>>7423537I'm actually going through this right now, but not with toys. Actually, it's maybe a bit worse because my niche of interest is miniatures so I not only lost 1000+ figures, I lost several hundred that were handpainted. Which means even if I rebuild the collection in terms of items I still have 5+ years on top of painting just to get back to where I was.
But, having dealt with this I'll share a few things.
1. It's scarier to think about than to go through. It seems like the worst thing ever, but you'll have so much other shit to deal with that your collection won't be on your mind much for a while. This is a plus because it gives you time to come to terms with the loss.
2. Fire is bad, water is bad, smoke is bad. You may be allowed back in to salvage, only take what you must. You can likely still claim this if your insurance covers contamination or smoke damage. This might let you save a few real hard to get things until you can get better replacements.
3. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. If it's worth enough to not claim as "generic action figure, $5" then take pics of it, where it is located, what condition it is in if salvaged, and value (grading helps here). Keep this shit offsite, it will help a lot when filling out the millions of forms.
4. If your collection is worth REAL MONEY, it should be separately insured. Don't find out the hard way when your $80,000 joes and star wars are only covered for $10,000 because your total insurance is capped (and furniture and shit has to come out of it).
5. DO NOT DEPEND ON COVERAGE OTHER THAN YOUR OWN. If you are renting, get tenant's insurance. The building insurance, if it covers anything, will usually only cover a portion. (also settlement will be quicker with your own ins)
6. Shit happens, it happens to people every day, it was just your turn. No people or pets dead? Great. Stuff is just stuff. You will resent it more than miss it because you will be filling out a lot of forms. 1/2.
