Displaying your action figures on the walls is not only a great way to display part of your collection, but also a great way to free up some floor space if you want to get rid of those rolling shelves or that bookcase that your figures are currently occupying.

There are a few different ways to go about displaying your action figures on your walls. From hanging them to putting them in a mounted display case—I’m going to cover a number of different options, and, hopefully, after reading this, you will be able to decide which of these options is best for you and your collection.

Some Important Things to Know

Before getting into this, it’s important to know exactly what you’re working with:

• Are your figures opened or unopened?
  • If unopened, what kind of packaging are they in: carded or boxes?
• How much do your figures weigh? Most action figures are pretty lightweight, however, there are exceptions, and you may have a difficult time displaying heavier figures on your walls.
• How many figures do you want on your wall(s)?
• Are you comfortable putting holes in your walls with nails, push pins, etc.?

These shouldn’t be hard questions for you to answer since you probably have a pretty good idea of what you’re working with—it’s your collection after all; but they are questions that are worth giving some thought to.

Anyways, now that we have that out of the way, lets dig into this.

1. Hang Your Action Figures with Nails or Push Pins

This is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get your unopened action figures on your walls. This method simply requires that you use either push pins or nails to hang your carded action figures on your walls. A great way to do this is by positioning your figures almost like they are on a grid. This makes for a well-organized, impressive-looking wall display.

This method will not work for all your figures. “Carded” is the keyword here. If your action figures come in boxes with no hook for hanging, this won’t work. Also, sometimes if a box has a hook, the hook is not positioned at the back of the box, so it will be difficult to get the packaging to sit flush against the wall simply using push pins. You may need longer nails, which creates other complications. It also goes without saying that this won’t work for unopened (or loose) action figures.

• Push Pins—Standard Clear – 600 count (Amazon)
• Push Pins—Multiple Translucent Colors—200 Count (Amazon)

2. Adhesive Hooks and Clips

Don’t like the idea of putting holes in your walls? If that’s the case, then you may not be out of options. Adhesive hooks are functionally the same as push pins; you just stick them to your walls instead of jamming them into your walls.

Again, these work best for carded action figures that sit basically flush against the wall. For action figure packaging that doesn’t sit against the wall because of the way the hook is positioned on the box, you may need to find longer hooks.

When using any kind of adhesive on a painted surface, you run the risk of tearing the paint off your walls during removal. Even when a product may be marketed as easily removable, there still is the potential that it will tear the paint off your walls, even if the removal is done properly.

Many adhesives are more ideal for surfaces that are metal, plastic, wood, stainless steel, glass, and so on. Painted wall surfaces are usually not the best place to use adhesives, but if you feel confident enough to try it out, then go for it.

• Command Mini Light Clips (Amazon)
• Command Mini Hooks (Amazon)
• Command Clear Medium Hooks (Amazon)
• Command Large Utility Hooks (Amazon)

3. Using a Peg Board to Hang Your Action Figures on The Wall

If the thought of pushing dozens of pins into your walls doesn’t sit well with you, but you still want to hang those figures; but adhesive hooks just aren’t doing the trick for you, then using a peg board may be a good solution to your problem. This would also help you to easily align the figures that you’re hanging, making the rows neat and orderly.

Pegboards are significantly heavier than action figures. Marvel, Star Wars, WWE, and Transformers action figures, on average, weigh around 5-10 oz., whereas a pegboard can weigh multiple pounds depending on the size and material the board is made form. So, hanging a peg board is a bit more of a process than just pushing a few tacks into your walls. I’m not going to go into detail on how to hang a pegboard here in this post, instead I’ll defer to the experts at The Home Depot.

Pegboards will not only work to hang carded action figures. They can also be used to hang boxes without hooks and even loose action figures on your walls. This can be done by using the hooks or other types of plugs that fit into the peg board as support.

• J Shape Peg Hooks Black—100 Count (Amazon)
• Pegboard Hooks Assortment—80 Pieces (Amazon)
• Steel Pegboard 1″ L-Hooks—50 Count (Amazon)
• WallPeg Locking Pegboard Hooks—100 Count (Amazon)

If you’re looking to hang figures on the wall, but you don’t want to put a million little holes in your wall, then using a pegboard may very well be the best option for you. Sure, you’re still going to need to hang the board, but you’ll be putting far fewer holes in you walls hanging a pegboard than hanging dozens of figures.

