diff --git a/js/components/header.js b/js/components/header.js
index 68f50f7c..d2ecb76b 100644
--- a/js/components/header.js
+++ b/js/components/header.js
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import AclProxy from './acl_proxy';
 
 import EventActions from '../actions/event_actions';
 
+import PieceListStore from '../stores/piece_list_store';
+
 import UserActions from '../actions/user_actions';
 import UserStore from '../stores/user_store';
 
@@ -43,12 +45,17 @@ let Header = React.createClass({
 
     getInitialState() {
         return mergeOptions(
+            PieceListStore.getState(),
             WhitelabelStore.getState(),
             UserStore.getState()
         );
     },
 
     componentDidMount() {
+        // Listen to the piece list store, but don't fetch immediately to avoid
+        // conflicts with routes that may need to wait to load the piece list
+        PieceListStore.listen(this.onChange);
+
         UserStore.listen(this.onChange);
         UserActions.fetchCurrentUser.defer();
 
@@ -75,11 +82,16 @@ let Header = React.createClass({
     },
 
     componentWillUnmount() {
+        PieceListStore.unlisten(this.onChange);
         UserStore.unlisten(this.onChange);
         WhitelabelStore.unlisten(this.onChange);
         //history.unlisten(this.onRouteChange);
     },
 
+    onChange(state) {
+        this.setState(state);
+    },
+
     getLogo() {
         let { whitelabel } = this.state;
 
@@ -117,10 +129,6 @@ let Header = React.createClass({
         );
     },
 
-    onChange(state) {
-        this.setState(state);
-    },
-
     onMenuItemClick() {
         /*
         This is a hack to make the dropdown close after clicking on an item
@@ -156,16 +164,17 @@ let Header = React.createClass({
     },
 
     render() {
+        const { currentUser, unfilteredPieceListCount } = this.state;
         let account;
         let signup;
         let navRoutesLinks;
 
-        if (this.state.currentUser.username) {
+        if (currentUser.username) {
             account = (
                 <DropdownButton
                     ref='dropdownbutton'
                     eventKey="1"
-                    title={this.state.currentUser.username}>
+                    title={currentUser.username}>
                     <LinkContainer
                         to="/settings"
                         onClick={this.onMenuItemClick}>
@@ -175,7 +184,7 @@ let Header = React.createClass({
                         </MenuItem>
                     </LinkContainer>
                     <AclProxy
-                        aclObject={this.state.currentUser.acl}
+                        aclObject={currentUser.acl}
                         aclName="acl_view_settings_contract">
                         <LinkContainer
                             to="/contract_settings"
@@ -197,12 +206,18 @@ let Header = React.createClass({
                 </DropdownButton>
             );
 
+            // Let's assume that if the piece list hasn't loaded yet (ie. when unfilteredPieceListCount === -1)
+            // then the user has pieces
+            // FIXME: this doesn't work that well as the user may not load their piece list
+            // until much later, so we would show the 'Collection' header as available until
+            // they actually click on it and get redirected to piece registration.
             navRoutesLinks = (
                 <NavRoutesLinks
                     navbar
                     right
+                    hasPieces={!!unfilteredPieceListCount}
                     routes={this.props.routes}
-                    userAcl={this.state.currentUser.acl} />
+                    userAcl={currentUser.acl} />
             );
         } else {
             account = (
diff --git a/js/components/nav_routes_links.js b/js/components/nav_routes_links.js
index 2a78a337..676a9896 100644
--- a/js/components/nav_routes_links.js
+++ b/js/components/nav_routes_links.js
@@ -11,14 +11,33 @@ import AclProxy from './acl_proxy';
 import { sanitizeList } from '../utils/general_utils';
 
 
+const DISABLE_ENUM = ['hasPieces', 'noPieces'];
+
 let NavRoutesLinks = React.createClass({
     propTypes: {
+        hasPieces: React.PropTypes.bool,
         routes: React.PropTypes.arrayOf(React.PropTypes.object),
         userAcl: React.PropTypes.object
     },
 
