Insurance Claims for LEGO Shipments

Istokg

In the past I had 2 frantic LEGO sellers who asked me for help for them getting their Insurance claims settled with the United States Postal Service. For anyone who has ever tried to collect insurance claims from the USPS, you will know that it is like pulling teeth! ... and they're not exactly the quickest claims settlers around...

I gave them a screen print of the Insurance Price Guide Page from my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (1949-90) ... then it was on CD, now on DVD. The 2 sellers had tried a Bricklink database price guide print, but the USPS didn't seem to accept that... but they did accept my Insurance guide. A few months ago I myself put this to the test, and was able to use my own guide as a "reference" for settling my claim.

My Insurance Price Guide only covers 1949-80s... but those are the years where pricing information is hard to come by. And I follow the standard toy collectibles price guide grades of 1) VERY GOOD, 2) EXCELLENT, 3) MINT IN BOX, and 4) MINT IN SEALED BOX (with this grade, getting an exact number is problematic... so the "+" sign helps show that it can be valued much more).

Since the Fantasia book (LEGO Collectors Guide) only lists 1 to 6 bricks for a rareness indicator, that book cannot be used for any insurance purposes.

Here is a sample page from my DVD (which has a nearly 400 page guide in Dollars and a duplicate 400 page guide in Euros) which has a total of 10,156 insurance values. Not only can you use this as a "compables guide", but also in helping you determine your collections worth for insurance purposes...


#376 - HOUSE W/ GARDEN SET (1978)

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VG------------------EX---------------------MIB---------------------MISB
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#376- House w/ Garden set (EU/UK/AUS/CAN)

EU45-EU60------------EU60-EU75-------------EU100-EU125--------------EU150+

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#377 - TRUCK W/ TRAILER & CRANE SET(1971)

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VG------------------EX---------------------MIB---------------------MISB
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#377- Truck w/ Trailer & Crane set (EU/UK/AUS)

EU50-EU75-----------EU75-EU100-------------EU125-EU150--------------EU200+
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#377 - SHELL STATION SET (1978)
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VG------------------EX---------------------MIB----------------------MISB
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#377- Shell Station set (EU/UK/AUS/CAN)

EU60-EU80-----------EU80-EU110-------------EU135-EU160--------------EU200+

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#379 - BUS STATION SET (1979)
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VG------------------EX---------------------MIB-----------------------MISB
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#379- Bus Station set (EU/UK/AUS/CAN)

EU75-EU100----------EU125-EU150-------------EU175-EU225--------------EU300+
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#380 - VILLAGE SET (1969-71)

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VG-------------------EX--------------------MIB-----------------------MISB

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#380- Village set (UK/AUS)

EU200-EU225----------EU250-EU275-----------EU400-EU600---------------EU800+

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So my DVD is a handy reference besides just learning the history and A B Cs of LEGO sets and parts... but for insurance (and valuation) purposes as well...
Cheers,
Gary Istok
Still available in my Bricklink store, either as a DVD or as a downloadable set of files...
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=istokg&itemID=32384933