NANCY DREW GAME IN COUNTRY LIVING
The October 2011 issue of Country Living featured several pages on Nancy Drew collecting. It was a very fun experience to be involved with--I was interviewed for the piece and also sent off some of my collectibles and books for photography to them. They had me photograph some of my items--books and collectibles to e-mail them before sending anything so they could see what I had and narrow it down to what they wanted me to send. Shown above is my Nancy Drew 1957 game as of the date I took the photo and e-mailed it off. As you can see it's in pretty good shape. It was the first collectible item I got when I started collecting Nancy Drew and my only 1957 game that I own. It was also special because it was a birthday gift from my husband.
I was hesitant to send off items at first, but I was assured that they would heavily insured for shipping (have e-mails documenting this) and that they would be careful with the items and ship carefully back to me.
I sent off the following items for photography - My 1930 1st printing Old Clock, another Old Clock copy with a nicer dust jacket, and copies of Jewel Box, Ringmaster's Secret, Crossword Cipher, and Crooked Banister, a reproduction lobby card from Nancy Drew...Detective, the 1957 game, and the 2 diaries both white and red versions--these are photos I took of the items before I packed and shipped them:
After the issue came out last fall, several weeks later I received everything back--however, there were about 6 or 7 other books crammed into the box in addition to what I'd sent to begin with--and when I packed the box for shipping it was a nice tight packed box between the items and packing material. So, on the return there really shouldn't have been room for all those other books with the same items and same packing material. Apparently they accidentally sent back some items they'd had for the photo shoot they mistakenly thought were mine, which they told me to just keep.
But, there was a problem, all these books and things were packed and wedged on top of my game causing them to crush through the box lid and this is how my game arrived back to me- I should have taken a photo of the items sitting down inside the game where the lid was smashed down:
If you click on the above image you can see how damaged it is in the lower left corner area with the edges being torn away--there's also creasing and wear on the box lid that you don't see in the images above. You can tell it is the same game due to various marks and soiling on my good condition box above and this one.
I was really crushed to see this game arrive back in this shape, especially due to how I got it--a gift--and that it was the first collectible I purchased. It has been significantly devalued due to the damage. It is also not easy to find this game as there are not a plethora of them available at any given time at eBay--especially in very good condition as mine was and in complete shape with no missing items.
Since then, I have been getting what could only be described as "The Run Around," sadly, from Country Living since last October (for the last 6 months) on filing an insurance claim due to damage in shipping. I'm a seasoned shipper due to my businesses, so I know how easy and simple it is to file an insurance claim--filling out forms and what not and then you're done. So I don't understand why this has been taking so long? The last I have heard now is in January and no responses to my e-mails since then. I think this is very highly unprofessional for such a big company to handle something like this over a $250 dollar insurance claim, where I helped them out by sending off my collectibles after being reassured they would be insured and taken care of. It's a shame really.
Jenn :-(
