Collecting Funko Pops is one of the most addicting hobbies in the collectible industry. All you need to do is have your first pop; the rest will be history. You will soon realize you have successfully built up a sweet obsession.
So, making a display plan before getting stuck with too many boxes is quite important and makes life easier.
There is no “Perfect way” to display your funko pops. The total setup actually depends on the size of your collection, available space, whether the pops are in-box or out-of-box, the types of shelves you are using, and finally, getting imaginative on showcasing your whole collection.
Let me walk you through every possible step to take your display arrangements to a whole new level. I will divide the article into ideas for OOB and in-box collectors and also how you can organize them.
15 Creative Ways To Display & Organize Your Funko Pops
Before jumping into the details, I’d like to mention a thing or two about display ideas.
- The display ideas presented may not suit everyone’s specific needs or situations.
- If you have a kid or any pet (I’m talking about the naughty ones especially), you might want to build something above their reach, like floating shelves or a glass door.
- The type of display you choose may depend on the size of your collection.
- Floating shelves or baseball bat shelves are good for smaller, more selective collections.
- Larger collections might require more substantial wall-mounted shelving options.
In a nutshell, take your time and make the best out of all these options.
Display Ideas For In Box Collectors
If you are a Mint in Box Funko collector like me, then the options are a little bit limited than out of box. It’s simply because boxes take up more space than the figure itself.
These are the few best options for displaying in-box funko pops, in my opinion.
1. Detolf Display Glass Cabinets
Perfect for your exclusive pops and an excellent fit for both in-box and oob. You can also mix up your collection with oob and in-box due to having enough space.
If you are a Blacklight fan or have a fair amount of glow-in-the-dark collection, glass door shelves will serve you pretty well.
But keep in mind that although detolf cabinets are very sturdy, unlike regular shelves, you don’t want to keep too many heavy figures. You can also use some risers inside to stack them up to make it more organised.
I believe you can easily find them on Ikea, Amazon, Walmart or even Etsy.
Organizing Tips for Detolf Cabinets:
- Categorize Your Collection by Theme:
- Consider dedicating each shelf in your Detolf cabinet to a particular series or theme. Whether it’s Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Marvel Avengers, or Disney lineups, themed shelves make your collection more visually appealing and easier to navigate.
- Use Acrylic Risers:
- Maximize the vertical space in your cabinet by using acrylic risers. These risers let you stack Pops tiered, making it easier to see each figure while using space efficiently.
- Keep Boxes Out:
- While keeping Pops in their boxes can protect them, they can also take up a lot of space and make the display look cramped. Go for an out-of-box display to show off the full details of each figure. Store the boxes safely if you still want to keep them.
- Get Creative with Scenes:
- Use out-of-box figures to create mini movie or comic scenes within your cabinet. This adds a dynamic element to your display and can be a fun project to work on.
- LED Lighting:
- If your Detolf cabinet lacks built-in lighting, consider installing LED strips along the sides or under each shelf. The lights add ambience and make the colours and details of your Pops pop even more!
- Unique Backgrounds:
- Consider adding thematic backgrounds behind each shelf to make your display stand out even more. Whether it’s a galaxy backdrop for a Star Wars shelf or a medieval castle for a Game of Thrones set-up, a background can add an extra layer of immersion to your display.
2. Book or DVD Shelves
Old school big shelves to keep book and DVD collections, basically. It is especially good for displaying the in-box pops. But I don’t want to recommend it if the cabinet space is too deep inside.
What’s the point of keeping your pops hiding behind other pops if you really wanna show it off, right?
However, Amazon does have something that’s kind of shallow and multi-storied. As far as I know, they are called storage tower cabinets or something like that.
These shelves are most popular among prominent collectors because they’re cost-effective, and you can fit many different collectibles besides your funko pops.
They also fit perfectly across each cabinet or shelf room. It’s like 6×6 in most cases if you don’t use hard funko cases. You can also use the top space as well.
However, you might see some bowing down or curve down over time in the middle of the racks of the cabinets over time. I’m talking about the cheap ones here.
Now that so many of them are in the market, you have to choose them wisely according to your budget and space.
Tips For Organizing :
There could be a lot of varieties of bookshelves out there. Some may be taller than others; some may be gigantic with lots of cabinets or whatever.
But the looks are pretty much the same for all: boring (lol). Yeah, although they are super effective for holding a lot of pops, they can be pretty dull if you stack and build a random pile.
So try to be a bit creative.
- Choose the Right Depth:
- Look for shelves that aren’t too deep, so your Pops aren’t hidden behind each other. Shallow, multi-storied options like storage tower cabinets from Amazon are a good choice.
