Anyone reading this most likely knows that magical "is-it-Scandanavian?-maybe-not" word. DETOLF! I've not been in the collection game for long... at least not toys that I look to displaying as though they are little artistic sculptures as opposed to the latest zombie action figure that I just want to have next to my computer monitor... but quickly I found myself wanting to show them off to no one really and having nowhere proper to do so.
I began my search online for display cabinets about two months ago, but all signs continued to point toward the magical glass shelf sold by Ikea. Offering practically 360 degrees of pure viewing pleasure and no wooden joints or distracting solid cross beams, the Detolf shelf seemed like the way to go.
One problem... the closest Ikea store to me is 4.5 hours away just outside of Washington, D.C.
Thank God for the internet!
But wait.... ikea.com informs me that the shipping on one shelf alone is going to be 111.00!! Dear Vinyl Lords, what have I done to displease thee??? Why in the spray painted blue hell is she shipping almost twice the cost of the shelf itself???
Then an opportunity came about. My fiancee's best friend told us that after a trip to Spain, she was planning a trip to D.C. She would be passing said Ikea on the drive there and the drive back. Mua ha haaa!
I feel like I waited for weeks and the time finally came... but on her way back we find out that she has 2 antique rockers in her car, and there was no possible way for her to fit the Detolf inside as well.
Hmmm
Well, there was only one thing left to do... convince the fiancee that D.C. is the place to be for July 4th festivities! Haha! I actually don't want to sound like I planned our vacation around wanting a toy shelf... I honestly have never been to D.C. and it did seem like a great idea. I don't get too many vacation opportunities so I wanted to go somewhere affordable and closeby that wouldn't be the same ol'. The Ikea trip was just icing on the cake!
Anyway, D.C. was fun yadda yadda yadda.
We pulled into Ikea off I-95 on the way home to NC. Nothing had prepared me for the immensity of this place! Holy shit I think an Arena Football team could comfortably play in this place with room to spare for some IceCapades. We got our pencil and paper from the first kiosk and set out on a mission.
I was really only there for the Detolf, but ended up buying a laptop stand, a coffee table, a computer desk, a new quilt and quilt cover, towel and toilet paper bars, all matching wooden hangers. Credit card no likey.
We get down to the warehouse area and I learned exactly why Ikea charges so much for shipping on certain items. The Detolf weighs 87 pounds! (Not to mention the coffee table that was over 100!) I'm pretty puny when it comes to heavy lifting, but after some profanity and enginuitive cart positioning we got it loaded up and on its way. I'm glad I had hernia repair surgery a couple years ago or this might have been trouble.
The next day was when I assembled said shelf (and coffee table from hell). I had to open the box in my car and carry up pieces individually. No way was that box getting upstairs by itself. Assembly is not so bad on these, just a little time consuming. As true with many Ikea items, you only need the little tools they include and maybe a Philips head screwdriver. I had a drill also to install the little light (called Non) on the top of the inside. I do however recommend two people. I built this alone and had to balance big panes of glass against the wall and play a pretty precarious balancing act while trying to get the top to fit down on the 3 sides. Would have been much easier with someone else to there helping.
The shelf is decently made. It makes a little noise when you open it thanks to the metal rack system installed that the shelves themselves rest on. That metal rack taps a little on the side glass when the door is opened. The door closes firmly thanks to magnets on the top and bottom, but they do not make it difficult to open the door.
It comes with a canvas strap that you can connect to the wall to keep it from tipping over, but I don’t find the shelf particularly top-heavy so I didn’t bother. If I had something heavy to put on the top shelf, this might be a concern, but hollow vinyl toys aren’t particularly weighty!
All said, I am very pleased with this shelf. It affords essentially 360 degrees of pure vinyl viewing pleasure. I can’t really see the back since it is against the wall, but 360 sounds a lot better than 270.
Well, I’ll shut up and show the photos of the shelf. FINALLY!
I began my search online for display cabinets about two months ago, but all signs continued to point toward the magical glass shelf sold by Ikea. Offering practically 360 degrees of pure viewing pleasure and no wooden joints or distracting solid cross beams, the Detolf shelf seemed like the way to go.
One problem... the closest Ikea store to me is 4.5 hours away just outside of Washington, D.C.
Thank God for the internet!
But wait.... ikea.com informs me that the shipping on one shelf alone is going to be 111.00!! Dear Vinyl Lords, what have I done to displease thee??? Why in the spray painted blue hell is she shipping almost twice the cost of the shelf itself???
Then an opportunity came about. My fiancee's best friend told us that after a trip to Spain, she was planning a trip to D.C. She would be passing said Ikea on the drive there and the drive back. Mua ha haaa!
I feel like I waited for weeks and the time finally came... but on her way back we find out that she has 2 antique rockers in her car, and there was no possible way for her to fit the Detolf inside as well.