4. Displaying Action Figures on Your Walls with Floating Shelves

Okay, so now let’s get into some options that will work well for your opened action figures. For action figures that are not in their original packaging, floating shelves may be a great option. Just mount the floating shelves on your walls and then stand your figures on the shelves.

Floating shelves don’t only work for opened action figures though. There’s nothing stopping you from using these to display your unopened figures as well.

Always remember to consider the weight of what you’re displaying on these shelves. Like I said earlier though, most action figure are not very heavy so you should have no problem standing multiple figures up on these.

Here are a few options for you. Hopefully these will give you some ideas.

Invisible Acrylic Floating Wall Ledge Shelf (Amazon)

Invisible Acrylic Floating Wall Ledge Shelf (Second Option) (Amazon)

Rustic Wood Wall Storage Shelves (Amazon)

Floating U Shelves (Amazon)

5. Wall-Mounted Display Cases and Cabinets

Want some added protection? Do you feel your figures are to exposed on those shelves? The final option is a wall mounted display case or cabinet. This would function much like the wall-mounted shelves would except a display case/cabinet is going to be enclosed and you will likely have compartments for individual figures.

Wall mounted cabinets can potentially get pretty expensive, so you better make sure you’re serious about this before you make the purchase.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some wall mounted cabinets get pretty heavy, so you’re going to want to make sure you know what you’re doing before installation. Perhaps consider hiring someone to get the job done.

The biggest benefit to using a wall-mounted display case as opposed to just regular shelves is the fact that the displayed figures may be enclosed, which prevents the quick build-up of dust. Of course, you would still need to dust the case itself, but the figures inside would remain mostly dust-free for a long period of time if the case is enclosed.

Where Should You Display Your Action Figures

Whether your action figures are opened or still in their original packaging, you want to make sure the environmental conditions are appropriate. For both opened and unopened action figures, its best to keep them in a room where the temperature and humidity can be well-regulated, and there is little to no exposure to sunlight. In most cases, this makes attics, basements, porches, and garages off-limits to your figures. Closets, offices, and bedrooms are probably good options provided you can regulate environmental conditions.

Sunlight is one of the biggest environmental enemies of your action figure collection. UV rays from sun will cause discoloration and fading to both the figures and their packaging. Humidity is bad for the cardboard packaging and will cause warping over time if not regulated, and the expanding and contracting of the plastics that make up your figures due to extreme changes in temperature will degrade them over time.

To sum things up, display your figures in a room with moderate temperatures (between 55 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit will probably do just fine), with about 50% relative humidity, and no contact with sunlight.

Don’t Attach Adhesives to Your Action Figure Boxes

So, I’ve given you some ideas of how you should display your action figures on your walls, let’s talk about what you should NOT do.

The big thing that I think needs to be covered here are adhesives. I’m mostly talking about sticky tack/putty and any kind of tape.

Let’s start with tape. The obvious problem with using any kind of tape to hang your action figures comes when it’s time to remove the tape. Its highly likely that when removing the tape, you will rip the action figure packaging. Even if you do manage to “safely” remove the tape by using a blow dryer or some other recommended method, there’s a good chance sticky residue from the tape will remain. This residue can be a real pain to remove.

When it comes to removable tape or adhesives, chances are that they are not strong enough to hold the figure on the wall for a longer period of time, since the purpose of removable tape in many cases is related to arts and crafts projects and not meant to be a permanent solution.

What about sticky tack then? Sticky tack/putty is a terrible option. You definitely don’t want to hang action figure boxes with sticky tack or putty, because the boxes will end up getting stained. The moisture from the putty will be absorbed into the cardboard and cause staining—ruining the box.

Usually when we talk about displaying action figures on the wall, we mean “hanging” action figures on the wall. You want to hang or mount your figures on the wall and not stick them to the wall.

Carded, Unopened Action Figures Make for the Best Wall Displays

When it comes to action figures, if your figures are unopened and in carded packaging instead of a box, then they are probably the ideal candidates for a wall display. Opened action figures are going to be difficult to neatly display on the walls without mounting some shelves or a cabinet/case of some kind, which can be time consuming and/or expensive. That being said, there is nothing wrong with mounting a case or cabinet on your walls, and it can make for a very appealing display. Just make sure that is the right option for you and your collection before committing to it.

If you found this post to be helpful, check out my article on displaying Funko Pops on your walls.

Related Articles