make a major investment that would not only secure the figures for the journey, but also serve as a more permanent home. Thus, I went to OfficeMax and dropped over 200 smackers on the self-aggrandizingly-named "Really Useful Boxes."

Some of my figures were already housed in plastic sliding drawers. Many were in cheap plastic shoeboxes. Although not as easy to access as sliding drawers, the RUB's have the added feature of being modularly stackable. And although they aren't as wide as my sliding drawers, they do invite more precise categorization of their contents. They also feature locking handles on their ends (not the most secure fasteners, but good enough). Most advantageous, however, is that they stack along ridges at the edge of the lid, so the weight of the top boxes never quite falls on the center of the box below. This is something that often makes me nervous when stacking most plastic showboxes.

But my point of posting this was not to provide advertising for "Really Useful Boxes" ...although I'd consider posting a lengthier review in exchange for more storage supplies.

No, my point here was exhibitionism. See, after securing all of my loose figures in containers...all in one room...all at the same time...the extent of my collecting problem really hit home hard. And so, I present to you, my fellow collectors, Tresob's "Wall of Shame." It represents almost all of the loose figures currently in my modern collection (the last seventeen years of buying toys). It does not include my unopened figures, nor my "original" toys which are protected in secure locations across the United States. And, obviously, it doesn't include the figures I purchased but got rid of to make room for more figures. My shame is, apparently, too great to fit into this one picture.

So, without further ado...I present the Wall of Shame and a quick key to the contents of each container...

Wall of Shame
1. large figures/accessories
2. accessories dump (stands, CommTech chips, coins, and dice really add up after a while)
3. deluxe scale decepticons
4. vintage: Robotech, A-Team, G.I.Joe (Also known as the Horrible Likenesses Collection)
5. large Star Wars figures
6. vintage star wars
7. 90s Joes (when I finally sell off the collection, this will probably be the first to go)
8. vintage Joes
9. movies / anime / game figures (impulse buys, one and all)
10. Empire Strikes Back
11. A New Hope
12. Return of the Jedi
13. G1 Robot Heroes, Heroes of Cybertron
14. Attack of the Clones
15. Imperial Command
16. Galactic Heroes
17. Joe accessories
18. Star Wars accessories
19. ATOC clones
20. Separatist Army and other droids
21. G1 Transformers (action masters, Legends, HoC)
22. Spy Changers and variants (how this ended up taking a whole tray remains a mystery to me)
23. unsorted misc.
24. unsorted recent acquisitions
25. LEGO minifigs (tray has two interior trays separating mini-figs into groups of four)
26. Marvel
27. DC
28. Mrs. Tresob’s collection (we gendered her collection with a pink box)
29. Chap Mei (the cheapest tray in the collection, and yet the hardest to replace)
30. Scout-scale TFs
31. Playmobil (I prefer to call this my International Warriors Collection)
32. Autobots (Legends/Legions)
33. Decepticons (Legends/Legions)
34. Mini-cons and Micromasters
35. Autbots (scout scale)
36. Recent display pieces (larger scale)
37. Combat and Robot Heroes (also known as the Stuff to Let Kids Play With Collection)
38. Expanded Universe 1
39. empty (this has been reserved for more Lego minifigs)
40. Jedi
41. Expanded Universe 2
42. Expanded Universe 3 (like the other EU, mine needs more rational organization)
43. ROTS Clones
44. Rebel troopers and pilots
45. Imperial troopers and pilots
46. Phantom Menace (a whole tray for a movie I hated)
47. Autobots (deluxe and scout)
48. Modern Joes
49. Modern Cobra (and some vintage)
50. Separatists and Sith

(Inventory does not include boxes of unopened figures that are sitting off-camera, or my pre-Modern era collection from childhood.)