So we got a 3D printer, a Creality Ender 3 Pro, and I've been messing about on TinkerCAD designing things for my collection. There's already plenty of figure stands to choose from on Thingiverse, but I found the couple I printed to be a little clunky or just not useful for female figures, due to their smaller feet and narrower stance. Making my own allowed me to dial in exactly what I needed for those tiny little feet.
I'm also printing just a ton of risers, custom-measured for the shelves I have. Since I have to print them a little at a time due to the constraints of the printer bed, it takes me two days to make the six pieces I need for a single shelf. (I have 30 shelves that will have risers on them; not all of those will have 3 pairs.) Then I have another shelf with my Star Wars figures, with a different set of risers to print...
One of the reasons I am opting to go this route is the cost of lumber right now. It's expensive. Add to that, by using the printed pieces, I can get a lot thinner, a lot more precise, and the color (grey) matches the backing of the shelves in the bookcases the majority of the figures are in. So far, I have the top row done, and the difference is remarkable.
 |
| The 3D printed risers make a huge difference in how the figures display. |
I'm also working on some figure-interactive backgrounds that can be attached to the risers, but those are still in development. (Stay tuned.)
The best part of all this new stuff is that once I reorganize the shelves, I can do a whole lot of unboxing – I haven't wanted to start that until I get the shelves in better order. I'm well past 800 female figures now, and though there are some duplicate characters (Wonder Woman, Leia Organa, Captain Marvel, and a couple of others), for the most part, the vast majority of that is single representations of characters. I don't even know how many are still in boxes at the moment; 20? 30? It'll be a day, maybe a weekend to get that done. (Darn.)