- Maximize Space with Out-of-Box Display:
- Take your Pops out of their boxes and use the boxes as risers. Place the Pops in front of their original boxes and turn sideways to maximize visibility.
- Category Sorting:
- Keep your collection organized by sorting Pops into specific lineups or themes. This helps prevent your collection from becoming an unmanageable mess as it grows.
- Acrylic Risers as an Option:
- If you opt for acrylic risers, you’ll need to find another place to store your boxes unless you don’t care about keeping them. Risers can help elevate back rows, making your collection more visible.
- Utilize Top Space:
- Don’t forget about the top of the shelf. You can use that extra space for more Pops or other collectibles.
- Beware of Bowing:
- Watch out for cheaper shelves that might bow or curve down in the middle over time. This could potentially damage your collection.
- Space Considerations:
- A typical bookshelf should hold at least a 6×6 arrangement of in-box Pops. If you place the boxes sideways, you can fit even more.
- Light It Up:
- Consider adding LED lighting, especially if you’re using acrylic risers. The light can make the colours and details of your Pops stand out, making the whole display more eye-catching.
- Don’t Sacrifice Aesthetics:
- Bookshelves may be practical, but they can also be boring. Get creative with your display to give it a unique flair and make it more visually engaging.
3. Floating Shelves or Wall shelf (Big)
Big floating shelves are another popular display option among collectors, specifically for in-box pop collectors.
Basically, these shelves come up without a bracket that kind of looks like it’s floating when attached to the wall. Which means they are not as strong as the ones with brackets.
So, you’d have to be careful while putting stuff on them. Don’t go too heavy unless you install some extra brackets. I always use brackets for extra safety.
However, floating shelves are relatively cheaper and look much cleaner if you install and arrange your pops in order.
Again, there are many in the market, and you have to check the quality before getting one for you. All I am giving here is some options and ideas.
How to Organize:
- Shelf Placement and Stacking
- Mount your shelf in a location that offers unobstructed visibility of your collection.
- Stacking boxes is a great strategy for large floating shelves.
- For larger shelves, consider two or three-storied stacks, though two is the recommended maximum per shelf.
- Size and Positioning
- Place your 10 or 6-inch Pops at both corners of the shelf.
- Keep the regular 4-inch Pops in the middle.
- If using multiple medium-sized shelves, position the larger Pops on the top shelf.
- Design and Aesthetics
- Consider building multiple shelf stacks rather than stacking the Pops themselves.
- Divide the shelf into two or three horizontal sections.
- Enhance the display with LED lights.
You can also place your Pops in front of their respective boxes. If your collection is growing fast, don’t cram everything onto a single shelf—build multiple shelves instead.
4. Funko 8 pop display cabinets:
Alright, I was actually waiting to talk about this one. So, funko actually made it after collectors leaned over “Michael’s baseball bat display”.
It’s a pretty much same-looking display case, but what makes them stand out is the fact that they are specially made for in-box Funko pop collectors. Whereas the Baseball bat display is a great fit for out of box collectors.
But to be honest, funko knows how to add more to the idea. Unlike the Michaels one, you can now really put 8 of your in-box pops inside, and they will fit perfectly.
However, the best way to use this display is to showcase your soda figures (if you are a soda collector). You can put the Chase sodas inside and use the top surface to place the soda cans close to each figure.
Trust me, this is much better than the baseball bat display. But the only downside is that they’re not always on Funko’s official site.
Nonetheless, it is by far the complete display cabinet for showing off your special vaulted, rare, chase, or anything exclusive.
The display case looks best when hanged on the wall.
5. Display vault by Vaulted-vinyl
Display vault is a super cool, unique, and premium wall-mounted display case. If you are not worried about spending money, this could be your go-to option for displaying your favourite pops in-box.
They are very solid and perfectly built, solely focused on collectors showing off their favourite pop collections.
I really like the fact that they made the space for our hard cases, too. You can fit in exactly 9 in boxed hard case pops in them.
If you have a lot of exclusive, vaulted, or super rare pops, you might wanna consider getting a few of them.
Basically, they have three different types.
- The display vault air- Holds up to 9 Pops.
- The display vault- Holds three pops.
- The display vault XL- Holds six pops.
You can get the 6-pack of display vault air that’ll give you the option to display 54 pops.
6. DisplayGeek Funko Pop Shelves
The only reason I mentioned them is because Display Geek literally built them for in-box funko pop collectors. They do look like the common shelves, but you may not need a huge bookshelf.
Display Geek has all kinds of stuff related to funko pop and display. Categories start from soda protectors to display shelves to backgrounds. So yeah, it’s definitely worth checking.
Now for the shelves, the most popular ones are the 3-pack and 9-pack display shelves. Depending on your situation, you can mount them to your wall or leave them on the ground like your bedside table.
