For those of you who don't know what it is, here is the link to the glass cabinet on IKEA's website: www.ikea.com/us...
~~Story about my life and the cabinet that you don't need to read about~~
Ever since finding out about the existence of IKEA RUDSTA cabinets about 4 months or so ago, I have been stalking their website in hopes of being able to purchase one from the physical store near me (luckily I live about 25 minutes away from one). I don't want to pay $70 for shipping.
Due to recent raw material shortages and IKEA's abysmal supply chain, a lot of their furniture are not in stock most of the time. Yesterday I randomly decided to check approximately when it will be in stock, I saw that there were 4 available. Since I was still working, I figured I'll go the next day. About an hour later, I randomly decided to check again, and saw that the number in stock dropped to 2, and knew that it was not the time to continue working lol. So I just dropped what I was doing (our company still has us working remotely) and drove to IKEA. After eating dinner out and arriving back home, I checked the page once more and it was out of stock. Phew, that was a close one.
By the way, I signed up for email notification when it's back in stock, but never received an email. Do not trust their email notification system, that thing is a lie.
~~Actually about the cabinet~~
Because I'm cheap, the only glass display I have ever purchased besides this is Detolf. Because at this point I think everyone and their grandma and their grandma's dog has at least one, I will make some comparisons there.
Packaging and assembly
There were two boxes, and they were smaller than I expected. I'm by no means tall (159cm-ish), but I was able to carry them myself (kind of heavy though). Also since I live by myself, I assembled it completely on my own, and let me tell you it's much easier to do than assemblying a Detolf with just one person (I had to use a wall to support the glass sides because I only have two arms). While it's not complicated, the instructions are not as detailed as it could be, and if someone doesn't pay attention to the details, I can totally see them making mistakes along the way and have to redo some steps.
Appearance
I have to say, it looks pretty nice. It doesn't appear kind of cheap like Detolf, and it doesn't look like a heavy cabinet either. But since the top, bottom, and back are pure black, it's almost necessary to install some sort of lighting inside, or else it's too dark to see your figures clearly. The black color also makes it reflect too much light (which is why I took the photo with doors open, which again I think lighting will help.
Ease of use
Unlike the Detolf, it feels pretty stable. There are little magnets attached to the door, and it's strong enough to keep the doors closed, but not enough to rattle the whole thing when you try to open (like what happens with a Detolf. One thing to note, however, is that the two levels of glass are held up by ledges on the back, and little stoppers on the front.
Potential concern I have is that the stopper pieces are made of plastic, and you insert them into holes on the sides to keep them in place. While I'm not worried about them falling out, I can see the plastic potentially snap if there is too much pressure applied. For that reason, I recommend putting heavy figures on the bottom level.
Bang for the buck
Nowadays, a RUDSTA costs exactly twice as much as a Detolf (at least in the US), but it cannot hold twice as much figures. For the same amount of money, Detolfs make much better use of vertical space, but RUDSTA definitely looks nicer. May be nice to use it for figures you want to stand out from the rest. Not tall ones though, each level is shorter, so. Overall, I'm very glad I managed to snatch one during work hours.
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