Insuring your collection? Any suggestions?

[mintcollector]

An insurance agent needs a written estimate by someone they feel is an expert.  This usually requires one from a venue that has been in business many years and can prove they are a industry leader.  Usually this means you have to find a store front.  The end call is your agent to accept the appraisal or not.  Each Agency will have their own rules on this topic.

[l0qii]

Instead of a CD everything, how about a picture on all my mint power 9?  That way many people can see it.

I was considering a public gallery like this, where people could post pictures of the best parts of their collection. In addition to being fun to drool over, it's actually really practical. Let's say someone's prized collection got stolen. If everybody recognizes the cards as belonging to a certain person, it would make it a lot harder for someone to sell off the stolen goods, or even publicly claim them as their own. It's like free insurance :)

[Gryfalia]

I both work for State Farm and am insured by them (us?).  When I took my friends entire $20K collection into my house to sell it, I purchased what is called a Personal Articles Policy (PAP) to cover them.  It’s X dollars per $1K of value per year (but I can pay it in quarters – the time period, not the change), and all I had to do to prove value was make a big ole spreadsheet of the cards and their current Scrye Value.  Yup, good ole Scrye.

I would be surprised is USAA doesn’t have similar coverage options.  Usually you would be best served to work with the same company that your other insurance is with (especially if it is Fire insurance).  They might express it as a PAP like I mention above or a simple rider/endorsement on whatever insurance you have.

Generally this will only insure them if you are covering them from normal perils (like mine are covered in my house from theft, fire, etc, but if I am driving in the card with them in the trunk and it goes up in flames, I am likely SOL).  While your insurance company MIGHT cover it, you never know.  I make sure I only take it all with me when I have a good chance of selling some at local tourneys.

Hope this helps!

Gryfalia

[dry cereal]

can I check out that list of cards?

[mintcollector]

I was considering a public gallery like this, where people could post pictures of the best parts of their collection. In addition to being fun to drool over, it's actually really practical. Let's say someone's prized collection got stolen. If everybody recognizes the cards as belonging to a certain person, it would make it a lot harder for someone to sell off the stolen goods, or even publicly claim them as their own. It's like free insurance :)

Well that really wouldn't be helpful for me.  I have painstakingly made sure my cards are in mint condition and therefore have no identifying marks.  Also any online gallery that would host images would have to have quite a bit of bandwidth allocated for the web hosting which could get a little pricey if you have tons of people looking over the images.  Nice idea, but I don't think it is overly practial, at least for me that is.

[squt]

Wow  - thanks for all of the good advice!  If I can't get it covered through my own insurance, I will likely start off with just a fireproof safe -that's really my biggest fear.  I just don't see someone breaking into my house, recognizing which binders they should take, and nabbing them.

So, any advice on where to get the safe?  Sears/Target?  Do i have to go to a locksmith?
squt

[Gryfalia]

I think they have some smaller ones at Best Buy..

Gryfalia

[Tenacious_Dyl]

Heh heh.. 'horror stories'...

1) Two friends of mine both wanted complete sets of the most recent few expansions. So they decided they would 'do it together'. Basically they 'shared' a huge, thick, binder. And both of them bought and traded for cards they needed for it.... One day.. one of them needed money, so he sold the whole thing, and never returned to the store. His friend is out his half. Currently.. they are in court.

2) My local store started out as a one story, smallish store, that just sold a few warhammer and magic and pokemone things. In the last 4 years, it is now.. 2 stories.. has sercurity cameras in the store.. has glass cases around most cards, and the rest 4-6 feet behind counters, motion detectors at night, and seperate entrance / exit. It is quite secure. It is sad the owner, Eric, must buy things like cameras and cases. There has been much stolen and cheated out of them.

3) Binder snatching... happens at every pre-release I've attended. Sometime through the day, someone will yell "where the **** is my binder?" and flip out. Of course, no one knows. And the person who reached under their chair or into their backpack to get the binder has already left. Its a shame.

Thankfully, most I have had stolen is around 20 dollars worth of cards in a cheap-ish type one deck. It was on the table, I turned around to talk to someone for about 5 minutes, turned around and it was gone

[squt]

Ugh - I just thought of another one.  When I was living in LA, I remember catching a local news report about a kid who had totalled his car on the 405 and died in the accident.  Well, you know how the news always has that street-level shot of the wreck with something personal in the foreground, like a shoe?  Well the shot for this one was a box, and hundreds of loose magic cards floating along the freeway...Now, I never ever open packs while driving!!!

Another less depressing one:  Tonight I team booster drafted Mirrodin with some really good players - it was winner take all.  The rares in the three packs I opened were Chrome Mox, Glimmervoid, and Oblivion Stone.  We lost : (

squt

[dry cereal]

At the prerelease I lost my bag.  The judge table had it and gave it back to me.  It only had an apple in it, but it's the principle of the thing!!  

-Ben

[internet_roadkill]

On the subject of fire proof safes, you might want to look into Fire Proof Gun Safes if you have a very large collection to store.  You can get these in sizes up to about 5 foot tall, 4 foot wide and 1 1/2 foot deep.  I have my collection stored in a series of 1 inch binders (1-3 binders per play set), and have been looking at the gun safes as an alternative to insurance, since I have been unable to find an acceptable policy.  

They are large enough to hold and protect a substantial number of cards, in binders.  The only real drawback is price.  A good quality, large safe, with a reasonably high temperature resistance can cost about $1500.

They are available at Bass Pro Shops, major sporting goods stores, and most quality gun shops. (My father is a serious gun collector, so as a child I spent way to much time at these kind of places.)  :)

Well,  Hope this helps protect some cards.

[hammr7]

If your collection of really valuable cards isn't too large, and you don't need to obsess over them on a daily basis, you might want to consider a safety deposit box at a local bank.  I've got one that holds over 5,000 cards (all my really valuable stuff) for $160 per year.  Its sometimes a pain to get or return the cards, but it sure beats the hassles and deductibles associated with insurance, or the problems with safes.

[normalbrains]

hey i didnt read this entire, but on a related note you might want to consider storing  (at least some) cards in a fireproof safe.

[mintcollector]

If your collection of really valuable cards isn't too large, and you don't need to obsess over them on a daily basis, you might want to consider a safety deposit box at a local bank.  I've got one that holds over 5,000 cards (all my really valuable stuff) for $160 per year.  Its sometimes a pain to get or return the cards, but it sure beats the hassles and deductibles associated with insurance, or the problems with safes.

I can see the headlines now:

"Bankrobbers make off with thousands of dollars of Magic the Gathering cards"