For Out of Box Collectors
Now, let’s talk about ideas for our out-of-the-box pop collectors. I have one little advice for you in this case: no matter if you are an out-of-box collector, please try to store your boxes somewhere safe.
Here is my guide on how you can store your pop boxes safely.
You will need them in future for so many different reasons.
1. Baseball Bat Display From Michaels
Starting with one of the most popular display choices nowadays- the Baseball Bat Display Case. A great option for out-of-box pops, depending on their sizes.
Although they started to advertise them as collectible displays after the massive popularity among collectors, you have to be thoughtful before purchasing. There are lots of pops that are longer than 3.75″ or regular sizes.
Like DBZ super Saiyan pops that have very long upward hair and stuff like that. Apart from that, if you take Star Wars, for example, they also have a base underneath, making it difficult to fit in.
That’s why I would say mystery minis and regular-sized pops are the best options to display here imho.
So, the downside of these displays, as I stated, is they can only contain oob regular size pops. No sodas, in-box or large pops. Except for that, man, they are so cool.
Tips For Organizing:
With this type of display, you don’t really have to worry much about sorting or organizing your collectibles. They are a compact display solution.
You can fit up to almost 14 out-of-box regular pops inside. Not an option for in-box display or even sodas. But you can use the top part for displaying your sodas or in-box funkos.
Sodas look perfect to me for their size. However, you can fit your Empty boxes up there if placed sideways.
Get a few of them and mix them up with your floating shelves. Use the centre part of your wall for a baseball bat display and build a stack of medium-sized floating shelves on both sides.
They’ll look awesome.
You can also keep your PC or laptop right under the baseball bat case and make a cool workstation. Hope you are getting the idea.
2. Mini Floating Shelf
Same thing as a floating shelf, but smaller in size. So, only for displaying your oob figures. They are super cute compared to the bigger ones.
It’s basically one shelf or stand per pop. Best for collectors with a small oob collection and no plan to make it any bigger. Suppose you only needed 10 to 15 Game of Thrones, and that’s it. You are not gonna build a shelf for that, right? I mean, you don’t have to.
So get these mini shelves and try to make a shape or design while mounting them. I’ve seen some super cute hexagonal mini shelves on Amazon and eBay. Also, if I’m not wrong, there is a site called superheroediy.com that has some cool stuff for us collectors.
Amazon has one acrylic shelf called Plexiglass shelf. They fit perfectly with or without hardcovers.
Organising tips:
You only can place one pop per stand. So there isn’t much to talk about. You will eventually know what to do once you get one to be honest.
As they are meant to be floated, mounting them on the wall is the only option to place the stands.
3. Michael’s football helmet display case:
Again, Michaels tweaked their strategy for this particular display case, too. They used to make them for displaying football helmets.
Later, they added a little riser and LED lights and advertised them as collectible displays. Very clever strategy indeed.
They are approximately 38.1 x 25.4 x 24.1 cm in diameter. So, you can easily fit the boxed pops, but only for three.
Whereas you can fit up to 8-10 regular-sized oob pops without any problem.
It is a bit expensive compared to how many funko pops you can fit inside. But not all the collectors are brokey like me (lol).
So, if you choose quality over quantity, it’s a great display case to have.
4. Shot Glass Display Cabinet
Another cool solution for funko lovers. This can be a great alternative option to a baseball bat case.
The first drawback again is that you can’t insert boxes there. Another one is the framing around the door, which takes up a lot of visual space.
But the good thing is that you can easily fit your oob sodas inside, unlike the baseball bat case. However, both of them are great options for oob collectors if you want your figurines to be behind glasses.
Organizing Tips
Just ensure they are hung in the centre of your room or somewhere focused because you will want to showcase your best ones here.
I don’t think you will have space to put the boxes, but you can definitely do soda cans.
5. Spice Racks
A spice rack is a creative display idea you can come up with if you don’t want to use your pop boxes as risers. There are so many types and materials online. Options are pretty vast.
One good option is, as always, Amazon. Just head over there and search for a spice rack. You will find a lot of racks that look like funko risers. Pick one that you think fits you best.
Organising tips:
Instead of using the boxes as risers, you can actually use spice racks. You can place them inside your glass cabinets or completely separate.
The only problem is you have to find another way to store your boxes, then.
6. Pegboards:
I guess you may have heard about pegboards already. They are basically tool holders.
If you could somehow manage to hang up your pops instead of the tools, this can be a cool display for showcasing out-of-the-box pops if you know how to do it.
Organise:
Think of the small floating shelves. You can make your own using pegboards. I have seen people posting their photos on social media, and they do look awesome. It’s the best DIY display idea to me so far.
