I've used wine racks since 2000.
Here is my collection back then. This is back before MR so with the exception of Icons, All the replicas were fan made so nothing had cases.
This type of set up was great because you can display a high number of hilts using little shelf space. I think I found this rack for $20 and I used pieces of sliced clear aquarium tubing along the bottom edges to protect the hilts from hitting the metal of the rack.
The down side is that I did not have it in any kind of case so you need to dust your hilts.
Later as my MR hilt collection grew, I swapped out the fan made. My fan made collection wassailer which allowed me to use smaller racks that I could put in a glass door cabinet. It used self sticking black felt to line the bottom edges of the racks to protect the hilts. Because they were in a cabinet, I did not have to worry about dust.
So now my general thought about hilt displays. The image below shows the official hilts and their cases. As you can see, even in room dedicated to SW prop replicas, displaying a high number of hilts in this way requires a lot of space. I am not happy with the way this looks. At some point my collection room will be redone. I plan to add some idea cabinets and install a couple of full grid walls to use shallow and close stacking shelving for the cases along with other display attachment for no cased props.
IMHO, individual cases as okay if you have a small number of hilt or you have a lot of space. When MR first sold hilts, you had the option of getting them with to without a case. I usually got them without a case. My problem with cases is that I tend not to want to handle the hilts, and what fun is that? When the cases were included, I felt compelled to use them because i felt I was wasting money not to use them.
The other thing is that cases and racks are can be expensive and the cost in the collection can add up. A MR style stand and case can run about $100 or more. A simpler stand can run $20 t9 $50. That's okay for the particular/special items but when you are talking about a large collection, I just see it as money that could have gone to buying another prop replica.
I also think you should stay away from creating a hilt display that fits your current collection. You should ensure that the display you create allows to add or subtract hilts as your collection changes for proper display.
I am also not a fan of collectors who utilize an acrylic cover and them puts them into a glass cabinet. I think that looking through two pieces of material is distracting and that it is pointless like using an umbrella inside a house. That's just my opinion.
There are some really good examples here of practical ideas that conserve space and also are cheap.
So in summary.
Special display stands are good if you have one or more:
-You have lots of room if your collection is big.
-You can afford or willing to have the added expense.
-You have a small collection or want to feature special pieces in your collection.
