Box protectors for vinyl figures, 20 pack

Protectors suit you if you sell boxed vinyl figures, such as standard 4-inch window-box figures, on eBay, Mercari or Whatnot toy shows. Collectors grade the box as hard as the figure, and a crushed corner can take a good chunk off the price.

A 20 pack covers a small collection or a month of steady sales. At dozens of boxed figures a week, buy in bigger lots and protect stock the day it arrives instead of the day it sells.

Each protector fits one box size. The common ones fit the standard 4-inch window box; 6-inch, 10-inch and deluxe boxes need their own size, so measure the box and compare it with the inner size in the listing.

Choose clear PET plastic with a tuck lid at both ends and a protective film you peel off before use. Thicker plastic, often listed at around 0.5 mm, resists dents better than thin sheet.

Protectors should arrive flat. Flat packs ship for less, and you fold each one around the box, which takes about a minute the first few times.

Fold the protector along its scored lines, slide the box in from the end and close both tuck flaps. Keep the window facing front so you can photograph the figure without taking it out.

To ship, wrap the protected box in bubble wrap or honeycomb paper and set it in a double-wall box with an inch or two of padding on every side. The protector stops scuffs; the outer box and padding stop crush damage.

A long roll of bubble wrap is the fallback. It cushions the shipment but does nothing for scuffs and shelf wear, and tape on bubble wrap can lift the box print if it touches it.

Clear stackable storage tubs hold loose or out-of-box figures well. Put out-of-box stock in tubs and anything sold as mint in box in protectors.

Double-wall boxes are the outer layer for a multi-figure order; with a protector on each, the boxes inside stop rubbing against each other.