[McBennett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearthehoss75

Here are some pics!

Damn, awesome collection! Only those with a bachelor pad or cave of solitude can enjoy that sweet taste of freedom..

[McBennett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearthehoss75

I LOVE and feel blessed to be able to enjoy the collection. Fiddling and reposing this stuff is a true joy. Sometimes I'll grab a fig and go relax with it watching movies or tv shows. Repose it and then put it back in display. I wouldn't be able to do this if I kept stuff packaged away. I sold my G1 transformers collection for this same reason last year. This stuff costs big money but if you enjoy it everyday it's worth every penny.

Yeah I totally agree with you. I like to have my GI Joe stuff set up on shelves or on my desk so I can go to it whenever. It's such a long lost and refreshing experience to have in an age where things have gone intangible yet all the more complicated. It's such a simplistic and happy thing to revisit childhood..a lot of adults shed and forget all those things that shaped and molded them over the years. They're important!

While I don't get to enjoy my collection as much as I'd like to, I definitely plan to at some point. Hopefully whenever I find a better, more spacious place to live.

[McBennett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sataninjaku

Well, you can take solace in knowing that a good deal of these have been carelessly stored for the nearly forty years they've been around, and most of those were stored after being heavily "loved" at that. While there is some merit to some degree of worry in regards to plastic degradation, I've had Joes displayed without much in the way of protection, climate control, etc in possibly the worst climate- California's Sierra Nevada foothills. We can go from a very dusty, dry 110 in the summer to a very damp 15 in the winter. I DO have issues with accelerated o-ring decay because of this, but I've been at this for 22 years now and have never had one crumble to dust. In fact, any Joes I've had that have suffered "uncanny" breaks have usually had those breaks occur pretty quickly after I've gotten it from somewhere else. I have to be honest, I have reset my collection a few times, so I can't say that I've had any figure on display for 22 years, but I did go about 12 years on display with my last iteration, which I sold in late 2018.

As far as light limitation, yes, that should be enough. Bear in mind though that the discoloration associated generally with light is not solely based on light- that's actually a flame retardant used in the plastics called bromine. Light, specifically UV light, accelerates that, but hiding them away in a closet will not prevent it. I myself have come to accept that a V1 Storm Shadow that's perfectly white will absolutely not stay that way forever. For those that can't accept it, you're in luck; a new one is soon to be released.

As far as your limited display options, you've gotta think outside the box some. As an example, my collection is also confined to a medium-sized bedroom that serves as my game room. This room has two windows, a closet door , and of course, the entry. I realized long ago that I have no room for vehicles, but I was able to custom build my shelving to accomodate some 480-90 odd vintage Joes (of a possible 600), what will ultimately be around 50 Classified, a possible 150 ish Marvel Legends (including the Haslab Sentinel), and of course, my collection of Super Nes Carts. The way I managed to pull that off was to build low-profile shelving, tailor made for each line. As an example, the ARAH shelf hangs of the wall only at a depth of 3.5", is around 8' in length, and 6' high, split in two for both Cobra and Joe sides. The Cobra side does actually cover a window- that's free "light management" there! An added benefit is that I have a pretty hard limit on my collection... though I did back the Sky Striker, so I have a little over a year to sort that out;) As a result of some careful planning, it's at the point that all of this stuff would absolutely feel more cluttered all boxed up.

I'm going to reiterate my earlier statement- it sounds like you're buying these to enjoy, not as an investment, so remember any value here is solely what you assign to it. I myself remember early on in my collection, fretting over small paint nicks, discoloration, etc, and worrying about all of the money aspects of the hobby- "I spent $XX on it, I don't want to fuck it up and have it lose value".

Now, I mostly glance over at them, and remember fondly the bright, sunny days of my childhood, spent playing "mountain assault" with my little brother on the side of an old stone chimney- and it makes me smile to think that I have SOOOOOOOO many more Joes now than I did then!

Thanks for your reassuring words..while the climate in NY is a lot more temperate than the extremes you're describing, it's probably still a good idea for me to take a little precaution. I've sunk so much money in the last month or two on this crazy nostalgia collecting that I'd be crushed it all my stuff became ruined in a few years time. For me, these are tokens of my childhood. I can look back positively and also enjoy them in the present time, but it really is unnerving because of the ridiculous after-market prices associated with some of these toys. Like, you want to buy the absolute best to represent what you love, and your associated memories with them..but then you realize that at this point these are vintage collectibles with a murky origin..they could have been treated like shit for years, or maybe they were kept in a basement at 65 degrees for 20 years..who knows? Trying to get over this hurdle and allowing myself to just enjoy it all is probably one of my biggest obstacles.


I also did the dumbest thing I could do, which was primarily focus on all the awesome vehicles first, not realizing I didn't have much room for them to begin with. I got my recent purchases all huddled together on this 8 foot tall storage shelf..it's really meant to house stuff like tools or canned goods but I use it mainly for my GI Joes now. The thing sucks but I've had it for years. The shelves themselves have slats so it's just impractical to display things nicely, but it'll have to do. Back in the day, most of my GI Joes I had as a kid came in dribs and drabs..maybe a school friend would give me one or trade with me, or I'd get one with my allowance or whatever. I had expansive jungle assaults in the backyard, or throw my dudes into a Sarlaac pit at whatever sandbox my mom would drag me to. A lot of these toys I lost quickly as a careless, dopey kid, or sold or traded away for trending stuff like Star Wars: Power of The Force figures. I never had the pleasure of building up a GI Joe and Cobra force the way I always wanted to. For me, it's an exciting well spring of imagination and creativity even as an adult.

[fearthehoss75]

Never lose your dinosaur my friend!

[Trigger2K]

Most of mine have been in a display case in a temperature controlled room for over 20 years. Some I got off eBay later, maybe 10 years ago.

And some still changed color and o-rings busted (to be expected). Mostly the very early figures from '82/'83. Flesh colored heads turned yellow on a few. When I put them in the case none were discolored. I really don't know how to stop the degradation of the plastic but don't really worry about it anymore. Hopefully the Classifieds will hold up better over time. Over 40 years they should have come up with a more stable formula.