How many known collections have been lost

[Vintage Vern]

over the last 10 to 15 years due to natural disasters? What type of impact does that have on the hobby?

[doug.goodman]

117.

Positive impact for sellers.

Negative impact for buyers.

[G1911]

I'm also getting 117, using the records at the Known Collections Archive (KCA) website, and filtering to the last 15 years exactly.

It's bad for the hobby if one wants more cards, it's good for the hobby if one wants there to be less cards.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by G1911

I'm also getting 117, using the records at the Known Collections Archive (KCA) website, and filtering to the last 15 years exactly.

It's bad for the hobby if one wants more cards, it's good for the hobby if one wants there to be less cards.

I counted 118 but I could’ve counted a collection twice.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

I counted 118 but I could’ve counted a collection twice.

Oops, you're right, 118. I missed the great Alaskan avalanche loss of 2022.

[Vintage Vern]

So how often is it updated? I'd imagine California wildfires have added to the total? Are most raw or graded, and are the cards listed that were destroyed?

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

117.

Positive impact for sellers.

Negative impact for buyers.

Doug you forgot to add a .

[Snapolit1]

Judging from the oversized AH catalogs that land with a thud on my porch appx. every 2-3 days, not many. Sometimes 2 or 3 catalogs show up in one box.

[mrreality68]

I do not know the answer

but any loss is not good for the hobby, for that collector or reseller.

Yes it shrinks the inventory and could obviously effect Supply/Demand depending on the card or item but

1. to me losing pieces of history and pieces that bring people joy is sad.
2. Insurance cannot replace the item so lost is lost
3. most people do not have insurance or the proper amount of insurance to cover the lost
4. often times these items have memories attached given down thru family and generations and no more
5. the loss of income from the money put in and the time put in etc.

How much was lost that was never known or found or the families did not know what or the value of what they had

But that is part of the collecting cycle just as discovering of cards that were lost or never known to exist (ie the Black Swamp find), The Yatzee box find etc

[theshowandme]

I recently read about an art dealer/collector who lost around 200 paintings to the Palisades fire in California.

Among them were several dozen Andy Warhol and Keith Haring paintings.

[Brick442]

I think this is a good question. There must be a few large collections that were sadly lost over the past year (flooding, wildfires etc). I too have wondered if any notable collections were lost.

[OhioLawyerF5]

It's an interesting topic of discussion to ponder. It's an impossible question to answer (hence the sarcasm). While there is no way of knowing, I'm sure there are some big, rare cards that have been lost to disaster over the years.

[ullmandds]

a thought provoking question with no answer.

[Vintage Vern]

Originally Posted by theshowandme

I recently read about an art dealer/collector who lost around 200 paintings to the Palisades fire in California.

Among them were several dozen Andy Warhol and Keith Haring paintings.

Yep, and a bunch of classic collector cars. I also read a vintage guitar shop was in danger as well.

[ruth-gehrig]

Interesting question for sure. What I've wondered more about is what items of significant importance and value have inadvertently been tossed or thrown away. I mean everyone's mom tossed their cards growing up right? So many of my advertising pieces were found in the craziest places and could have been easily overlooked and lost to the elements of weather (Ruth tri fold under porch in Portland Oregon) or simply the landfill (Spalding Base Ball Good sign found behind a cheap framed picture) to others found in the walls of homes that were set to be demolished.