When I was in jr. high I lost my Players Handbook to a tempermental father.  He had told me to take out the trash or some other stupid chore.  Apparently I didnt do it fast enough for him so he stomped into my room and grabbed my Players Handbook off of the floor (I had been reading it earlier).  He then proceeded to yell expletives at me and attempt to tell me that he was sick and tired of me wasting my time on this crap and I better get my ass in gear, pull my head out of my ass, or my ass was grass and he was the lawnmower (or something along those lines).  About the time I popped off and said something stupid, he then ripped the book in half and threw it down on the floor and explained how I was a no-good something or other.

Twenty years later he tells me the story of how he had bought several of the first Superman and Batman comics when he was a kid and how he wishes that he still had them.  When I asked him what happened to them he told me how his younger brother and a friend had torn them up....for fun.  He distinctly remembers the cover of one of them saying it was the first appearance of Robin.  

He still thinks my habit is a waste of money....oh well.  

By the way....very cool avatar.  

killjoy32 wrote:i had to sell my whole collection when i got divorced...does that count in the same way?

still felt the same

Which proves that women are more expensive than hobbies.

I could relate many tales of terror of the destruction of my stuff at the hands of another. It is one reason I have been on a perpetual hunt -- I lost my 3rd print OD&D box set to a paper shredder at my mom's work, because it was "evil." I lost a PHB to the hands of an ex who was pissed that I leveled my character, and she did not -- so she broke the book in half by pounding it on the table corner. Oh yes, and there are more. I try to not remember these moments.

I also remember riding my 10 speed from one friend house to anothers.  I had a few of the hardback books in a plastic shopping bag, which was clenched in my right hand, while also gripping the handlebars so that the bag was hanging down from my right handlebar.  I was cruising at a nice speed, when I turned or someting happened where the bag of books swung into the spokes of my front wheel, and slammed the bag and swung it around causing me to wreck.  I was OK, but my players handbook, wilderness survival guide and fiend folio all had huge gashs at the top 2 inches of the spines where the spoke dug in deep.  I fixed them with glue and tape, but it was never the same.

Pennfarms wrote:I also remember riding my 10 speed from one friend house to anothers.  I had a few of the hardback books in a plastic shopping bag, which was clenched in my right hand, while also gripping the handlebars so that the bag was hanging down from my right handlebar.  I was cruising at a nice speed, when I turned or someting happened where the bag of books swung into the spokes of my front wheel, and slammed the bag and swung it around causing me to wreck.  I was OK, but my players handbook, wilderness survival guide and fiend folio all had huge gashs at the top 2 inches of the spines where the spoke dug in deep.  I fixed them with glue and tape, but it was never the same.

Same thing happened to my friend. We'd just been at the book store and bought Tolkien's LOTR sets. We're riding along the footpath. My friend insisted on carrying the bag (in the same way as you described). Then three very pretty girls came ambling down ahead of us. My friend got that shy, goofy look (we were 13 years old geeks), the bag swung into the wheel, he catapulted into an electricity pole, bounced off and lay sprawled on his back at the girls' feet. He was OK except his colour, which was bright red from ear to ear. And yes, the books had stress tears on the covers!

thats hilarious, HermitfromPluto.  I wonder how many books have been damaged that way?

Smoke odor is something else altogether.  I bought a huge pile of PC RGPs of some lady this past weekend...had all the icewind dales and baldurs gate and all the add ons and deluxe maps and all that stuff....  A great score, I thought.  But when I got the box home and started going through it, it all reeked of smoke.  

its the silent killer, for sure.

My other weird story of damage to DnD stuff:

One cold winter day we all converged on my friend's house for a day of DnD. I think we were playing S2 'White Plume Mountain'. We set up the game around a smallish coffee table. Made steaming coffee. We decided to light the open fire, so got a hearty blaze going --- about five minutes later, there is a 'rowwwrrrr' and my friend's cat bursts out of the fireplace through the flames, across the table, sending coffee, dice and papers everywhere.

Cat: OK, whiskers singed into little tight curls.
DnD modules and papers: coffee damage!

The cat must have been sleeping in the chimney!

spades1013 wrote:Well, when I was in college, my friends and I were rather fond of certain "herbal smokeables" and preferred to use a small metal pipe. This required frequent cleaning of said pipe of gummy resin that accumulated within.  My Oriental Adventures seemed to be the surface of choice for these cleanings and to this day is covered in small, sticky circles of black goo.

Shouldn't that increase the value a bit?

No, but if you light it on fire and breathe the fumes, a contact high should result....!

Mike B.

napoleonsdad wrote:My original D&D collection was lost for nearly 20 years and just recently I was re-united with it.  I had taken the stuff over to a friends place and left it there so I wouldn't have to pack it back and forth.  His girlfriend booted him out of the house during that time.  Luckily he managed to pack up the collection and he took it with him.  Unfortunately we lost contact with one another until last year.  He had everything and gave it back to me although it was a little worn from storage.  It was pretty cool going through all those records we kept of our adventures.

That's a heartwarming story.  I'm impressed that he kept your things for so long.  How did he find you again?