OT-One Dark Shadows Collector's Near Miss!

Where have I been?    I wish i could say I've been in Florida all this time, but that was scarcely over a week.    Well, two weeks ago after our return, my basement decided to become a swamp! It  on Sunday night and I had just finished putting all the vacation snapshots in an album where I noticed a damp smell at the basement door. When I went down to look, the floor,  was wet and all the carpeted areas were soaked. Now, I was lucky in that most of my valuables and major collectible were on bookcases, but everything sitting on the floor was wet,  especially anything in a cardboard box. In fact, some box were sinking and the boxes atop them were ready to fall.  At this time, I wasn't really sure to what extent  the water had crept in, and no sure idea where it came from. We had had a rainstorm that night, but even during Hurricane Gaston we hadn't had a drop. I spent the next week dealing with the wide array of people a homeowner deals with in a crisis,
   Anyway, after the usual array of plumbers, insurance people, the Service Pro people who take up the carpet and haul away everything too damaged to save, and the lady with the alligator purse, no one had been able to determine where the water was coming from until the floor was up and everything was out. The after washing dishes Friday night  the water started again. It was the hot water heater with a slow but deadly leak. Seems the water only came out when it was actively flowing through it.
      It's amazing what we collector's can put aside over a few years. The good news is I haven't lost too much beyond. When Diane and I married we both had some of the same dark Shadows items. The duplicates were in the basement. What I did lose was a number of old SciFi channel VHS tapings, most of my old DS Marilyn Ross books, a few of the good DS fanzines, and a few other misc items. The good news is we still have a complete collection of MPI tapes which was upstairs in a bookcase by itself. Diane has a complete collection of the novels and paperbacks including the rare "Dark Shadows Cookbook." The funny thing is some of the stuff I found, like a rather worn but still very good poster of Barnabas from one of the Gold Key comics; some issues of "The Dark Shadows Files, " edited by James Van Hise. Anyone remember these? I found two different once, and a third the same contents with a different cover.   Actually, I had lots of "Files" magazines. Luckily, all the DS one were good, although the James Bond issues have been "sanctioned."   
      In other collectors things, I lost the long saved original boxes to two "Major Matt Mason" toys with most  contents okay however. A few sharp DS watcher may recall seeing David Collins having a Major Matt Mason official Space Station in his room. All my Sideshow figures are okay, they were up on book shelves. I found a run of "Castle of Frankenstein" and Forest Ackerman's "Monsterland," which was the pseudo "Famous Monsters" magazine that took up the slack between FM's original run and the 1990's run. I think overall, we were pretty lucky. While it was relatively costly and certainly exhausting and frustrating    ,  I now have a better  appreciation for what people go through after real disasters. Its amazing what just a couple of inches of water can do. 

Michael

What an awful mess to come home to.

May I add my two cents worth of advice?  Run, do not walk, to the nearest Home store and purchase a shut off valve for the "Whole House" water supply.  Then make sure you shut it off every time you leave the house for any long period of time.

Our next door neighbors came within inches of the collapse of the entire basement structure of their home because 18 inches of water dripped in during a 3-week vacation.

Most DS Fans collect something.  It's worth the price of a shut-off valve to protect those beloved things.

A few sharp DS watcher may recall seeing David Collins having a Major Matt Mason official Space Station in his room.

Sorry to hear about your water problems, CyrusL, but I am glad you identified this item from David's room because it was driving me nuts. It looks vaguely similar to the Kenner Star Wars Death Star toy that we had as kids in the early 1980s, so I was curious to know what it was.

sorry Micheal i've moved everything to attic (we get water sometimes)we have a giant
waterless tank but bought a shut off device as rainey talks
about for the cape house my father had a nightmare about
it leaking and he drove down at 3am and sure enough found it leaking
glad to hear that most of your stuff was saved


jennifer

Do you have a listing of what was lost DS-wise?  Maybe some of us can donate duplicate items from our own collections to give to you- I know I'm game!  I can only imagine how many DS fans were affected by last year's hurricanes.  Thank God you and your family are safe.

A little more advice--- buy some big, beautiful plastic storage boxes with tight lids if you're going to store anything in a place that gets any kind of dampness.  Even though most of our cellar escapes the puddle seeping under the door to the yard, there's a strong smell of dampness that gets into everything exposed to the air down there.  Having those plastic crates DOES help to cut down on much of that.

Donna dear, great minds think alike! That's what I've done over the years with some of my DS items and other articles after learning a painful lesson: do not store things in cardboard boxes, especially in damp basements which are prone to mildew!  Well, my DS items weren't affected, but a lot of other books, magazines and clothing were!

I appreciate everyone's support. Most especially Charles' offer, you're such a sweetheart. Actually, the main things I lost DS wise would include some of the novels with the alternate covers. I appreciate your willing to look, but unless you have 2-3 copies of the first books with both covers, then I will just pick them up as I run across them. I haven't lost any sleep over them. I will run a list of the soggy fanzines I lost when I can identify them.

With appreciation,

Michael 

Brooklyn for sure, 8/06!