What makes a collection display really wow you?

[Hammerfestus | 3,817]

I’d like to hear what elements in a collection display really make them stand out for you?  What makes you stop and say whoa?  I’m sure it’s multiple things, but I guess choose the most integral part.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Hammerfestus

[Brickman | 3,975]

I went with nice shelving but I’d also vote a few things.

I like when I see custom shelving or something that isn’t IKEA Billy’s lined up. Also love when lighting is added to the room/shelves and has some nice figures to go along with the collection.

[LutherDestroysTheGond | 690]

I think lighting and unique organization/shelving done right are very cool because I am not creative with anything so when people are it impresses me.  However, I ended up voting for big things like arcade cabs since I would love to own one/some but probably never will due to space constraints and budget

[Tanooki | 4,929]

If something like this with gaming were to at all wow me, it would be uniquely organized.  And in that way I mean they need to have a quite large space, many display cases, and have it laid out like you're walking into a museum exhibit where some things you can touch, many are behind glass for good reason you can not.  Otherwise no matter how cluttered or not, organized or not, stacked and packed it won't wow me other than the initial 'damn that's a lot of stuff' moment.

[mrbogus | 21]

Rare stuff and arcade cabs grab my attention. Things I have little of.

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

As of right now I am planning out the layout for my dream "game room/office" space. It will be the main hub for my graded video games and obscure/unique collectibles. But it will also be where I will run my business (that I am working on starting) as well. So when it comes to both shelving and the way I display my stuff "narration" is the key.

The problem with this is that not many have given me that "Wow!" factor when it comes to nice shelving or unique displays. And the very few who have often kept their simple enough to have me hope I can do the same. But they often end up collecting games and accessories that are well beyond my limited budget. So I try to find an alternative to what they have accomplished whenever, if ever, it is possible. So that is a double-edged sword for me.

Plus having arcade cabinets tend to be cool. Especially when it comes to Nintendo's "Vs." cabinets, which I have not seen one in person since around 1987. But even then I find myself wanting one of the Mario Kart arcade cabinets. 

But by the end of the day most obscure/rare collectibles are what gives me that "Wow!" factor. I mean the "Roto trilogy" portion of the Dragon Quest gallery I visited (in Nagoya of all places) was more impressive than the majority of this event for me (as it was my 2018 Valentine's Day event). Because that pretty much showed stuff I may never get to see again. Not even variations that are deemed official/authentic in the end. (Here is a link to the second half.)

In the end, I will always be more impressed with a smaller collection that includes well displayed rare/obscure collectibles than a large one that feels no different than any other. No matter how 'unique' that display looks. 

[BortLicensePlate | 652]

I'm not really into sheer volume myself, I get a lot of people like that and thats great for them. For me, I'd rather have a small selection of my favorite titles displayed in a unique way. So between lighting, custom shelving and how the items are organized. You can definitely do some cool stuff with a little lighting 

[Hammerfestus | 3,817]

I went with shelving.  Always jealous of the dudes with the cool custom shelves and stuff.  I think nice lighting is important too to really accent them.   I was always a big fan of @NintendoTwizer ‘s work.  
After that I’d say arcade cabs and pinball tables really make me stop and look.  I think that twinkling, arcadey look really sets off a mountain of games nicely.  I’m fairly certain mildly hopeful that as the kids get older I’ll be able to convince my wife to let me get a MAME cabinet.
 

[a3quit4s | 4,090]

I went with shelving as well, nothing stand out better that a nice and neat collection. It’s really everything as a whole but shelving really sets the tone for how a collection is displayed and perceived. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

I love nice shelving and a really clean look, but I also like huge collections. It's a little hard to reconcile the two since clutter kills it for me. Displaying your collection nicely is quite a challenge.

[Galdius | 1,507]

I went with nice shelving. I still love the shelves that are on my father's apartment. They are custom built with nice lighting and fit a lot of games. But if one day I'll go back to that apartment I'll redo the shelves to try and fit more games and do something even better with the lighting.

[spacepup | 2,404]

I enjoy most just seeing collections that are unique or different in some way.  I mean, don't get me wrong, the clean, beautiful, well organized huge collections are certainly very nice and a great accomplishment / a lot of work, but I love seeing a collection that is special or unique in some way.  

Maybe it's hybrid with his error/misprint collection.  Or someone with a bunch of really unique imports.  I just love seeing the different interests people have and I like talking about what makes their collection different from everyone else.  

In terms of display, I also like seeing really creative storage / display solutions.  Again, pretty shelves and custom shelving is always really nice, but I love to see really unique and creative organization and display.

