Storing Toys

[Old Man]

So, my wife is complaining about all the Yamato boxes I have laying around the house. I have display space for most of my collection, but not all of it, and I'd like to keep their boxes around and in good shape. I have a nice storage shed out back, but I'm worried about the extreme heat in the summer (95-100°+) and the cold during winter (in the 30°s) here in Northern California. Has anyone had experience storing their toys in these types of conditions? Would my collection be okay (the toys and their decals), or should I look for a climate controlled storage unit elsewhere? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[caslon]

I think the decals will be fine with it if you've sticked them on the toys firmly, and I think that it's not necessary to have a climate controlled storage for storing the toys.

[alchemo]

I do suggest that you keep them in a place where temperature will not be so too extreme, as all plastics may become crispy or yellow due to the heat.

And if you have them on display it would be better if you rotate them once in a while and avoid direct sunlight or other light source with a lot of UV.

[Isamu Dyson]

I totally agree with Alchemo's points. Climate control is best and stored preferably in a dark area such as a closet or in this case a walk in closet if you have one. Also purchase large plastic bins to store them. If you store them in normal cardboard boxes in a span of 5-10 years they may deteriorate the Yamato boxes too due to some acidic issue with aging cardboards. I don't know the specific scientic reasoning but I remember my comic collecting days with this issue from the cardboard backings. I had to purchase acidic free comic cardboard backings to prevent damage to my comics. In terms of climate control - If you are comfortable so will your yammies. If you will freeze or sweat to death so shall your yammies.

Call or Fold - up to you my friend.

Cheers

[RT junkie]

I've got plenty of room at my house - send 'em on over

Personally, I would keep them at room temp, and as Isamu stated, out of the sunlight. If you got a sizeable collection, you're talking about thousands of dollars of plastic that will be worth little to mothing if the plastic deteriorates from UV or temperature induced embrittlement.

Just stuff them under your bed, the back of the linen closet, behind the couch, etc.

[VF-18S Hornet]

most of my 1/48's are boxed and under my bed and closet. some of the boxes for my 1/60's are empty and are boxed in the shed in my back yard and in the basement.

[Old Man]

Thanks for all the sound advice, guys! I think I'm gonna do what you suggested and keep them stored inside. I'll just consolidate everything into nice, neat storage bins and try to keep them outta the wife's way .

Edited September 7, 2011 by Old Man

[ae_productions]

To "hide" those giant 1:48 scale boxes, try some of the following:

Put them behind a bookshelf. Or Behind the fancy head board of the bed, or even under the bed.

In the hall closet. In the back. The wife's jackets should hide them perfectly.

In the pantry in the kitchen. Behind the food. No one will even know.

[Kicker773]

I keep my army in cryogenic state... Keep them well preserved and ready for battle. LOL

Auto AC is on in the Mac Room... keeps my babies..chilled and feeling cool..

[caslon]

I keep my army in cryogenic state... Keep them well preserved and ready for battle. LOL

Auto AC is on in the Mac Room... keeps my babies..chilled and feeling cool..

I'm glad that your macross troops are so well protected by transparent glass shell..all bullet proof! haha!!

[Tking22]

I fortunately have a walk-in closet in my guest room, and please believe that bitch is filled to the top with tons of different sized boxes. As some have said already, before I moved to my new apartment and had more room, I stored as much as I could under my bed, 1/48 boxes fit perfectly under my bed frame.

[MacrossJunkie]

I have a walk in closet in my study that I use to store my boxes as well. For the Yamato stuff, I just take out the cardboard inserts and the plastic trays, then collapse the boxes and cardboard inserts and stack them. I put the plastic trays in a separate stack which can be made into a much shorter stack than unflattened boxes. Seems to save a lot more space this way. Can't do this with the Bandai packaging though since they use styrofoam trays =(

[Scyla]

Sorry for reviving an old topic but I have a short question that goes in the same direction (storing toys) but doesn't has enough meat for its own thread.

So I have a few Robot Damashii and S.H.Figuarts toys. Depending on the toy they come with lots of accessories that are stored in clamp shells who are a pain to open. Since those toys are my desk play figures I decided to free all the parts from their prison and store them in a box under my desk in small zip lock bags. As I said I play a lot with these toys so I'm not to worried about paint scratches, scuff marks or wear (nevertheless I'm sad when stuff like this happens) because sooner or later this will happen anyway.

Now to my question. I was thinking if I could store the extra parts of my Yamato/Arcadia/Bandai collector toys the same way. Now they are stored in their slots or bags they come with put away in their boxes and put away in the storage room. So every time I have the urge to transform the armored VF-25S I need to get into the storage compartment find the box, open the box and fetch the small bar the keeps the legs together.

Because they are collector toys I fear any kind of damage to the parts. An example: I think problematic are the small bits you replace for the shoulder missile pods on the Renewal VF-25s. They have tampon printed detail that might be scratched when stored together with the big stand pieces or are stored together with other bags in a box. I also think white parts might yellow when they stored in a sealed bag.

So I want to ask if you have any experience with storing that parts or have an opinion on the solution with the zip lock bags.

Thanks in advance.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Scyla

[Shukenzero]

From my experience the parts yellow over time anyway, as there's very little you can do to prevent it. My v1 25f went yellow after a few years in parts.

As for the tampo printing, those things scratch super easy. Use bubble wrap for each section and that should solve your problem. I bubble wrap most of my other figures when I box them together and it seems to do the trick.

[Bahamutzyro]

i usually tuck ll mine in at night when its cold and they share my bed. my wife has to sleep in living room.