Things you will need are-
- Pegboards,
- fine thread drywall screws,
- acrylic sheets,
- pegboard hooks,
- led light strips.
The size will depend on your space. If you have a big wall, you can go for 4 or 5 of those pegboards, which are between 10 to 15 inches in diameter.
Cut the acrylic sheet into pieces that are enough to hold a single pop unless you want your pops boxed. Place the hook and acrylic stands as needed into the pegboard.
I am not giving any written tutorial here, but ideas. You can manage the rest according to the instruction book that comes with the pegboard.
7. Multi Steps Acrylic Riser
Another great option for showing off your oob figures. If you could search Amazon for acrylic pop shelves, you would find a broad range of options to choose from.
They are also cheap and strong enough to hold the weight of your 6-inch pops.
People mostly use them inside the shelf or glass cabinets as a riser. So they are not solely a display but play a great supportive role to display.
8. Moving display disc:
I hope you’ll agree with me on this one. And I guess you’ve already seen live auctions on whatnot and Marcari where the pop stays on a stand that keeps rotating. You can do something similar for your most valuable pop.
It is very popular among sellers to display their on-sale pops and make them as lucrative as possible. But you don’t have to be one to use them.
So try adding one if you want to take it to a different level.
9. Hexagon Ledge Wood grain:
Another cool-looking display mini floating stand for displaying your oob pops. It’s a hexagonal-shaped wall mount with small cabinets.
They are similar to small floating shelves but way more cute and clean. Very easy to set up and attach to the wall.
You can also add some LED lights to make it give it an exceptional look in the dark.
Organise tips:
You don’t need to do much as it’s a two- or three-step setup with only one stand per pop.
So focus on sorting what pop you want to display there.
Additional Display Tips For New Collectors
Now that I’ve talked about the possible best options for display shelves and cabinets and how to organise your pops, it’s time for some essential notes.
These are some basic yet crucial advice you need to consider no matter what option you choose for your display if you seriously want your display to look flawless.
Remember, you may have the best display case out there, but it can take its beauty out if you don’t organise it properly.
1. Make a Custom Scene:
Out-of-box collectors can build a miniature set to make a custom scene like the Legos. Though you will spend a chunky amount of time, trust me, you will have something most collectors don’t have.
Get some backgrounds from displayGeek. Use some fake colourful trees in the background to make it more vibrant.
2. Shelf position to eye level:
Try positioning your floating shelves or those baseball bat displays to your eye level. Where you can easily spot the box or oob clearly. Don’t put it too high or low. It will not make sense.
3. Similar quality protectors
Try to buy the same quality pop protectors if you are building a stack to make the lines even and flat. Wobbly stacks are dangerous. I think it goes back to point number one.
Even if you do, make sure you use .50 mm soft protectors that are thick enough to carry the weight without damaging your pops.
4. In-Built Led Lights
Try to buy displays with in-built LED lights or add some on your own. This makes a huge difference and impacts your feeling about your collection.
5. Make a Pattern/Design
As I mentioned earlier, make a pattern like a hexagonal, circle or something enjoyable if you are going with a floating shelf. Try putting not more than two pops side by side and your main character right in the middle.
I’m talking about if you are displaying a particular series like Star Wars Mandalorian, Captain America Civil War, etc. It looks very clean and noticeable.
Otherwise, it’s just another boring and regular display shelf.
6. Box Position
If you are thinking of keeping your pops oob and storing the boxes as well, place your box sideways and put the pop in front of the related box.
7. Keep it nice and clean
Keep the display area as clean and open as you can so there is no chance of a collision that might damage your collection. Try to avoid putting other objects near them.
8. Pop Placement
Place your pops evenly diagonal instead of the common “facing straight” position while displaying them if you have a lot of room. It looks so cool. Here is a photo to help you understand.
9. Avoid Pop Wall
Please stay out of building massive Pop walls. I’ve seen this many times that collectors ignore the potential damage to their boxes. It also looks very poor too.
10. Background Color
Focus on the background colour. Funko Pop looks great, depending on what you have in the background. Try to make it colourful if possible instead of just a white or cream-coloured wall.
11. Repurpose
Lastly, I would say repurpose something that wasn’t meant for funko display. Mix it up and come up with your own cool idea. Coordination is the key to making it look beautiful and satisfying.
12. Sunlight
Direct sunlight will fade the colour of the box. So, build your display inside a room without direct access to sunlight.
Use your space wisely. Try to create your unique design while sorting and placing the funkos.
Please feel free to share your display pictures to getintouch@popnculture.com if you wish to. I will feature them in my upcoming posts.
Let me know anything I can help you with, any questions or suggestions on funko pops. I care for every comment or email my audience sends me.
Till then, Happy Collecting!