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Cool and Collected

Collecting pop culture toys, comics, and collectibles collections

September 19, 2012 By 27 Comments

How to Build a LEGO Minifig display shelf

With all the incredible LEGO blind bag minifigs starting to pile up around here, I felt the need to find a good way to display some of my favorites. The obvious solution is to build something out of LEGO, but I wanted something that would take up the bare minimum of space and not topple over easily. I came up with an extremely simple solution, but it works great! Check it out…

lego minifig display shelf

The display base is barely over a half inch deep, so it can be used on a surface as shallow as a windowsill!

Materials: wood trim, white glue, spray paint, 1×10 LEGO strips

lego minifig display shelf

Step 1: Measure the length of the LEGO strips that you want to use. I used five black 1×10 LEGO strips, which made for a combined length of 14 1/2 inches. Cut the wood trim to that length.

Step 2: Spray paint the wood strip. I used black paint with black LEGO strips, but you could use any color you’d like.

Step 3: Once the paint is dry, glue the LEGO strips to the top of the wood trim.

That’s all there is to it. Simple!

lego minifig display shelf

The wood trim I used is only 5/8″ deep, so it can easily rest on top of an area as narrow as a door jamb. Try doing this with just a LEGO base, and it will be raining minifigs! The wood trim gives the base the weight it needs to keep the minifgs from falling over.

lego minifig display case

I made a bunch of these bases in just a few minutes. Here are a couple of them I have on display that sit atop a strip of chair rail moulding. Eventually, I’ll probably make a stackable display of some sort where these strips can be interchanged, but I’ll save that DIY project for another day!

 

—–

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tommy says

    September 19, 2012 at 3:35 pm

    Great idea, Brian!

    Reply
    • Brian says

      September 19, 2012 at 3:44 pm

      Thanks Tommy!

      Reply
  2. Dex (@Dex1138) says

    September 19, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    Cool! I’ve been thinking of ways to make something similar but only using LEGO.

    Reply
    • Brian says

      September 19, 2012 at 3:44 pm

      I really tried to make something strictly with LEGO but it never had enough weight to keep from tipping over.

      Reply
  3. harleyvj says

    September 19, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    That is a killer idea, thanks! I will be making one of these.

    Reply
    • Brian says

      September 19, 2012 at 4:20 pm

      Excellent! Let me know how it turns out.

      Reply
  4. BubbaShelby says

    September 19, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    Awesome display solution!

    I’ve taken a few of those large flat ‘ground’ pieces and hung them frame-like from the wall, then add bricks to the backs of the figures’ legs and display them that way.

    Reply
    • Brian says

      September 19, 2012 at 4:21 pm

      That sounds like a great way to display them. How did you hang the large flats? Drill a hole through it, or something more elaborate?

      Reply
      • BubbaShelby says

        September 19, 2012 at 6:51 pm

        No, I just used a piece with a space in it (a trailer hitch type piece or something) and clipped it to the top, and put a nail through the space in the piece. No drilling or modification or anything, just using the legos as they are naturally designed!

        Reply
        • Brian says

          September 19, 2012 at 7:10 pm

          Genius. 😉

          Reply
  5. Howie Decker says

    September 19, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    This is awesome – and ironic, since I just built my first Minifig stand this past weekend. I built a 4 tiered stand out of LEGOs, but it took time and a lot of bricks. It’s also too deep for a shallow shelf. Love your idea, might have to build one for each series of Minifigs!

    Reply
    • Brian says

      September 19, 2012 at 4:51 pm

      Do it! (Though your solution sounds pretty good too!)

      Reply
  6. jboypacman says

    September 19, 2012 at 5:01 pm

    That’s pretty slick Brian!

    Reply
  7. Charles Pechonick says

    September 19, 2012 at 8:13 pm

    I built a lego shelf out of an old tape cassette rack over the summer… already out of room on it though…

    http://geekshowink.com/blog/?page_id=260

    Reply
    • Brian says

      September 19, 2012 at 11:20 pm

      Now I need to hit the yard sales to find one of those cases. 😉

      Reply
      • Charles Pechonick says

        September 20, 2012 at 10:32 am

        you know, I use to see them ALL the time. Now that I want to build a second one, can not find a single one! so frustrated!

        Reply
  8. shezcrafti says

    September 19, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    I’ll have to make one of these if and when LEGO ever comes out with TMNT minifigs!

    Reply
  9. kngfu says

    September 19, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    Very cool!

    Reply
  10. Mike Gutierrez says

    September 20, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    Brilliant!

    Reply
  11. Will says

    September 21, 2012 at 10:51 am

    Wish I’d seen this a week ago! I just built a bleacher system out of Mega Bloks. It’s heavy and won’t fit on a shallow shelf. Plus, I only have room for about 4 more figures. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I’m sure the fiancee would love something that takes up less space, like the ones you created. Curses!

    Reply
    • Brian says

      September 21, 2012 at 10:57 am

      All these comments are making me want to do a follow-up post where everyone shows the shelves they constructed!

      Reply
  12. Gary doss says

    November 17, 2013 at 3:51 pm

    If you also have a growing LEGO Minifigure collection, let me suggest the new Brick Rack display case.

    It will hold, organize and display 175+ minifigures.

    Examples at http://www.brickrack.com

    Reply
    • Brian says

      November 17, 2013 at 9:06 pm

      Cool idea!

      Reply

Trackbacks

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