A few words of advice from personal experience

[Adam Austin]

On May 30th my house burned down. The fire started in the living room and quickly moved through the roof and everything my fiancee, future mother-in-law, and I owned.
Below the fire in the living was my newly finished basement art studio.
I am a graphic design student at my local community college. We had just turned the basement into a studio.
It had a drafting table, a desk, a 27 inch iMac, a couch, statues and action figures and ALL my comics.
26 long boxes and 3 long shelves of trades and hardcovers, 3 pieces of original art.

The fire never made it to the basement.

The water did.

All of my trades were destroyed as the water poured through cracks in the ceiling. The AMAZING firefighters shoveled my statues and toys into whatever bags they could find and threw salvage tarps over my already drenched Drawerbox longboxes...

We lost 2 cats in the fire. I took our remaining animals to the hospital to expel the smoke from their lungs. When I got back my PHENOM of a fiancee had pulled all my saggy and deteriorating longboxes onto the sidewalk. I franticly went through them looking for our copies of FF 48, 49, 50 (yes ours, we met in a comic shop).

The FF issues were fine.
Most of my comics were fine.

My comics were all bagged and boarded with the regular bags and boards. Nothing fancy. 2 pieces of tape on the back and filed alphabetically and chronologically.

Out of my 26 longboxes we lost about 120 comics. The boxes didn't come close to making it. The bottom row of boxes sat in about 6 inches of water for 2 hours. Water only got to the comics that had tiny tears in the corners or sides.

I tell you all this not for sympathy or charity. We are surrounded by some GREAT people that have taken very good care of us.
I tell you this as advice. PLEASE, if you don't already, BAG AND BOARD your comics! IT's WORTH IT!

It's taken me this long to post something about it because I get emotional. But, tomorrow we close on our new house. A new house where I will make a new studio. I will by new longboxes. I will continue to bag and board my comics.


Thanks for reading.


p.s the original art made it to0. They were in floating frames. The pages upstairs in the house did not make it however......

[JoeyN]

Glad you guys are ok. Can't even think about something like that happening.

[Devilhand]

My goodness man. Sorry to hear two of your furry friends didn't make it and that your lives have experienced such a shock because of the fire.

I hope the road to recovery is smooth.

I'll back up your testimony. I had a friend who stored his comics at his mother's house, and her basement flooded. The only thing that saved his collection was the bags and boards.

[slurmo]

Thanks for sharing. I'm so glad that you and your wife are ok. Sad about the cats that didn't make it but some did and that's a good thing.

I try to put a positive spin on every situation, but I don't need to this time, you said it all.

When I got back my PHENOM of a fiancee had pulled all my saggy and deteriorating longboxes onto the sidewalk. I franticly went through them looking for our copies of FF 48, 49, 50 (yes ours, we met in a comic shop).

I'm sure you two will rebuild in no time  you guys are safe that's the important part, the art, the comics that's just icing on the cake.

Take care of one another.

[Farrell]

I'm traumatized by even the idea of a fire in my home.  I'm glad there were positives to take from your harrowing experience, Adam.

[JohnnyNoPrize]

My family experienced a house fire back in the '80's. Losing what you did hurts but what *I* can tell you from experience is that "stuff is stuff". The single most important thing is that your family is ok and for that I know you,and all of us are grateful.

[valance_the_hunter]

We lost 2 cats in the fire.

Ah man…I am so sorry to hear that, fucking heartbreaking.

The AMAZING firefighters shoveled my statues and toys into whatever bags they could find and threw salvage tarps over my already drenched Drawerbox longboxes…

Pretty amazing.

[legion of daves]

i'm really sorry to hear about all this, i got a little choked up thinking about your situation.  i'm glad not everything was a total loss, but i'm heartbroken about your feline friends.   

[BobBretall]

Another thing to think about is specialized collectibles insurance, I have it.

A regular homeowners policy will not cover comics/art/other collectibles at replacement value.

[Dean S.]

Another thing to think about is specialized collectibles insurance, I have it.

A regular homeowners policy will not cover comics/art/other collectibles at replacement value.

Regarding the OP, so glad your family is safe, even if it did get the cats.

It's amazing the things that a standard homeowner's policy doesn't cover.  I think most people carry a homeowner's policy merely because it's required by whoever hold the mortgage on the house.  But....they're only concerned about the HOUSE and don't give a damn about the stuff in the house. 