I think what is probably most displeasing to the eye, personally, is the gameroom that is literally wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, overwhelmed with figures and posters, to the point that every square inch of surface is covered in something gaming.  If that's your setup - no offense or anything, it just feels very overwhelming to me, hah!

[sp1nz | 610]

My vote is for "other".

 

My favorite is when someone is passionate about a game series and has shrine(s) / dedicated space(s) filled with all kinds of goodies. A great dedicated space can include most of the voting categories too or possibly goes into the "unique organization" category. Then again organization alone doesn't mean you'd be knee-deep into collecting a game franchise.

[DefaultGen | 5,387]

Both rare stuff and volume. People who have 1000s of CIB games with cardboard boxes and don't skip the expensive stuff. I don't know how they do it. I mean, I know how they do it, they built their collections 10+ years ago, but still. Disc games kind of do nothing for me, that's why I kind of shrug at that Guinness guy's collection. It's enormous but it feels "easy" to have 10,000 disc games.

Edited December 29, 2020 by DefaultGen

[MrWunderful | 2,926]

Clean and organized. 
Consoles set up, easy to play. 
 

I also prefer just games and hardware- not A fan of a million little figures/toys/any little thing that says “nintendo” on it. 
 

A few curated valuable pieces, sure. But 50 keychains? No thanks. 

[GPX | 1,368]

I honestly think it’s a little bit of everything in the poll. But ultimately, what impresses me is that both the collection and the display setup is unique and not seen elsewhere. I’m particularly impressed with collections that take time to accumulate, and not something that you can simply buy overnight with a drunken $10,000 spending frenzy on eBay.

[T-Pac | 7,510]

1 hour ago, MrWunderful said:

Clean and organized. 
Consoles set up, easy to play. 
 

I also prefer just games and hardware- not A fan of a million little figures/toys/any little thing that says “nintendo” on it. 
 

A few curated valuable pieces, sure. But 50 keychains? No thanks. 

I couldn't agree more.

It's great to see sleek, streamlined organization of both the game collection as well as the console setup.

And I appreciate that people enjoy their keychains and plushies and stuff, but it can easily become clutter.

-CasualCart

[Reed Rothchild | 9,503]

Shelving and volume.  That's just me though.  

I'm not into kiosks, or plushies, or super rare Wiffleball games. 

But someone has every single Squaresoft game lined up nicely on a shelf?  I'm jelly.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

It really depends.

For example, I hate when I see people stack console boxes. But when I see people collect console box variations and have a multitude of them it looks like a store presentation and looks nice.

In general, I like curated collections. A shelf full of the same 677 NES CIBs on their side is boring. But organize them by publisher it becomes interesting.

Edited December 29, 2020 by ThePhleo

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

I love uniformity.  Quantity doesn't need to be massive.  I value quality games over sheer volume.  But the pick of jelly is when it's pick any game and within the pick button or two pressed you can play the game on a big TV.  

Though on day I will make my self and arcade machine.  I freaking love those things.  I honestly think my first project will be a bar top arcade machine that I'll donate to my local American Legion that I'm a member of.  As a kid growing up they had pho arcade machines that there actually video poker/slot machines.  I'm SURE they won't mind unlicensed usage of games.  At least the Cops won't mind unlike the slot machines. 

But I'm big on cleanliness, organization, quality of games, and ease to play them.  Think nice home theater but with video games instead of movies.

[The Count | 526]

Obscure/Rare Items gets my vote. I've been collecting for a long time, so I enjoy seeing stuff I haven't seen before or seen very few of. 

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

For me it's rarity. If I saw a wall of Little Samsons I would yawn, but if I saw a single Mahjong for NES I would go ballistic. I have some rare items in my collection but one of the pieces I'm most excited to show people is my Malagai and Gauntlet for Atari 2600.......2 games people have never heard of.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

For me it's all about theme.  Anyone can have a bagillion games from atari to PS5 all lined up on fifteen billies, and it seems that's all I ever see; but when someone posts, say, a Wizardry collection with every single thing in a glass case being Wizardry-related, that just looks bad-ass to me.  Or maybe a case full of every Virtual Boy item ever made - or whatever; it doesn't even matter what it is really, as long as it's a solid theme displayed well with all items relating to that theme, I'm sold.

My ultimate theme would be a huge NES Test launch display using all original items, but I'll have to forever live vicariously through the small handful of people who already own those original 1985 retail items that are still extant...

[attakid101 | 267]

You should include signs and displays in the poll

[Hammerfestus | 3,817]

2 minutes ago, attakid101 said:

You should include signs and displays in the poll

Done.