Early this year, I was able to acquire a half dozen lightweight trunks that I knew would be ideal for figures, and yesterday, I finally got around to lining one for one of my figures.
I intended the first one I did to be for my main partner, Hannibal, but it turns out they aren't big enough for the size figure he is (40 to 42 inches). He could fit if I wanted to take his head off, but I prefer not having to do that when putting a figure in a case.
I've determined I can fit a 34 to 36 inch figure in one of these trunks comfortably without taking the head off, and I'm pretty certain I could also fit a 38 inch figure the same, but I haven't checked that yet.
So Hannibal is staying in the very fine, perfect size, suitcase that I bought for him back when I got him.

So Dexter is getting this one, and a comfy one it should be, with two inches of foam in the lid and an inch and a half of foam on the bottom and sides, all covered in soft glove leather.

Although my lining job was not as perfect and nice as I've done in the past, partly because;
1. it was taking longer than expected and I started hurrying, and
2. the leather was getting little harder to work with having been used before. I originally used this leather in a trunk that I'd bought that really was too big for any figure. I made use of the extra space, but it was bigger than I wanted to carry. So I took the leather and padding out and used it in a wooden trunk I made for a figure. That trunk proved to be way too heavy, so I took the leather and padding back out of that since I was just going to use that trunk for storage of dummy parts, and just tossed it in that first way too big trunk that I now use for storage of foam and fabric material for figures.

But in the end, I'm pleased with the way it came out, while the upholstery job may not be perfectly pretty, it's in there solid secure and I will not have to remove it again, and most of all, it will do a nice job of protecting Dexter. One of the little pluses of these trunks is the type of hinge it has, it actually supports the lid when opened so I don't have to lean it against something to keep it from flopping all the way back.
I'm not completely done yet though as I have to make his quilted headcover that will protect his head from the shoes when he's in the case and his legs are folded up.

Here's a few pics;

Nicely done.I've used foam from Joann fabric to complete one I did. They also have a nice quilted material which works great for the head covering and hands.

He looks happy in his new home

Roslyn - thank you, I think he'll be comfy in there.

Donald - Thank you and yes, we have a Joann Fabric pretty close to us and I've checked them out already to see what they carry. There's also a Michaels, but it's just a little farther away, but will be checking on what they carry too (and prices).
I used quilted material to make head and hand covers for a couple other figures, and I still have some of that left to make some for Dexter.

I want to keep a couple more of these cases here for a couple figures I will be carving. I hope to get the others lined at some point (taking my time and doing a much better job, new fabric instead of old leather will make that easier) and sell them for figure cases, or I'm thinking, just for the sake of getting them out of my way, selling them cheaper as they are - haven't decided yet.

Where did you get the trunks?

They were something I tripped across from a friend who had a store where I used to live when I bought them. The price was right, the size was right, so I grabbed them up.

Figure cases for sale;
I have since decided, for various reasons, I am not going to be able to take the time to line the other cases before selling them, so I'm going to sell them cheaper and as is, so it will be up to whoever might buy one to cut out the foam and cushion and line the case.
I'm posting this notice here first, even though I know I'm probably not supposed to, because I want the people who actually participate in this vent section of the Café to have the first shot at getting them before I post them in the regular for sale section for vent stuff.

The particulars;
For starters, these trunks are a bit heavier than a Maher trunk, but not so heavy you would feel like you need a hand cart to carry them. Unfortunately, I didn't think to weigh the one I did before I lined it, and the other trunks are still filled with foam, so weighing those still wouldn't give an accurate empty weight.
I weighed the one that I lined for Dexter and it weighed in at 14 lbs., but that's with 2" of foam rubber in the lid, and 1.5" of foam rubber all way around and in the bottom of the lower section, and all that is covered in a heavyweight glove leather. I've no doubt the glove leather alone easily accounts for at least a few pounds of the weight. Most people would be using a lighter weight thinner cloth material for the lining and only a half inch of foam all the way around like Clinton does in the Maher trunks.

The size;
Inside dimensions: 22.75 w x 14.75 d x 10.5 h
Comparing these to the Maher trunks, these dimensions will easily fit a 34" to 36" figure (Maher trunks inside dimensions for 34"- 36" figures are 21.5"w x 12.5"d x 8.5"h).
Dexter is a 33" figure, and I made the lining thick enough that he would fit slightly snug. I put a 34" figure in there and I could get him in, but it was very snug, so if the case was lined for a 34" figure, I probably would need to cut back to an inch of foam. I haven't tried a 36" figure, but with the very thick padding, I probably couldn't get it in there anyway. If I were to line a trunk for a 36" figure, than I would be cutting back to a half inch of foam.
I believe I could get a 38", and possibly up to a 40" figure in there if I wanted to take the head off, but I have no way of testing that and I don't like having to take the head off to put a figure in a case.

The lower section of the cases are currently filled with foam that would need to be cut out, but as I found out in doing the one for Dexter, it's not one big solid block, it's in layers and just glued in, once I realized that, it was much easier taking it out.
The foam in the lid is 2" foam rubber, which I just covered to use for the cushioning in the lid, so you don't even need to get some foam rubber for that part, it's already there.
Here's what they look like now;



As mentioned in my post above, they also have supports built into the hinges to support the lid when opened so it won't flop all the way back. In the pictures above with Dexter with the case opened, that is what is supporting the lid and holding it up like that, there's is nothing behind it supporting the lid (those pictures were taken on my kitchen table).

I have six more of these trunks, but I think I'm only going to sell off five of them and keep one more for myself.
I'm offering these up for sale for 130. each plus 20. for shipping (CONUS only) and I can take PayPal.

Is your character a Coats figure? He looks kinda like one. Just curious, Dave.

Mark
markwade@kidshowvent.com

Hi Mark, no, I wish he were a Coats figure, I'd love to have one of those.
He's actually a Foy Brown figure that Matt Kimbro had redone. I'm not a big fan of people redoing vintage figures, but in this case, I think he did the figure a favor. But then I've never been a big fan of Brown's figures, the only one I've ever seen that I liked is the one that Kenny Warren has had on ebay for a while now, and part of my attraction to that one is who owned it originally.
Here's what Dexter looked like originally;

The one Kenny Warren is selling was also redone. He purchased it in original condition and then changed it. All of Foy's figures look the way yours looked originally.
Dan
http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Yes, I read that it had been redone, but yeah, even without him having put that in the description I would have guessed it had been redone because like you said, all the Brown figures look like mine originally did.