If you’re like me, you collected way too many CDs in the ’90s. I had an epic assemblage of tunes that required more than one rack to store. I realized during my last move that I had not touched my CDs in years. In fact, in this digital age, I had not removed them for storage in over a decade. The time had come to part ways the mountain of jewel cases and colorfully printed discs within. However, one relic from that bygone era remained in my house gathering dust. We kept one CD rack because it matched two of the other IKEA Leksvik shelves we owned. It had little use in the interim because nothing really fits on those awkwardly sized shelves. However, all that changed recently when an idea appeared on the LEGO® Ambassador Network (LAN). Here’s some ideas to repurpose old CD racks with LEGO® displays!
The idea comes from Ellie Sibbald, the LEGO® Community Ambassador for the Southern Bricks Recognized LEGO® User Group (RLUG). She took two IKEA Gnedby DVD/CD shelves and attached one IKEA Oxberg glass door to them. On each shelf, Ellie constructed a display stand from 42x11x275 primed wood moulding. Finally, she attached sliced LEGO® baseplates to each stand in order to create attachment points for Minifigures. As a result, Ellie now has a great looking, dust free Minifigure display system.
Repurpose old CD racks as Minifigure displays!
Given that I too have an old CD rack, I decided to give my own IKEA hack a try. I did not install a glass door on mine, like Ellie did. I need to do more research to see if one even exists in the right size. However, I thought it would be fun to create a Minifigure stand out of LEGO® bricks. Interestingly enough, a 20×25 stud display base fits my Leksvik CD rack shelves perfectly. Consequently, I built a custom riser that accommodates 54 Minifigures comfortably. I won’t go into the details about construction, I’m confident you’ll figure that out on your own 😉
Of course, CD-sized shelves also fit smaller sets you might want to display, like gifts-with purchase (GWPs). I normally don’t keep LEGO® boxes, but I loved the packaging on the recent Toys R Us Bricktober sets like the Pirate and Space Adventure rides. I have all four of those Bricktober exclusives, and I want to display the box and the set together in each case. They fit nicely on my Leksvik shelf spaces. Additionally, I recently shared my buildable brick sets, and they look great on a shelf too.
CD shelves also accommodate GWP displays and Minifigure habitats!
But why stop there? The box shape of a CD shelf offers other opportunities for creativity. Beyond displaying sets or Minifigure risers, why not build a Minifigure habitat or LEGO® diorama? Like I said before, my Leksvik CD rack spaces fit a build of 20×25 studs. Additionally, you can go up to height of 16 bricks. Of course, the last “brick” actually has to be two plates and a tile because the studs on the 16th brick will not fit in the shelf. I took the opportunity to display one of my all time favorite Minifigures, the Alien DJ from Vidiyo. Yes, Vidiyo was a flop. However, the theme still provided some great Minifigures, including two versions of the Alien DJ. But I’ll return to this concept later on in a more in a detailed post about the MOC.
When I was collecting CDs in the ’90s and early ’00s, I never imagined an old CD rack would eventually make for a great LEGO® display. Most of that era was spent languishing in my dark ages, though the early days of my CD collection did overlap with the end of my childhood LEGO® play. I’ve debated not keeping my IKEA Leksvik CD rack because my wife and I don’t really use it. However, now it’s gotten a second wind thanks to inspiration from the LEGO® community. So, thanks Ellie for your ingenuity that set me down a new building and display path! Will you repurpose old CD racks as LEGO® displays? Let me know in the comments below or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
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