+    isRouteDisabled(disableOn) {
+        const { hasPieces } = this.props;
+
+        if (disableOn) {
+            if (!DISABLE_ENUM.includes(disableOn)) {
+                throw new Error(`"disableOn" must be one of: [${DISABLE_ENUM.join(', ')}] got "${disableOn}" instead`);
+            }
+
+            if (disableOn === 'hasPieces') {
+                return hasPieces;
+            } else if (disableOn === 'noPieces') {
+                return !hasPieces;
+            }
+        }
+    },
+
     /**
-     * This method generales a bunch of react-bootstrap specific links
+     * This method generates a bunch of react-bootstrap specific links
      * from the routes we defined in one of the specific routes.js file
      *
      * We can define a headerTitle as well as a aclName and according to that the
@@ -34,20 +53,29 @@ let NavRoutesLinks = React.createClass({
         }
 
         const links = node.childRoutes.map((child, j) => {
-            const { aclName, headerTitle, path, childRoutes } = child;
-            let childrenFn = null;
-
-            // If the node has children that could be rendered, then we want
-            // to execute this function again with the child as the root
-            //
-            // Otherwise we'll just pass childrenFn as false
-            if (child.childRoutes && child.childRoutes.length) {
-                childrenFn = this.extractLinksFromRoutes(child, userAcl, i++);
-            }
+            const { aclName, disableOn, headerTitle, path, childRoutes } = child;
 
             // We validate if the user has set the title correctly,
             // otherwise we're not going to render his route
             if (headerTitle && typeof headerTitle === 'string') {
+                let nestedChildren = null;
+
+                // If the node has children that could be rendered, then we want
+                // to execute this function again with the child as the root
+                //
+                // Otherwise we'll just pass nestedChildren as false
+                if (child.childRoutes && child.childRoutes.length) {
+                    nestedChildren = this.extractLinksFromRoutes(child, userAcl, i++);
+                }
+
+                const navLinkProps = {
+                    headerTitle,
+                    children: nestedChildren,
+                    depth: i,
+                    disabled: this.isRouteDisabled(disableOn),
+                    routePath: `/${path}`
+                };
+
                 // if there is an aclName present on the route definition,
                 // we evaluate it against the user's acl
                 if (aclName && typeof aclName !== 'undefined') {
@@ -56,21 +84,14 @@ let NavRoutesLinks = React.createClass({
                             key={j}
                             aclName={aclName}
                             aclObject={this.props.userAcl}>
-                            <NavRoutesLinksLink
-                                headerTitle={headerTitle}
-                                routePath={'/' + path}
-                                depth={i}
-                                children={childrenFn} />
+                            <NavRoutesLinksLink {...navLinkProps} />
                         </AclProxy>
                     );
                 } else {
                     return (
                         <NavRoutesLinksLink
                             key={j}
-                            headerTitle={headerTitle}
-                            routePath={'/' + path}
-                            depth={i}
-                            children={childrenFn} />
+                            {...navLinkProps} />
                     );
                 }
             } else {
diff --git a/js/components/nav_routes_links_link.js b/js/components/nav_routes_links_link.js
index eef98e59..6daec0ea 100644
--- a/js/components/nav_routes_links_link.js
+++ b/js/components/nav_routes_links_link.js
@@ -11,25 +11,26 @@ import LinkContainer from 'react-router-bootstrap/lib/LinkContainer';
 
 let NavRoutesLinksLink = React.createClass({
     propTypes: {
-        headerTitle: React.PropTypes.string,
-        routePath: React.PropTypes.string,
-
         children: React.PropTypes.oneOfType([
             React.PropTypes.arrayOf(React.PropTypes.element),
             React.PropTypes.element
         ]),
-
-        depth: React.PropTypes.number
+        disabled: React.PropTypes.bool,
+        depth: React.PropTypes.number,
+        headerTitle: React.PropTypes.string,
+        routePath: React.PropTypes.string
     },
 
     render() {
-        const { children, headerTitle, depth, routePath } = this.props;
+        const { children, headerTitle, depth, disabled, routePath } = this.props;
 
