[Slightly OT] [RANT] I HATE MOVING!!

[Zander]

I moved a couple of years ago including my not-so-small RPG collection. I bubble-wrapped the books and box sets in bunches of 3 to 4. I then opened a rubbish bag inside each archive box and placed my stuff in the bags/boxes. I made a record of the contents of each box then sealed the bags and boxes with packing tape.

Most of my miniatures were already in the kind of small component drawer units usually used for nails, screws and other hardware. Each drawer had been lined with sponge, so all I had to do was pack cotton wool into each drawer and envelope it with cling film (sarran wrap). I then wrapped the whole unit in cling film so the drawers wouldn't fall out and that was it.

Not a single book or box set was damaged. The only damage to the miniatures was that some suffered from lead rot which can happen to older miniatures when air doesn't circulate around them. Otherwise they were fine too.

BTW if you want to protect against mice, pack your bubble-wrapped books in steal wool. Mice and other rodents hate it and won't even try to get through it.

 

[Datt]

The only thing worse than packing to move is, unpacking after you move. No matter how well you pack things and mark the boxes, you are always going to be missing stuff. I hate it.

 

[WayneLigon]

1 was full of older Dragon magazines (all the bottoms of them are now water damaged, some even worse)

Man, that is one of my worst fears, right after fires and insect damage.

I have a ton of old Dragon magazines, almost everything from #10 on, almost all of which are in excellent or better shape. Let me know what you've lost and I'll see if I have it; any inclusions (Tom Wham games, etc) are likely missing, though, if they're from that era in Dragon history. I'm willing to sell pretty much all the Dragons I have prior to #250, and I'm sure we could come up with a good price. I have access to a digital camera, so I could post pics for you to check out quality.

Let me know what 2E supplements you lost as well. I might have them, but the probability is not as good as with the Dragons. I have another friend I could contact who has a lot more than I; I could ask him about selling as well.

 

[Desdichado]

Dude, that sucks! Here I was feeling sorry for myself because all my RPG stuff is still in a box a week after moving!

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I generally hate moving.(especialy to/from walk ups) But I really want to move back to NY. I moved back to and am sort of stuck in the SF bay area for family reasons. But in a month or two and a year and a half later than expected for good or bad I should be able to make a decision to move back. All I need is a job out there, yeah for near entry level cross country job hunts.

 

[maransreth]

Wayne, Thanx for the kind offer. At the moment I am not sure which Dragon mags are really bad and which ones got off lightly. The ones affected were early 200s and earlier, down to about 150.

As for the 2e supplement I think I can get another copy of the one that was really bad at a local 2nd hand store.

So I'll look at the Dragon mags after the move (just too busy at the moment to see which ones are really bad. My wife put them out in the sun to dry for awhile, so really unsure).

Everyone else, thanks for the suggestions on the Rubbermaid containers. As I am in Australia, I'll have to look around to see what we have as I have never heard of that type of box before.

 

[drothgery]

The only thing worse than packing to move is, unpacking after you move. No matter how well you pack things and mark the boxes, you are always going to be missing stuff. I hate it.

One thing that's kind of interesting is that there will almost always be at least one box of stuff that you move to your new place, and have yet to open again before the next time you move. At least, this happened every time I've moved, and that's happened a lot.

I did my best to avoid this while moving out here (because I didn't want to hire a mover to take 1 bedroom full of stuff cross-country), and I still have a small pile of stuff in the closet that I haven't touched since I moved into my new apartment two years ago. Of course, it's mostly cold weather gear that I needed in Rochester, NY, but have no use for in San Diego, CA.

 

[KnowTheToe]

Moving Sucks!. I am having a house built and have been trying to sell my current house. Almost all of my stuff is packed in boxes and has been for months. Every weekend I have to leave the house for showings and have to eat out several times during the week becasue of showings. I am grateful for all the activity, but I am tired of living in "transition" mode.

BTW. I love the unpacking. I am an organization nut.

 

[Buttercup]

So 2 boxes that were on the bottom of the piles had soaked bottoms. 1 was full of older Dragon magazines (all the bottoms of them are now water damaged, some even worse) and the other had old 2e FR supplements and modules. Most are ok, only slightly damp, but one is completely waterlogged.

Duane, I can give you some suggestions about how to salvage these books and magazines.

If they're still wet, put them in a frost free freezer. Really. I'm serious. The water in the paper will freeze, and then the fan in the freezer will eventually evaporate it. If you can get the pages apart, you can put wax paper between them, but don't force it. This isn't as good as getting the stuff professionally freeze dried, but it's the best you can do. It will probably work for all but the most damaged items, unless your freezer isn't very good at removing moisture.

If any of these things get moldy, throw them out. I know it sucks, but you have to do it. Why? Book mold spreads. Over time it can ruin all of the books on a shelf, and if the environment is humid, it can even spread to wooden items (paper being at least partly wood pulp, you know).

Good luck!

 

[WayneLigon]

The ones affected were early 200s and earlier, down to about 150.

I should have all of those. Let me know numbers when you get straightened out and I'll do a quality check on them, etc.