Action Figure Displays - Cartoon Jungle, City and Castle

I have been so pleased with my first 2 action figure displays that I decided a month ago to order a few more.  Yes, these are pricey at $19.99 each, but they are well worth the price, in my opinion, especially when I use them on a regular basis for the pictures here in this blog.  Besides, I was getting tired of using Castle Grayskull Dark World and GIJoe Secret Base again and again and wanted a bit more variety in the background images for the toys that I was opening close to daily.

There are two series of displays on actionfiguredisplay.com and I perused through these to find a few more that I liked based on my previous two, knowing fully well what I liked and what I consider small flaws in the graphic design that I really made the display not so great in my book as it would photograph badly.  Now, I do know that I've got a lot more Fantasy and Sci-Fi characters, so those were the themes that I had in mind as I chose the background.  However, Animated August was coming up and I contemplated if I should get a few more cartoony background.  I ended up with Cit and Castle, for Sci-Fi and Fantasy respectively, and a Cartoon Jungle just because it's so different from everything else that I have.

When I received the box and opened it, I was reminded again why I'm a repeat customer here.  Yes, customer as I am paying full price for these displays.  I didn't get any free samples or any discouts here.  It took one month for them to ship from the US to Erehwon, and that's about usual for something like this.  Dealing with this outfit was also pleasant, as they were professional both times around.  Ordering on their website was painless (especially when compared with a certain top US company's boy's line website).  I will definately return to pick up a few more displays in future, that's for sure.

Cartoon Jungle is part of Series 2, and the only one from Series 2 this time around.   I think it was meant for those tiny Indiana Jones Adventure figures.  The flaws I mentioned previously about the bracket that holds the 2 pieces together is still there, although this time with 3 displays in the box, and generous amounts of packaging, it wasn't really an issue.  I would have thought that an all green background on the "seem" between the back and the base would make it less visible.  However, there aer a few patches of darker grass near the bottom of the back which when assembled seems to accentuate the horizontal line running between the back and the base.  I think it was supposed to be such that the grass was growing from the base.

However, when I actually took the pictures, I was surprised at the final images.  Yes, the line is still there, but it seems almost invisible thanks to the cartoony background.  Instead, the darker patches of grass serves to break up the horizontal line running between the base and the back, which is a good thing in my book.  I'm definately looking forward to using this background!

Castle is from Series 1, and seems a lot more dark fantasy than medieval.  I think it was meant for Spawn figures, or maybe Mordor from Lord of the Rings.  Now, these figures come with assembly instructions which states that the back should be placed on a flat surface and the base should be moved to attach to the connecting brackets.  The problem with that is that I have difficulty lining up the back and the base properly.  Instead, I place the back standing on one side, and then move the base into position.  That way, I can ensure that the back and the base are aligned.

I like the line of rocks on the back of the base.  That definately breaks up the line between the back and the base.  I find it a pity, however, that the dramatic large windows through which the flames are visible are on the "second floor" of the castle and thus it is not really possible to capture fully on a camera when showing whole body shots of a 7" figure.  Still, it looks great when displayed, which is what is originally intended for these.  I like the floor texture - I think they did a really good job rendering a realistic looking castle floor.  They could have gone with a boring design, but they didn't.

The final display I purchased this time around is the "City" background.  I really like the view of the city at night and the bright moon in the sky.  This was obviously designed for comic characters such as Spawn or Batman, but I can see that it could be used for almost anything.  The backdrop is beatifully rendered and it even looks misty (or smoggy), as if it was an unpleasant evening in the city.

The low wall in the background is a nice design that camoflages the angle between the base and the back.  This is one of the backs where it doesn't really matter even if you mess up on the assembly (which I didn't) as the brick wall provides a disconnect between the floor and the backdrop.  Now, the floor is a little bit uninspiring, particularly when compared to Castle above or Dark Castle.  The regular floor  pattern which seems to suggest some sort of polished granite surface seems a bit too "indoors" than "outside", but I guess all can be forgiven with a bit of imagination.

My favourite of this lot is the City background.  I would say all 3 are comparable in quality to the other 2 that I have, and I'm definately looking forward to using these in future.  You can check out the 2 series of displays at actionfiguredisplay.com and all the displays are still available for sale there.  A third series is planned, and I can't wait to see what these guys come up with.