Saturday, April 14, 2012

Nancy Drew Game - Country Living Article

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 :-(

Friday, April 06, 2012

Nancy Drew Tote at Barnes & Noble

Nancy Drew Tote at Barnes & Noble

Nancy Fans: Run out to your local Barnes & Noble shops and pick up the cool Nancy Drew Tote! Priced at $1.99 they are going fast! In fact, some stores aren't even carrying them, so be sure to check in your area to find which ones do. They can look up in their computer system to see which stores in your area have them, if the one you visit doesn't have them. 

These are a limited time item from what I'm hearing. I'm sending out some to various Sleuth members who requested one and bought almost all that only 1 Phoenix/valley area store was carrying. 

One reason this tote is especially popular among fans, is the VINTAGE artwork on the bag--it's the first cover art for #21 The Secret in the Old Attic done by the very popular Nancy Drew illustrator Russell H. Tandy--featured on both sides of the bag.

Hopefully Barnes & Noble will do another tote in the future or release more of this style in more stores so fans can get them.

Jenn:)

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Nancy Drew Fabric Preview

Nancy Drew Fabric Preview

Nancy Fans--we're finally getting more Nancy Drew Fabric! And it's going to be fabulous :) It's by Moda, so you know the quality will be superb. Coming this October 2012 to a quilt/fabric shop near you. Above is a sample panel featuring vintage book covers. Here are several other sneak peeks--each in different color blocks with samples of the various Nancy Drew fabric--here are the various strike-offs laid out together--as you can see there are 7 different styles of patterns:

 
Closer to the debut of the fabric, we will be doing some blogging contests and crafty contests here for those who sew and do fabric crafts, so start thinking of ideas--will update you when we get these finalized later this year.

Two of my favorites in the line are the silhouette endpapers and also the vintage book spines.

Jenn:)