         // if the route has children, we're returning a DropdownButton that will get filled
         // with MenuItems
         if (children) {
             return (
-                <DropdownButton title={headerTitle}>
+                <DropdownButton
+                    disabled={disabled}
+                    title={headerTitle}>
                     {children}
                 </DropdownButton>
             );
@@ -38,13 +39,17 @@ let NavRoutesLinksLink = React.createClass({
                 // if the node's child is actually a node of level one (a child of a node), we're
                 // returning a DropdownButton matching MenuItem
                 return (
-                    <LinkContainer to={routePath}>
+                    <LinkContainer
+                        disabled={disabled}
+                        to={routePath}>
                         <MenuItem>{headerTitle}</MenuItem>
                     </LinkContainer>
                 );
             } else if (depth === 0) {
                 return (
-                    <LinkContainer to={routePath}>
+                    <LinkContainer
+                        disabled={disabled}
+                        to={routePath}>
                         <NavItem>{headerTitle}</NavItem>
                     </LinkContainer>
                 );
diff --git a/js/components/whitelabel/prize/prize_routes.js b/js/components/whitelabel/prize/prize_routes.js
index 5f80b30c..b8502004 100644
--- a/js/components/whitelabel/prize/prize_routes.js
+++ b/js/components/whitelabel/prize/prize_routes.js
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ const ROUTES = {
             <Route
                 path='collection'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(SPPieceList)}
-                headerTitle='COLLECTION'/>
+                headerTitle='COLLECTION'
+                disableOn='noPieces' />
             <Route path='pieces/:pieceId' component={SluicePieceContainer} />
             <Route path='editions/:editionId' component={EditionContainer} />
             <Route path='verify' component={CoaVerifyContainer} />
@@ -70,7 +71,8 @@ const ROUTES = {
             <Route
                 path='collection'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(SPPieceList)}
-                headerTitle='SUBMISSIONS'/>
+                headerTitle='SUBMISSIONS'
+                disableOn='noPieces' />
             <Route
                 path='login'
                 component={ProxyHandler(
diff --git a/js/components/whitelabel/wallet/wallet_routes.js b/js/components/whitelabel/wallet/wallet_routes.js
index a5a0e075..ba560608 100644
--- a/js/components/whitelabel/wallet/wallet_routes.js
+++ b/js/components/whitelabel/wallet/wallet_routes.js
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ let ROUTES = {
             <Route
                 path='collection'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(CylandPieceList)}
-                headerTitle='COLLECTION' />
+                headerTitle='COLLECTION'
+                disableOn='noPieces' />
             <Route path='editions/:editionId' component={EditionContainer} />
             <Route path='verify' component={CoaVerifyContainer} />
             <Route path='pieces/:pieceId' component={CylandPieceContainer} />
@@ -109,7 +110,8 @@ let ROUTES = {
             <Route
                 path='collection'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(PieceList)}
-                headerTitle='COLLECTION' />
+                headerTitle='COLLECTION'
+                disableOn='noPieces' />
             <Route path='pieces/:pieceId' component={PieceContainer} />
             <Route path='editions/:editionId' component={EditionContainer} />
             <Route path='verify' component={CoaVerifyContainer} />
@@ -150,7 +152,8 @@ let ROUTES = {
             <Route
                 path='collection'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(IkonotvPieceList)}
-                headerTitle='COLLECTION' />
+                headerTitle='COLLECTION'
+                disableOn='noPieces' />
             <Route
                 path='contract_notifications'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(IkonotvContractNotifications)} />
@@ -189,7 +192,8 @@ let ROUTES = {
             <Route
                 path='collection'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(MarketPieceList)}
-                headerTitle='COLLECTION' />
+                headerTitle='COLLECTION'
+                disableOn='noPieces' />
             <Route path='pieces/:pieceId' component={MarketPieceContainer} />
             <Route path='editions/:editionId' component={MarketEditionContainer} />
             <Route path='verify' component={CoaVerifyContainer} />
@@ -225,7 +229,8 @@ let ROUTES = {
             <Route
                 path='collection'
                 component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(Vivi23PieceList)}
-                headerTitle='COLLECTION' />
+                headerTitle='COLLECTION'
+                disableOn='noPieces' />
             <Route path='pieces/:pieceId' component={MarketPieceContainer} />
             <Route path='editions/:editionId' component={MarketEditionContainer} />
             <Route path='verify' component={CoaVerifyContainer} />
diff --git a/js/routes.js b/js/routes.js
index 49a284af..7a4fce2f 100644
--- a/js/routes.js
+++ b/js/routes.js
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ let COMMON_ROUTES = (
         <Route
             path='collection'
             component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/login', when: 'loggedOut'}))(PieceList)}
-            headerTitle='COLLECTION'/>
+            headerTitle='COLLECTION'
+            disableOn='noPieces' />
         <Route
             path='signup'
             component={ProxyHandler(AuthRedirect({to: '/collection', when: 'loggedIn'}))(SignupContainer)} />