Stolen pre-war collection in VT? (Link to a thread at BO)

[Fred]

Just out of curiosity, were Lionel Carter's cards cataloged and photo documented? Were any of his cards graded before the theft?

I bet there are a few collections out there owned by older collectors that are not tech savvy and these collectors just never thought about insuring or otherwise inventorying the cards. I know that sounds unrealistic in today's world, but I'm going to guess it's not totally unusual.

How many of you have a full photodocumented inventory, or even close to a fully documented inventory complete? How many of you have the slab numbers of all the cards you own? Just curious.

[rhettyeakley]

So what exactly are people even supposed to be on the lookout for other than a "Murderers Row" baseball? How would we even know we were looking at said collection?

I can understand not having photos or a typed inventory but you gotta give us more than there were "a bunch ($300K is a LOT) of old baseball cards stolen"? Which sets, mostly T's, E's or R's. Any extreme rarities/unique cards that if they show up would really help to point to this particular collection. Seems strange but hopefully if they were stolen they eventually find their rightful home.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

So what exactly are people even supposed to be on the lookout for other than a "Murderers Row" baseball? How would we even know we were looking at said collection?

I can understand not having photos or a typed inventory but you gotta give us more than there were "a bunch ($300K is a LOT) of old baseball cards stolen"? Which sets, mostly T's, E's or R's. Any extreme rarities/unique cards that if they show up would really help to point to this particular collection. Seems strange but hopefully if they were stolen they eventually find their rightful home.

This has been bothering me too. Surely, this guy has a few other items with distinguishing characteristics.

[Leon]

Does any serious collector, or longtime collector on this board, not have a list of what they have?

[sb1]

Originally Posted by Leon

Does any serious collector, or longtime collector on this board, not have a list of what they have?

More than you would think.

As in most area's of life, people only act after an event such as this has happened, not before. Like getting a burglar alarm after you have been robbed. Never thought you would need one before, much like needing a list of cards you assembled over a lifetime. Guys like the old timers, simply amassed vast numbers of cards, tucked them away and never gave much thought to anything else.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by sb1

More than you would think.

As in most area's of life, people only act after an event such as this has happened, not before. Like getting a burglar alarm after you have been robbed. Never thought you would need one before, much like needing a list of cards you assembled over a lifetime. Guys like the old timers, simply amassed vast numbers of cards, tucked them away and never gave much thought to anything else.

I have thousands of cards and there is no way to know what I have, to every last card (just like the strip card I just showed in that thread), without a list. But i hear ya and you are probably right.

[bmattioli]

Originally Posted by sb1

More than you would think.

As in most area's of life, people only act after an event such as this has happened, not before. Like getting a burglar alarm after you have been robbed. Never thought you would need one before, much like needing a list of cards you assembled over a lifetime. Guys like the old timers, simply amassed vast numbers of cards, tucked them away and never gave much thought to anything else.

Totally agree.. and I work for an Alarm company as a technician I see this over and over.. One thing my father who had a nice collection himself told me over and over to NEVER tell anyone what ya got. To me that includes uploading any pictures on any open forums.. Never will, sorry..

[mark evans]

Every collector's worst nightmare. Even if insured to the hilt and provable, still a horrible experience.