There’s nothing I love more than looking through other people’s collections. Things have certainly moved around since the last time I took you on a tour of my own cave. After the Great Flood of 2015 (not really), I decided to rearrange the shelves and focus more on the heroes in my collection, which is where pretty much all of my attention is focused these days.
It’s still a work in progress but I thought it would be fun to show a few of the shelves after the big shake up. Here are a few highlights of the current setup…
I love the way this shelf turned out. It really is what I want every shelf to look like — amazing vintage graphics layered with toys from the past.
I actually thought I had a lot more Superman items until I started to set up this shelf. I needed to add a few Green Hornet items in the background just to fill in the gaps. I’d love to find some more Green Hornet items, and maybe give him a shelf of his own one day, but products based on that character are hard to find!
Spider-Man and Hulk now have four shelves dedicated to them, along with the very few other Marvel hero toys I’ve been able to obtain. If it not’s from the 70’s or earlier, I’m not too interested, but that date has been sliding a bit as the toys from the mid 80’s are starting to appeal to me more and more.
For whatever oddball reason, I am fascinated by Spider-Man head items — objects that are only his head — banks, radios, squirt guns, etc. A shelf of just Spidey’s heads would be fantastic.
Here’s an overall shot of the center section of the bookshelf wall. I’m still arranging three of the bottom shelves, but they’ll get there eventually. I’ve been meaning to open up the Funko ReAction figures, but after seeing them all in one place, I’m having serious doubts if I’ll ever do that. I even made a custom shelf for the loose figures, but tearing them off of that packaging is going to be hard to do!
I finally figured out a place for all my AJ Renzi banks. These sit atop the Batman cabinet, and my fleet of 1966 Batmobiles is parked in front. I love these banks, and I’m STILL looking for that blue King Kong!
Here are a couple of corners. I picked up this magazine rack a while ago and love it because it allows me to display a variety of covers while holding a ton of comics. I probably rearrange these every other day, just to show different covers!
Of course, I still love my monkeys.
After a long absence, I put the Westworld print back on the wall. this was the first Mondo print I ever bought and it’s still one of favorites. I was thrilled to hear that HBO was making a Westworld series, and Ed Harris is always excellent, so I’m super stoked for that to happen. I think the ESB poster will be coming down soon. I want to put up an old Marvel poster in that spot, but I need to get it framed first.
So, that’s the current state of the Cool & Collected Cave. The Batman cabinets are still a work in progress, so I’ll have to show you those another day. It’s amazing how much stuff I ended up putting into storage — all the GI Joes and 80’s toys are now packed away, but I’m sure one day, I’ll get nostalgic for them again, and swap them out for what’s currently being displayed. I’m always up for a trade if you happen to have something that you think would fit better in my collection than yours — I’ve got lots of other items, just let me know what you collect and maybe I can help you fill in a gap or two on your shelves.
If you like looking at other people’s collections as much as I do, go check out the collector profiles that have been submitted. I’d love to see and share your collection, if you’re into collecting cool pop culture. Here’s a page with instructions on how we can make that happen.
MIke B says
May 13, 2015 at 12:47 pmGreat stuff, especially the Shogun Warrior and Godzilla
Brian says
May 13, 2015 at 3:10 pmThose two almost went in the storage bins, but I just couldn’t bring myself to stash them away. 😉
Rich says
May 13, 2015 at 12:57 pmThe cave is looking sharp! Love the setup!
Brian says
May 13, 2015 at 3:10 pmThanks Rich!
LasVegasYankee says
May 13, 2015 at 1:42 pmLove the setup. Been thinking of setting up my collection, but it is now on hiatus due to a birth in the family. Wanted to do something similar to your comic rack but wanted to use one of the old style revolving comic racks, if I ever find one.
Brian says
May 13, 2015 at 3:08 pmI guess congratulations are in order!
I’ve been looking for a comic spinner for years. Good luck with the hunt!
Matt says
May 13, 2015 at 3:01 pmWhat’s the King Kong in front of the Shogun Godzilla?
