Action Figure Displays! The Name Says It All

Do you ever get tired of shooting photos of your figures against blank backgrounds? Want to spruce up your display shelves but don’t have the time to build a fancy diorama or even have the space for one? Well Action Figure Displays! by JDPDesigns may have the answer to this dilemma.

Action Figure Displays!, or AFD for short, is the brainchild of co-founders Jeff and Dan Phillips, two rabid action figure collectors that wanted find a way to add some pizzazz to their shelves and ended up creating a company.

In the past we found that toys in advertisements were brought to life through detailed backgrounds, 3-dimensional sets, and dramatic lighting. Without these things, the toys you brought home never had the same impact or presentation. What our toys needed was some sort of themed environment. We searched in stores, online, and in catalogs and found that no one was offering themed displays that would accommodate many different types of toys.

So we took matters into our own hands and decided to create our own action figure display. The display we built dramatically enhanced the action figure and helped create a world for that figure to live in. Because our display worked so well, we started to think about other versions we could make for the rest of our toys. That’s when we started thinking…if we wanted themed displays for our toys, then so would other toy collectors. And the idea for Action Figure Displays™ was born.

Currently AFD have 2 series of displays available for order on their web site with themes for sports, sci-fi, horror, anime, fantasy and good old super heroes. A 3rd series is planned for release very soon as well.

I didn’t know what to expect when I received the 2 displays from AFD that I’m reviewing, but when I opened the shipping case I was blown away by the very clean and professional packaging that the displays came in.  The displays were very securely packed to protect against damage that could be caused by the rigors of shipping and came with a beautifully designed instruction card with step by step details for assembling the displays. Also included were an AFD sticker and 2 cards for documenting info about figures in permanent displays.

The displays are 13.5 inches wide x 10.5 inches high x 7.75 inches deep with rubber bumpers on the bottom panel which help keep the display from sliding around on your shelf. As for the construction, Jeff and Dan explain it best:

… our displays are created using Gatorboard which is an extruded polystyrene foam board bonded between two layers of wood-fiber veneers. This makes our displays strong and durable, yet keeps them light-weight.

And they are indeed very light-weight, and at the same time, heavy duty feeling. You’d have to really put some effort into it to damage an AFD display. Another thing I like is that the displays are made in the USA. Something very rare in the toy industry these days.

Destroyed City

AFD’s Destroyed City display from Series 2 is just what you’d expect, a city that’s under attack and gettin’ ripped up! It’s a fantastic looking backdrop filled with destruction and chaos that makes it perfect to use with figures such as invading aliens, rampaging monsters, insane cyborgs and super-powered metas that’re whuppin’ on each other. The perspective is great and the picture has a nice 3-D quality.

City

AFD’s City display from Series 1 is beautiful nighttime rooftop scene with a hazy city background illuminated by a full moon. Being a big fan of Batman, this one really appealed to me. I love the sombre mood it evokes. Perfect for figures of characters that do their business after dark.

I’m very impressed with the high quality of these displays and I expect to get a lot of use out of them. I had so much fun shooting the pics for this review that I completely lost track of time and was amazed that 2 and a half hours had passed.

Now I gotta decide which display I’m going to get next!