Author Topic: what's it worth? and do you have collector's insurance?  (Read 3526 times)

Offline jokabofe

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what's it worth? and do you have collector's insurance?
« on: February 22, 2004, 09:02 PM »
i finally started cleaning out my back room... the one that was supposed to be my collection room when i moved into my new apartment 14 months ago, but ended up being the place where stuff that i had no room for ended up. i finally decided that with a few - very, very few - exceptions, i'm going to keep only my star wars stuff and sell everything else. at least, that's the plan going in.

anyway, i was going through some boxes of the star wars figures that i plan on keeping, and got to thinking about cataloging my collection. then i remembered that i had started doing that on some other website, where they keep an online database of what's available, and they update pricing, and yadda yadda yadda. now, i know that i haven't kept up with that in a few years, so it's painfully out of date. but out of curiosity, i looked it up for the first time in a long time today, and it has my collection - or at least the small part of it that i entered into the database a few years back - valued at somewhere around $14,000.

taking into consideration that this database is only for figures, and i haven't updated it in a long time, and that i also collect tons of other star wars related crap stuff, i'm going to estimate that my entire collection is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000.

now, i didn't start this thread to brag about my collection, because that's probably not alot compared with some other collectors, both here and elsewhere, but it's a pretty good chunk of change to me.

so my question is this: what do you think your collection is worth?

and, perhaps more importantly, do you have collectors insurance? when i was married, we had insurance on our house (of course), but we were told that the insurance didn't cover collectibles. we needed to have a special policy for that. now, i have my own apartment, and i'm looking into getting renter's insurance, just to cover the basics of my apartment - stereo equipment, computer, book, dvd and cd collection, etc. etc - but i'm wondering if regular renter insurance will also cover these collectibles. anybody have any information?

Offline aka DaBigKahuna

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Re: what's it worth? and do you have collector's insurance?
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2004, 03:03 PM »
Hello,

I recently picked up a policy through Collect Insure.  

Here is the link to their website:

http://www.collectinsure.com

I really wanted to ensure my small vintage collection.  I have only heard good things about this company, and for peace of mind I could not  beat spending $15 annually for $3,500 worth of coverage.  The coverage includes theft, fire, and shipping insurance when you send or buy something to add or sell off your collection.

It is definitely worth looking in to.


-Fish-  

Offline jokabofe

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Re: what's it worth? and do you have collector's insurance?
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2004, 03:26 PM »
thanks for the link, i'll have to check that out.

Offline bobafett14

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Re: what's it worth? and do you have collector's insurance?
« Reply #3 on: August 8, 2004, 10:33 AM »
Here's my experience,

If you have homeowners or renter insurance it should be covered(mine is). Howver, I actually have a stipulation that covers an additonal $40,000 that is only a few $ more per year (not sure something like $8-$10ish??)

Also I found a booth at San Diego that dealt with Collectors Insurance.

Here's the info:

Collectibles Insurance Agency
1-888-837-9537  
info@insurancecollectibles.com

To give an idea:
$14/yr.  covers $3,000
up to
$614 covers $200,000  (also price depends on alarm systems, etc.)

based on replacement value


Star Wars and toy Collector since 1978(age 7).  currently over 6,500 SW items in my personal collection. Collect modern/vintage and everything in-between ;^)

Offline Thomas Grey

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Re: what's it worth? and do you have collector's insurance?
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2004, 03:50 AM »
My homeowner's insurance covers it. We have a pretty large blanket of coverage for the home and all our belongings.

I do have some advice for people that are covered under home owners insurance...

If you have a video or digital camcorder, spend some time and film the whole damn thing and make vocal notes on each item. This may take awhile, but coupled with a detail inventory of your collectibles, it will make it much easier if (and we all know we do not want to ever have to deal with that big if) something happens. I did this about 3 years ago and I have to do it again as my collection(s) have changed and grown considerably. After I finished, I locked it away with a documented inventory list in a fire-proof safe (you can get them pretty much anywhere and they range in price from about $30 on up dependent on the make and quality). While it may seem overwhelming to have to go through each item one at a time, it can be pretty cool. I always forget I have this or that and to see them again brings me a little joy. While my collection has not entered the realms of Vintage carded (when that will start remains a question and while I so deeply want to begin, there are a lot more pressing financial obligations I can't ignore...). So sifting through the Red/Orange carded stuff is as good as I get for Star Wars. But, I do have comics too (1000's now, ARGGGHHH) and that is where the value starts adding up.

On top of all that, I have inherited 2 massive art libraries in the last 4 years and these heavy tomes are also in need of inventory and video documentation. Too much stuff! But cool, good stuff that deserves to be protected. All this is making me dizzy, but also reminding me it needs to get done sometime in the near future.

The only thing that I can't put a price on or document is I have 12 filing drawers filled with files on everything from my personal/business stuff to extensive files on artists, artist resource images and articles on everything I find remotely interesting. The cannibalizing of magazines and filing of the ripped out pages is a daily chore. If those go up in flames or under water or whatever, I will be quite sad.

I could go on about my garage filled with sculpture crap and miscellaneous objects d'art, but I'll stop.

Just thought I'd pass the video documentation idea along.
"There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny."