With the Detolf unit, when you put in the 3 glass shelves during assembly, make sure you bring it all the way to the front, flush against the metal frame.
To construct the tiered shelves I used Elmer’s foam board (I bought 3 of the huge 36”x 48” tri-fold ones and had leftover between 2 cabinets). You can get these as most craft stores, office stores, they are available in black or white. You just need a pencil, a utility knife, a ruler/tape measure, and maybe a t-square for straight lines. Be careful when cutting or find a surface you do not care about damaging, the utility knife will go through the foam board like butter.
I constructed side walls (pictured with measurements).
You need 3 per level, so a total of 12 per Detolf unit. Then you need twenty 2.25”x15” slats (5 per level, 2 for underneath the side walls, 3 as shelves), and four 3” slats (one per level) to be used as back splashes for the highest tier. The slats will seem tight against the glass, but that is ok, I wouldn’t shorten them too much or else they won’t sit properly on the side walls. Also, you really only need to measure one of each piece as a template and then just trace the rest.
Put one of the 2.25" x 15" foam slats down flat and flush against the metal bars in the back. Then you put the foam side walls all the way against the glass and all the way back (they should actually slide past the metal bars). Once both side walls are up, take another 2.25" x 15" slat and slide it under them. Then you place the foam middle wall. Take 3 more 2.25" by 15" and place them as shelves onto the foam walls. I used small, flat head pins to push through the slats into the center of the foam walls to secure them. Then take the 3" x 15" slate and place it as a backsplash on the top shelf. You should probably secure this with pins as well. Now you have tiered shelves!
Optionally you can make back splashes for the other shelves, I opted not to because I felt only the top shelf posed any danger for pops falling behind.
Before putting your pops up, I would make sure to raise the front of the entire Detolf unit up by about a half inch. I used remnants of the foam board and put them under the front feet. This gives it a slight rear tilt, helping to keep the pops on the shelves!
And be really careful loading them up. I am clumsy and I have had a few casualties
I also suggest a wobble test so you can see how balanced the unit is. If your cabinet is on an uneven or unstable surface, you may need to put more shimming under the feet to minimize this. But this involves placing pops or something similarly difficult to balance on the tiers, and then walking briskly by (it is a hilarious sight according to the girlfriend). I suggest the Duck Dynasty pops for this test LOL.And that's all I have really. Any questions, or requests for additional photos, again feel free to message
Edit: nearly forgot two things! Taller pops cannot fit on the top tier (Cthulhu, Killer Croc, Fred, Leonidas, Gandalf, Groot). So plan your setup accordingly.
Secondly, you can actually use the same measurements, or edit the depth if you'd like to display your standard sized Hikari. The only reason I would recommend changing the depth, is because of Dragon King, Gigantor, and other Hikari that are bigger front to back. You cannot change the height of the tiers much otherwise you are minimizing the visibility of your pieces, or minimizing the amount you can actually display.
As it is now you can fit around 25 pops or 9 standard Hikari per level. Some pops are thinner (ie Arrested Development) and you can actually fit 6 per tier instead of 5, but it looks sort of tight so I wouldn't recommend it.
