Dealing with too much stuff

[Omegatron]

I need some advice on how to continue to enjoy my collection now that I don’t have space to enjoy it all. I know this is a good problem to have and I’m not trying to boast, but I’m not really sure what to do.

I currently have 3 Detolf’s, 1 vertical Klingsbo, 2 horizontal Klingsbo’s and a built in book shelf on which to display my collection. The room is such that this is the maximum amount of display cases that will fit. This is enough space for my G1 collection as well as my Masterpieces, and Classics collections, and that’s about it. I want all of this to stay on display but would like to enjoy my other lines as well. Right now I have a very cramped shelf devoted to Prime but can’t get everything in. I can’t display my generations, alternators, titaniums, animated, third parties beast wars, beast machines, RID, movie (although I can live with that one), or Unicron trilogy. Fortress Maximus has forced Brave Max to be locked away in a closet. I could purge my collection but I don’t really want to. I can’t make the room bigger, nor is there really any other space in the house. I’m sure other people have got to this point in their collecting. I guess my question is, what did you do?

Does anyone have a method of rotating their displays? Are there cool display themes that people use to help them work in other lines? I basically don’t want to have a bunch of stuff in boxes permanently. What do you do? Help.
Thanks.

[Protoman]

Personally if you have to rotate stuff or keep it in a box forever, you should just sell it.

Make plans to get a bigger/new place

[chovner]

1) Buy a bigger house
2) Divide existing shelves into multiple levels to maximize space. Example: I have a shelf area that's 3'x1.5' and custom added two more shelves inbetween to make three 3'x0.5' shelf areas to display Alternators.
3) Sell. Sad but I'm at the same point too where I decide what I like the least and get rid of to make space for new stuff.
4) Stop buying... lol this won't happen
5) Keep everything in Bot mode. Vehicle modes typically take up more footprint space, so when your TFs are in bot mode you can usually cram more together that way.
6) Roate out your biggest items (MP's) monthly from storage. I keep some TFs upstairs on top of my entertainment unit for display because I don't have enough room downstairs for them all, and I'll usually rotate them every once in a while. Since stuff like MP Prime/Megatron/Grimlock/Seekers, etc. are so big they're the easiest to rotate and make the biggest difference.

The best solution though, as much as it sucks is #3 though...

[Jeem]

Don't buy anything. Have some standards and decide which lines you love the most.

I decided that Bayformers, Prime and BH line I could do without. But I do like Optimus, so I do have Prime figures from each of those lines. This is a compromise I decided to make in order not to get my collection out of hand.

But that doesn't mean my MP, Kreon, FOC, CHUG, Mighty Mugg, Alternator/HA and 3rd partys collection are in check...

[Hellboy]

Yeah, focus. Decide what you love most and sell off the less important items. You can't have everything and enjoy it all.

I literally have no room for anything anymore so I pick and choose what is most important (MPs, core characters from certain lines, Starscream figures that aren't gimmicky rehashes) and even those get boxed eventually.

[elburrito]

Sadly, (or perhaps happily) this is an all too common phenomena amongst types such as those found amongst these threads.

Can't tell you what to do, can tell you what I did in a similar situation.

Instead of displaying my bots by line (as I always had in the past), I now pick the "best" representation of each character from across the lines and display that assortment of toys whilst the others are packed away.

I find this gets me the satisfaction of seeing my favourites on the shelf at all times without having to pick and choose.

Also, whenever a better version of an individual character surfaces, I simply replace my existing version with the newer one. A recent example was exchanging Masterpiece Red Alert and Sideswipe for the "classics" version of these.

Also, replaced G1 Soundwave with the masterpiece version.

The result is (in part) as follows:

Autobots:

Hasbro MP10 Prime
IGear (not) Ratchet and Ironhide
Masterpiece Sideswipe/Red Alert
Animated Hotrod/Arcee
Generations Jazz, Prowl ... etc
Animated Bumblebee, Cliffjumper
Prime Wheeljack
... and so on

For Decepticons:

Animated Voyager Megatron (goes on a little stand to make him about 1" taller)
Masterpiece Soundwave
Fansproject (not) insecticons
Animated Shockwave/Blitzwing/Balck Arachnia

Of course there are more than just these characters, but that was an example for flavour.

Also, it's a whole new reason to sort out the little _________s which I rather enjoy doing.

[Scrapper6]

Transformers as a hobby is, unfortunately, a toyline that involves big characters, big collections and eventually a lack of space.

Honestly I wouldn't sweat it if I had to keep things in storage, a rotational collection can still be fun to enjoy, especially if you don't limit yourself to always displaying just one line.

Case in point I've had my Kre-O stuff on display for well over a year, and now most of them are in boxes in the closet for strage until such time as I want to enjoy them again. I sell things to clear out some figures that either no longer interest me as much as they used to, or simply to clear out multiple versions of characters and molds that take up a lot of space. (The Unicron Trilogy is full of a load of large sized figures.)

I have less display space than what you're going through and I still manage to enjoy and keep active with a large collection, I don't find it to be too large. However everything is different for every collector. If you personally don't find much holding your interest in the lines that are kept in storage and only G1 and Masterpieces and such are what you're looking for, the purge is really one of the better options.

A purge after all comes to all of us in time as we refocus, streamline or otherwise modify our collecting habits.

[brr-icy]

with a small room, unfortunately detolfs aren't the best at maximizing space, invest in some billy bookcases with glass doors and shelves. floor to ceiling nicely spaced shelves for tfs, i can fit between double and triple what i fit in a detolf in one nicely spaced out. just a recommendation, i have the space to display everything, but if i was limited, that's what i would do

[Nullray]

Well I say rotate them in an out depending on mood. It would be like rediscovering your favorite collection pieces every now and then. In a way it isn't a bad thing. You could dust and clean some of them when your doing your flavour change. Taking care of your collectibles as you go. If you have kids you could make it a family event. Which ones to choose. Try to see the positive in the situation.

[Badgertron]

I'll echo brr-icy here, in that detolf's are really inefficient at displaying TF's. The longer your shelves, the better off you'll be. You may even look into something wider than a billy. You'll find you have much more room to display stuff, that way