Basically, if you have anything in your home that is nicer than Wal-Mart Quality, you should probably assume that it isn't fully covered.  It isn't just comics either: nice china from your wedding, better than normal clothing or furniture, original art on the walls, pricey pet stuff like saltwater aquariums, high-end electronics, firearms, jewelry, specialized tools and hardware, 3rd cars left in the garage, etc.

That doesn't mean that you should necessarily insure each and every item, but do consider the cumulative effect of having a LOT of stuff being underinsured.   

[Kenney]

When I was reading the post, I thought you were about to be sarcastic about the "AMAZING firefighters" (because all caps makes me think of snarkiness), but then they really were amazing! Of course, I'm sorry about your cats, but I'm glad you didn't lose everything.

[S. Earl]

I am really sorry to hear about your cats. I know it doesn't make up for it, but it is great to hear of all the things you were able to hold onto though, and I'll second everyone else, those firefighters sound like they were working on another level.

[BobBretall]

That doesn't mean that you should necessarily insure each and every item, but do consider the cumulative effect of having a LOT of stuff being underinsured.   

I agree, since I have 80,000+ comics, 100s of pages of Original art, 100s of statues & mini-busts, etc. I finally broke down & got a specific collectibles insurance policy a bit over a year ago after putting it off for years.

[Chris]

Sorry about your cats.

[Dean S.]

I agree, since I have 80,000+ comics, 100s of pages of Original art, 100s of statues & mini-busts, etc. I finally broke down & got a specific collectibles insurance policy a bit over a year ago after putting it off for years.

The downside here (I suspect) is that is lays out for the wife just how much $$$$ has gone into the comic book habit over the years.  I think my wife is happier just knowing that it is vaguely "some" and that it has added up over the years.

The other thing is I'm imagining getting a check for $20K or whatever from the insurance company after my house is destroyed.  One, I have a feeling that money would be appropriated to pay for something else.  Two, I'd probably get in trouble shopping eBay for new treasures while the house is still smoldering. 

I can just see it, "What's in the box?  A new set of everyday china?"  "Nope babe....it's a replacement for my Dark Knight Returns issues.....all 8.2 or better!  Look at how clean the spines are!"

[turtleboy8]

I agree, since I have 80,000+ comics, 100s of pages of Original art, 100s of statues & mini-busts, etc. I finally broke down & got a specific collectibles insurance policy a bit over a year ago after putting it off for years.

I think you are serious...80,000?!  Wow that is a lot of space!  Where do you store 300-ish longboxes? 

[BobBretall]

The other thing is I'm imagining getting a check for $20K or whatever from the insurance company after my house is destroyed.  One, I have a feeling that money would be appropriated to pay for something else.  Two, I'd probably get in trouble shopping eBay for new treasures while the house is still smoldering. 

Yeah, well for me it would be more like a check for $500k if if the house burned down......so having the insurance was kind of important.

I agree about having a hard time actually going back & replacing everything.  I'd be selective on what I replaced.

[BobBretall]

I think you are serious...80,000?!  Wow that is a lot of space!  Where do you store 300-ish longboxes? 

Here's what it looked like about a year & a half ago, I'll need to do some updated pics:
http://www.comicbookpage.com/Comics/ComicBookRooms/BobBretallComicVault.php

[Steve Raker]

Sorry to hear of your experience, Adam....glad you're back on your feet!

I lost all my comics (except for Amazing Spider-Man #1!) in a house fire in 1980 when I was 10 (2nd night in our first house).  Smoke and water damage far exceeded fire damage as far as loss of personal property goes.  Doesn't matter where fire was (for us, in attic), the whole house gets smoked and soaked.

Getting some money from my folks to replace my comics and deciding what to replace/buy and hunting for them was a major catalyst in developing a collector mentality in my young(er) mind and understanding/treating comics with respect to (personal and perceived monetary) value.

Think of the bright side: now that you've had a house fire, what're the odds of it ever happening again!

[Dean S.]

Yeah, well for me it would be more like a check for $500k if if the house burned down......so having the insurance was kind of important.

I agree about having a hard time actually going back & replacing everything.  I'd be selective on what I replaced.

  I was just kinda using a number for argument's sake and I can totally see how it could end up that much.  Everyone should kinda wander their house and add stuff up.  The contents may be worth more than the house itself.