Collection Insurance

gpmartin414

gpmartin414

Ponderous
Joined
Apr 6, 2025
Messages
183
Does anyone have collection insurance? I’m in the middle of a move and have my collection all packed up — which, wow, was a painful experience because of how much time it took to pack it all carefully — and my wife wants me to get insurance on my collection when I unpack it. My collection is at least a few thousand figures and a couple hundred hardcover omnibuses (omnibi?).

Have people just added it to their homeowners insurance? Or gone with some speciality insurer? The thought of having to individually find the value of all that sounds so painful. I was hoping to just get a policy for a specific dollar amount.


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I casually asked my State Farm person about it once and IIRC there was a long pause and a look of bewilderment. I should also look into this more.
 
https://collectinsure.com/

This is who I have looked into before. The process seemed simple and they verified that they did insure action figure collections. However at the time I looked into it they didn't cover losses from tornadoes which is my biggest concern, being smack dab in the center of the new tornado alley.
 
Really good question.

I know when our family home burned down the assessor had me go through everything that was wrecked so he could add it to the list. "What's this. Star Wars collectible? How much was it worth? No it's not worth twenty dollars, it was worth 80, shut up and say yes. By the way, it's not salvageable, take the money" threw it over his shoulder into a basement flooded with blackened, soot-filled water. (EDIT - he overestimated the value of everything because he knew the insurance company would push back on EVERYTHING so he overestimated as a negotiating tactic so we wouldn't get fucked.)

But 25 years later I feel like I should find some more responsible way of assessing the value of my belongings.
 
One of my underwriters got back to me. They said:

We would endorse an itemized list on an inland marine to the HO policy. No blanket coverage. Any items over $1000 require a recent appraisal (within 3 years).
Click to expand...

Now comes the question, who would they accept as an appraiser? There are collection tracking sites that value figures via eBay, but even that brings up more questions. What if something happens during a down time? I'm also looking at the "itemized list" an just dying on the inside thinking how long that would take for most of us to actually complete.
 
DarthDre758 said:
One of my underwriters got back to me. They said:



Now comes the question, who would they accept as an appraiser? There are collection tracking sites that value figures via eBay, but even that brings up more questions. What if something happens during a down time? I'm also looking at the "itemized list" an just dying on the inside thinking how long that would take for most of us to actually complete.
Click to expand...
That's funny you ask that because I am currently working on one just to have an inventory. I started on June 18th and I'm about 1200 figures in. That includes finding pics online and entering some basic info in an app. Only about 3500 to go 🫠
 
Justice said:
That's funny you ask that because I am currently working on one just to have an inventory. I started on June 18th and I'm about 1200 figures in. That includes finding pics online and entering some basic info in an app. Only about 3500 to go 🫠
Click to expand...
I need to look if Action Figure 411 has an export option. I uploaded my Marvel, DC, Joes, Star Wars, MOTU, and Mythic Legions to that site a couple of months ago and felt sick to my stomach at how much I'd spent but also freaked out a little bit about how much some lines have retained/increased resale value. (Black Series really is the junk bond out of all those lines.)
 
docsilence said:
I need to look if Action Figure 411 has an export option. I uploaded my Marvel, DC, Joes, Star Wars, MOTU, and Mythic Legions to that site a couple of months ago and felt sick to my stomach at how much I'd spent but also freaked out a little bit about how much some lines have retained/increased resale value. (Black Series really is the junk bond out of all those lines.)
Click to expand...
That's where I stole most of my reference pics from but they just didn't have enough of what I collect for me to log it all there so I decided to stake out on my own.
 
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I've used Legendsverse in the past. I need to update it though.

legendsverse.com

Marvel Legends tracking app

Legendsverse is the ultimate collection tracking app. With +1200 figures added to the checklist and growing all the time. Join fellow collectors and start tracking your collection figures and value.
legendsverse.com legendsverse.com
 
One of my high school buddies was an insurance underwriter for a couple decades (quit to go do manufacturing line work).

Now I'm in Canada (Ontario) so it is obviously different by jurisdiction and company, but he said it is "easy" to get insurance for collectibles. However the price and requirements to do so are usually where people back off. Mostly because it isn't worth it to do it properly for the average collector who doesn't have a high value collection. I can't remember the exact numbers (it was over a decade ago) but it was definitely more than I was willing to spend at the time (even now I'm sure).

Then as others have pointed out there are strict requirements as to what can be claimed, and when. In all I remember thinking it wasn't worth it at the time for my collection. Today my collection is a bit bigger, not by much surprisingly, and more valuable with higher priced items. However I still don't know that it would be worth it in the end with monthly premiums and whatever the deductible would end up costing. It is like people who pay for storage for their collections. Why pay hundreds, if not thousands a year to store your collection? It is nothing but a cost that eats into the value of what you have. Now if you don't care about value, and have the money to spend on storage. Or you are a business, or have a tax plan that includes that cost, sure. However as a regular, private, collector I don't know if there is a value to that idea.

I remember I also asked my friend about doing car wrap advertising for my private vehicle and he said the cost increase for insurance would all but eliminate the profit from doing the advertising.
 
Thanks for all the replies!

We brought it up with State Farm when getting a quote for homeowners insurance and they didn't seem to know how to handle it. Didn't want it to hold up getting that quote, because it's critical for a mortgage.

I'll look into the collector's insurance link above. Not sure what the burden of proof or whatever you'd call it is needed - just photos and a list of recently sold listings on eBay? If it's too onerous, I think I may only focus on getting my omnibuses and Mafex and Mondo figures insured since those are basically all $100+ a pop.
 
DarthDre758 said:
One of my underwriters got back to me. They said:



Now comes the question, who would they accept as an appraiser? There are collection tracking sites that value figures via eBay, but even that brings up more questions. What if something happens during a down time? I'm also looking at the "itemized list" an just dying on the inside thinking how long that would take for most of us to actually complete.
Click to expand...

If I may:

How would this work for art commissions. Especially from proven big names.
 
DarthDre758 said:
I've used Legendsverse in the past. I need to update it though.

legendsverse.com

Marvel Legends tracking app

Legendsverse is the ultimate collection tracking app. With +1200 figures added to the checklist and growing all the time. Join fellow collectors and start tracking your collection figures and value.
legendsverse.com legendsverse.com
Click to expand...
I thought about using Legendsverse for my Legends because that would be easier. I'd love to have it all in one place though. I've already got all my MOTU and TMNT logged in this app I downloaded and it didn't take THAT long. I actually kind of enjoyed it, reliving acquiring all the figures again.
 
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