Posted By:
Gilbert MainesYeah, my cards need protection, mainly from me - because I constantly lower their grade - but also from other things, like fire. Clearly I can get all of the protection needed from a safe deposit vault, plus the added security in knowing that if a thief opened the safe deposit boxes, he probably would pass on picking up baseball cards.
But I don't want to be seperated from my cards. And scans are for enjoying your cards.
So are home safes a viable alternate? I think yes. The chief drawbacks are they cost $1000. for an internal storage area of about 20" x 20".
For that $1000. you get a safe that has been proven to withstand 1680 degrees F for two hours, then dropped 30' on to concrete, then withstood an additional 45 minutes of 1680 degrees. To simulate the worst house fire and collapse with no degradation in the contents nor conprimizing the integrety of the safe.
Sounds good enough to me.
As far as theft, I don't think that an actual safe cracker who listens for the tumblers to fall with a stethoscope (like they show in old movies) will be much interested in my baseball cards. I need protection from the smash and grab type of thief. And the typical combination lock that safe companies use will probably suffice in this situation. Plus for $1000. they are not getting in with a pry bar. An oxy-acetylene torch will cut through most anything eventually, but these safes are designed to dissipate heat quickly, so it will be somewhat more difficult. The cut around the safe and let it fall into the basement approach will not result in the safe opening.
So, aside from all of the damage these smash and grab types can do, this seems ok to me too.
So for me it comes down to @ $49/yr. Joann will get added security for 20 years at the same price that I will have measurably less security, but greater access to my cards. Plus at the end of those twenty years I will also still have the safe.