Brian says
May 13, 2015 at 3:07 pmThat’s the King Kong figure from the Mego King Kong Against the World set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m1s4XeOnco
You would shoot at a dart at him to make his arms go up, and knock him off balance so he would come crashing to the ground.
Matt says
May 14, 2015 at 6:55 amThat’s awesome. I’d never seen one before.
Buzz Chuck says
May 13, 2015 at 8:01 pmWow, the display looks awesome!
Mike Gutierrez says
May 13, 2015 at 11:50 pmThat is an awesome set up Brian. I just love everything in your collection. I love those vintage Spideys and Superman stuff. The Sho Gun Warriors bring me back to my youth. One day, I will pick up a cherished item from my childhood, the Godzilla that had the firing fist and flamed out tounge. I alo have love for the Planet Of The Apes stuff. Especially after buying the complete Planet Of The Apes Blu-Ray collection and watching the movies. I have also been wanting to start a vintage Bond and Green Hornet collection.
I hope I can someday have the room you do to display all my goodies. I cannot wait to see your Batman collection.
I love that Empire Strikes Back poster. I want to pick up a vintage Star Wars poster. What advice would you give to a poster novice?
As always, great job and thanks for sharing the collection with us.
Brian says
May 14, 2015 at 8:30 amThanks Mike! If you want to start collecting movie posters, or even if you just want one or two, you have to head over to emovieposter.com. They hold three auctions a week and are the 800-lb gorilla in that arena. They back up the authenticity of everything they sell, which can set your mind at ease.
jSarie says
May 14, 2015 at 10:22 amThe Cave looks good – I’m especially admiring that Superman shelf, but they all look awesome.
I’m impressed by how organized you’ve gotten everything to look. That’s always my biggest display challenge, trying to not only get things on the shelf, but making sure it looks like a display and not just a pile of clutter.
Brian says
May 14, 2015 at 10:41 amThanks! The uncluttered look is a direct result of some serious scaling back and putting a LOT of stuff into storage. I also wanted to leave some space for new acquisitions, but I may have fallen short in that regard. 😉
Derek Ash (The Goodwill Geek) says
May 14, 2015 at 6:29 pmI completey agree on the ReAction figures! I like them better displayed in the packaging. The figures are fun but kind of unremarkable on their own. It’s very much the aesthetic of seeing them in that figure style ON the old-style card-back, with the photos and artwork to really punch it up a notch. More an more I’ve been finding lines that I collect and enjoy mainly IN the packaging, (Funko Fabrikations, cheap rack toys for some reason, and any kind of Hotwheel or similar brand toy car just for some examples) while most toys I still love to shell and play with.
Brian says
May 14, 2015 at 6:47 pmCareful Derek, you’re beginning to sound like a MIB collector. 😉
James Watson says
May 16, 2015 at 10:18 amI’m pretty sure if you take down ” The Empire Strikes back ” poster , it will throw the ” Force” out of balance and besides it’s a great poster
Brian says
May 16, 2015 at 2:33 pmYou might be right. 😉
Jon says
May 17, 2015 at 10:24 amAmazing display! Can you tell me about the Phantom game?
Brian says
May 17, 2015 at 6:34 pmThat game was produced by King Features in 1956. Like a lot of old board games, it’s fairly basic. It has a two-sided game board, small die-cut cardboard pieces, and some wooden disc tokens. The instructions are printed on the side of the box.
Jon says
May 18, 2015 at 10:26 amCool. Thanks.
Kal says
May 17, 2015 at 9:55 pmI love to see other people share their collections too. The shelves look great.
The Toy Box says
May 18, 2015 at 7:23 amIf you can afford it, I’ve always been partial to this particular Green Hornet item;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GREEN-HORNET-1966-TV-Colorforms-Print-Putty-MIP-Bruce-Lee-/251960454296?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aaa036c98
Brian says
May 18, 2015 at 8:29 amHa! That’s one of the few items I have already. If you look very closely, you’ll see it tucked away in the back of the Superman shelf. I love those print putty sets and hope to add the Superman and batman versions someday.