Our little tale starts with THIS display shelf / case! (Hopefully, you-- My faithful readers of this here blog, will recall it from pics in earlier posts!)----
Originally, the case shown above -- was a neat-o-nifty item! I found this thing at a 'going-out-of-business' sale, when an old jewelry store here in Bristow was calling it quits. That was nearly 20 years ago!
It's served well over the years, so what eventually happened with it, is NOT something I can moan or complain about! It's kept most of the dust and crud off a good chunk of my 'Batman / Superman' figures, for quite a span of time!
But, time--- is what REALLY took it's toll on the 'ol display case! Taking it apart for a couple of major moves, opening and closing it ---- countless times!--- for shuffling / rearranging stuff. This eventually led to the wearing out of the hardware that holds the whole shebang together!
TWICE in the past month or two, I've dropped into the 'Crime-fighting headquarters / hide-out', and found the ENTIRE case LEANING--- dangerously close to falling over! After all, it IS simply 5 glass panels, held together by simple, L-shaped brackets--that tighten down with PLASTIC screws! (except the front panel, which uses 'hinges', screwed onto the glass the same way, so the case can be opened / closed)--- Those screws HAD to wear out sooner or later!
So--- this past week, the decision was made--- TOUGH as it was--- to retire the old case, once and for all, and replace it with something. Something that was BOTH practical, AND even MORE important--- FREE! (Hey, I'm not exactly a wealthy GEEK-A-ZOID!) My lovely, ever-so-patient spouse came up with the answer!
'Loyd', the woman-of-the-house said to me--- AGAIN, ever-so-patiently--- 'why don't you just utilize that old book case I snagged at that yard sale a year or two back? It's just sitting out in one of the barns, collecting dust!' That caused the little ten-watt light bulb to pop on in my brain! Why that's a GREAT IDEA! Of course it is!! It came from my wife!
With a little tinkering, I managed to move the shelves around, so the larger stuff in my little collection would fit. THIS is what it looked like this past Friday night, after I also added some scrap pieces of wood to it here and there, to strengthen the whole thing up, and enable me to mount glass to it's front!---
AND--- as of late Saturday afternoon, THIS is the state it was in. I painted it white on the inside, to make it MUCH easier to see all the items within (most of the other shelves / cases in my little hide-out were done this way---- in this most recent version of my little hide-out, that is!)---
As of yesterday afternoon, THIS is the end-result! I took my time, over the last few days--- placing EVERY figure from the old case (like it was MEANT to be--- they ALL fit perfectly!) into this one! AND--- part of the old case continues,after it's many years of faithful service, as part of this 'new' model--- the front glass is actually two panels from the old case!---
Pretty much a 'win-win' resolution, I think! A potential DISASTER was avoided, and all the 'Bats / Supes' figures are STILL protected from the dust / webs / funk, up in the 'ol man-cave! I'm one happy, all-the-way-shameless classic-pop-culture-GEEK-FREAK!