Hmmm
Well, there was only one thing left to do... convince the fiancee that D.C. is the place to be for July 4th festivities! Haha! I actually don't want to sound like I planned our vacation around wanting a toy shelf... I honestly have never been to D.C. and it did seem like a great idea. I don't get too many vacation opportunities so I wanted to go somewhere affordable and closeby that wouldn't be the same ol'. The Ikea trip was just icing on the cake!
Anyway, D.C. was fun yadda yadda yadda.
We pulled into Ikea off I-95 on the way home to NC. Nothing had prepared me for the immensity of this place! Holy shit I think an Arena Football team could comfortably play in this place with room to spare for some IceCapades. We got our pencil and paper from the first kiosk and set out on a mission.
I was really only there for the Detolf, but ended up buying a laptop stand, a coffee table, a computer desk, a new quilt and quilt cover, towel and toilet paper bars, all matching wooden hangers. Credit card no likey.
We get down to the warehouse area and I learned exactly why Ikea charges so much for shipping on certain items. The Detolf weighs 87 pounds! (Not to mention the coffee table that was over 100!) I'm pretty puny when it comes to heavy lifting, but after some profanity and enginuitive cart positioning we got it loaded up and on its way. I'm glad I had hernia repair surgery a couple years ago or this might have been trouble.
The next day was when I assembled said shelf (and coffee table from hell). I had to open the box in my car and carry up pieces individually. No way was that box getting upstairs by itself. Assembly is not so bad on these, just a little time consuming. As true with many Ikea items, you only need the little tools they include and maybe a Philips head screwdriver. I had a drill also to install the little light (called Non) on the top of the inside. I do however recommend two people. I built this alone and had to balance big panes of glass against the wall and play a pretty precarious balancing act while trying to get the top to fit down on the 3 sides. Would have been much easier with someone else to there helping.
The shelf is decently made. It makes a little noise when you open it thanks to the metal rack system installed that the shelves themselves rest on. That metal rack taps a little on the side glass when the door is opened. The door closes firmly thanks to magnets on the top and bottom, but they do not make it difficult to open the door.
It comes with a canvas strap that you can connect to the wall to keep it from tipping over, but I don’t find the shelf particularly top-heavy so I didn’t bother. If I had something heavy to put on the top shelf, this might be a concern, but hollow vinyl toys aren’t particularly weighty!
All said, I am very pleased with this shelf. It affords essentially 360 degrees of pure vinyl viewing pleasure. I can’t really see the back since it is against the wall, but 360 sounds a lot better than 270.
Well, I’ll shut up and show the photos of the shelf. FINALLY!
I am aiming for themed shelves here as you may see. I welcome any suggestions for different placement or additions that might fit my themes!!
These IWG Sasquatch and Yeti get top billing, as I used them when I proposed to my #1 lady. I'll have to write about that sometime. Yes, that is a packet of Taco Bell hot sauce behind the chainsaw. (I'll bet that is the first time in history that sentence has ever been typed). The packet says 'Will you marry me?' on the front.
The top shelf holds my monstrous beasts. If you can compose yourself and control your fear long enough, you will see that I like the blobby monsters best. A couple Gargamel minis snuck in also. These guys are all rather large so i cant fit too many in here. I'll have to reorganize I'm sure.... especially if a Bemon ever arrives! (hint hint!). I am still looking for a Gargamel Zagora also to tag team with my big ugly Zagora in the back right.
The second shelf holds what I find most dear I think... my wrestling themed vinyl toys! I've been a fan of pro wrestling for most of my life, so when I found out I can feed a toy addiction with cool wrestling themed figures I almost shat myself.
I have a couple vintage Tiger Mask toys in the back framed by the Kozik colorways of Tequila and El Panda. Love me some masked grapplers! A few Gargamel fight figures in the front, Amos Toys In-Crowd Wrestling Federation on the left, a luchador Dunny in front, a lucha Chicken Fever on the right that I resisted at first, and my Kinnikuman Skull Brain on the left in front. I have a few more Tiger Mask toys so I may have to change up this shelf at times.
The last shelf I have pictured are more humanoid monsters. I have some cool M1Go monsters in suits in the back... two of which were custom painted by Paul Kaiju. Matango are in front of them - I wrote of them earlier. I am building a Dada collection as you can see on the right. There is something I find very endearing about this character... not sure what it is. I even bought a couple Balzac toys to go along with them - the Dirty Skullman and the one with the horns. Keep your eyes out here for more Dada love in the near future.
And I have them all paying homage to Mr. Godzilla in the middle... the original kaiju!
And I have them all paying homage to Mr. Godzilla in the middle... the original kaiju!
On the bottom shelf I have some western vinyl toys that I have hung onto after the big purge to start kaiju collecting. I didn't take a photo of them... McSupersized, some OBEY stuff, and some Clockwork Orange Qee toys.
I'm trying to keep my collection in this one shelf. Don't know how long that will last, but I have definitely slowed my pace to more of a rounding off themes at this point. Part of my interest in collecting now in my life comes from fine tuning, rearranging, etc. But we'll see!
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