My Collection Is Part of the Space Where I Work
I spend a lot of time in my office. It is where I design websites, work on Jocoin Studios projects, plan new ideas, and also build things with my hands. Over time, the room has naturally become a reflection of the things I enjoy.
There are books, personal photographs, objects I have collected, sports memorabilia, creative tools, and pieces connected to different parts of my life. My action figures belong in that space too.
But I have never been particularly interested in filling an entire wall with rows and rows of figures. I prefer giving a few of them their own environment.
Why I Prefer Displaying Figures with Dioramas
For me, a diorama changes the way an action figure feels in a room.
A figure standing by itself on a shelf is still a collectible. Once I place it inside an environment with brick walls, a street, a warehouse or another architectural setting, it becomes something closer to a small scene.
That is what I enjoy about displaying action figures with dioramas. The figure is still important, but the environment gives it context and makes the complete piece part of the decoration of the room.
I especially like brick construction and urban architecture, which is one of the reasons those elements appear frequently in the dioramas I build.
I Don’t Need to Display Everything at Once
One thing I have learned as a collector is that I don’t need every figure I own to be visible at the same time.
I would rather dedicate a particular area to one environment and a few figures that work well with it. That keeps my office from feeling like storage for a collection and allows the display itself to have more presence.
It also means I can change that area over time. A different figure, lighting setup or environment can completely change the character of the same corner of the room.
Why 1:12 Scale Works for Me
Most of the dioramas I enjoy building are around 1:12 scale. For my space, it is a good balance.
It is large enough that I can work on brick textures, doors, floors, graffiti, weathering and small architectural details, but it is still a manageable size for an office display.
That balance matters to me because I don’t build these environments only to photograph them. I want to live with them in the room afterward.
I’ve built several environments around this scale, including my Warehouse Diorama, and working on them has influenced how I think about displaying figures in my own space.
The Next Display I Want to Build
My next personal project is already taking shape in my head.
I like Spider-Man figures, and I’ve always liked the brick architecture associated with older North American city buildings. So I want to build a New York-inspired building environment for part of my Spider-Man collection.
Not simply a wall behind the figures, but a piece of architecture that feels like it belongs in their world and, at the same time, looks good as an object in my office.
That is probably the part of this hobby I enjoy most: the collection gives me a reason to build something, and building something gives me a new way to enjoy the collection.
Finding Your Own Way to Display a Collection
There isn’t one correct answer for how to display action figures. Some collectors prefer glass cabinets, others use shelves, original packaging or large displays with dozens of figures.
For me, dioramas work because they combine several things I already enjoy: collecting, architecture, design and building by hand.
My office doesn’t need to become a room completely dedicated to action figures. I just want certain corners of it to tell a little bit of that story.
And when I eventually finish that New York building, I’ll probably already be thinking about what environment comes next.
