Proper Action figure storage...

[TMNTChris1980]

Sorry for opening an old thread, but I'm going to be storing some of my figures away this week.

I'm currently waiting on a sample of a polypropylene Ultra Clear 12x15 bag from GTZip.com. I'm going to place all my figures inside of these bags and then place them inside of a sealed Rubbermaid bin.

I plan on storing them in a (New England) basement so temps and humidity levels will vary.

What are your thoughts on this?

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by TMNTChris1980

Sorry for opening an old thread, but I'm going to be storing some of my figures away this week.

I'm currently waiting on a sample of a polypropylene Ultra Clear 12x15 bag from GTZip.com. I'm going to place all my figures inside of these bags and then place them inside of a sealed Rubbermaid bin.

I plan on storing them in a (New England) basement so temps and humidity levels will vary.

What are your thoughts on this?

I think you want to make sure they are able to breathe to some extent. The temps in the basement will vary but not as extremely as an attic would. Just make sure you run a dehumidifier throughout the spring and summer, and probably into the early fall. I live in Cleveland, and if I didn't run a dehumidifier, I'd probably get some mold in my basement. This time of year I leave it on pretty much 24 hours a day at 50-55% humidity.

[TMNTChris1980]

Cool! Thanks for the advice!

[I Crave Pizza No More]

In general, I don't think you want any of your toys to be store in completely air-tight containers. How many figures do you have? I'm forced to use my attic, only because I have about 1,000 MOC figures and a few dozen Sideshow (not just the TMNT) boxes up there. I run a fan, have a few of the large Damp-Aid buckets up there to try to fight excess humidity, and generally try to make sure the temperature is decent. But unless you scrap your collection, want to store your collection in the main part of your house, or pay for climate-controlled storage, there's only so much you can do. I think taking preventative measures, checking in on things every so often so you can catch a problem if there is one, etc., is the best approach.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Some of my stuff is in tubs, others are up top my bedroom closet

[DonnieLaForge]

How I roll:

I use ziplock bags from the store. Quart sized bags fit most 6-7" scale figures. Gallon for the larger and snack-size for the smaller items (3.25", Hot Wheels, etc).

I use a metal paper punch and I stack up 8 bags at a time, or fold 4 in half, and punch a total of 6-8 holes down each side of the larger bags (3-4 on the snack). This makes the punch work better as it won't work at all on just one unfolded bag -- too thin and slick.

For accessories so small or thin they would fall through the holes, I put them in an un-punched snack bag and stick inside with the fig. Larger accessories I just put right with the fig.

Some plastics are ok without breathing for a year or two but in the long run it's surely bad for *all* of them if they can't. One thing that is very bad to seal off is any translucent DST minimates, they become tacky. Also, some figs/access will have rubbery material involved. If that can't breath it's usually the first thing to go bad -- it can become brittle, or, oily, from my experience.

Next is what type of tubs you store them in. I have both open-air tubs that act as drawers (these ones here, which stack up nice in the closet for a giant storage solution) and I also have some flat horizontal stacking tubs with loosely attaching lids. I would never put them in any snap-tight, air-tight type of tub+lid.

And finally is *how* you put them in the tubs. If you lay them all in there and pile them on top of each other, most likely they will press down on each other and end up blocking most/all of the airway holes you punched, defeating the purpose. Instead, I try and stand them upright, loosely packed together, and if the tub is tall enough, stand another layer upright on top of that layer as it fills up.

Sometimes I take an entire wave of figures and put them, bagged, inside another larger (1-2 gallon) hole-punched ziplock. When they are in there snug it can help to make sure there's an air path for all.

I just opened up a 2005 NECA Dr. Finklestein the other day (wow, old as this thread!). Correct me if I'm wrong but the NECA blister packaging doesn't seem to breath in any way. It's why we get that NECA smell. His arm joints disintegrated on first attempted movement. I'm blaming being unable to breathe for so long since the bubble didn't show UV damage. They gotta breathe!

[TurtleWA]

Originally Posted by DonnieLaForge

How I roll:

I use ziplock bags from the store. Quart sized bags fit most 6-7" scale figures. Gallon for the larger and snack-size for the smaller items (3.25", Hot Wheels, etc).

I use a metal paper punch and I stack up 8 bags at a time, or fold 4 in half, and punch a total of 6-8 holes down each side of the larger bags (3-4 on the snack). This makes the punch work better as it won't work at all on just one unfolded bag -- too thin and slick.

For accessories so small or thin they would fall through the holes, I put them in an un-punched snack bag and stick inside with the fig. Larger accessories I just put right with the fig.

Some plastics are ok without breathing for a year or two but in the long run it's surely bad for *all* of them if they can't. One thing that is very bad to seal off is any translucent DST minimates, they become tacky. Also, some figs/access will have rubbery material involved. If that can't breath it's usually the first thing to go bad -- it can become brittle, or, oily, from my experience.

Next is what type of tubs you store them in. I have both open-air tubs that act as drawers (these ones here, which stack up nice in the closet for a giant storage solution) and I also have some flat horizontal stacking tubs with loosely attaching lids. I would never put them in any snap-tight, air-tight type of tub+lid.

And finally is *how* you put them in the tubs. If you lay them all in there and pile them on top of each other, most likely they will press down on each other and end up blocking most/all of the airway holes you punched, defeating the purpose. Instead, I try and stand them upright, loosely packed together, and if the tub is tall enough, stand another layer upright on top of that layer as it fills up.

Sometimes I take an entire wave of figures and put them, bagged, inside another larger (1-2 gallon) hole-punched ziplock. When they are in there snug it can help to make sure there's an air path for all.

I just opened up a 2005 NECA Dr. Finklestein the other day (wow, old as this thread!). Correct me if I'm wrong but the NECA blister packaging doesn't seem to breath in any way. It's why we get that NECA smell. His arm joints disintegrated on first attempted movement. I'm blaming being unable to breathe for so long since the bubble didn't show UV damage. They gotta breathe!

As you say "They gotta breathe!"

Makes me wonder about all the MISB AFA graded stuff. Lots of money and who actually knows what's inside? Plus the stuff is only getting older.
Sad for the preservation factor of these great items that it is sometimes a mystery. Because who really knows how well it's being stored.