So I have been at the BGG for around 5 months now, and I love it. I thought my collection of games was growing nicely - I now have 60 listed ( although I have to take a few off ). Living in Costa Rica can be tough and expensive getting games. I ended pay way over $100 for my Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game game ( shipping to carrier service in Fl. and then to Costa Rica, customs here, and then getting it to the jungle ). So I actually have a few games sitting in Ohio and Florida at friends and family's house just waiting till I return or a friend visits.
So I have friend who is a gamer is was coming back down from Canada ( he is a guide for a bontanical gardens we have that we are just getting ready to open to the public ) with very little stuff since he left all his stuff here ( he was here over 3 months volunteering and training to be a guide ). So I thought this was the perfect chance to get a bunch of games brought down.

I asked the Geek where a good game store was in Toronto and
Andrejs from the BGG works at a store there and was very helpful and offered me 20%, which I thought was great. My friend Jon was suppose to be in Canada for 2 weeks, so I thought it best to buy from a FLGS, then he told me he would be there over a month. My first thought was to buy online so I could save a lot of $. Then I thought I should support the FLGS and Andrew was so nice and helpful I should give him the business. So that is what I did.

I did my research and put in a huge order, well for me anyways.

Carcassonne
Risk 2210
Settlers of Catan
Illuminati Bavarian Fire Drill
Blue Moon
Dungeon Twister and 3 expansions
& Cash & Guns.

I only had to wait a few more weeks when he finally brought them & I could not wait to try them all out. Blue moon was to be played with the wife, Cash & Guns with my volunteer group and the rest with both and my local friends who are gamers. My German friend was very excited to hear I had Settlers coming down and I wanted to try it since it gets such high ratings here at the BGG.

So my friend arrives in San Jose yesterday and I only have to wait till today for all these games to arrive and my collection to grow rather nicely in just one day, I thought oh happy day when I woke up.

I was in the gardens this morning playing Conquest of the Fallen Lands with my volunteers and I get a call from Jon ( my friend coming down with all those wonderful games ). I am really excited to hear from him since I figure he is as excited as me to get some serious gaming in later today.

He asks me if I watched the news last night, which I thought was a weird question since he knows I don't even own a TV. I answer no and he tells me to sit down. He was staying at the Gran Imperial in down town San Jose Costa Rice, a dive hotel that is very cheap and aimed at backpackers. He was staying there to put up fliers to try and get more volunteers for our botanical gardens. And.....................The place burned down to the ground 20 minutes after he got there. He says he saw a girl who was a crack head in the room beside him and when he said hello she didn't even look at him. He was there for only 20 minutes and was relaxing on the balcony and talking with other tourists when the maid starting screaming Fire. He ran in and grabbed a fire extinguiser and tried to help but it was way to far along to do anything about it. It started in the room beside his so he could not even get into his room


No one was hurt, which is great, and he had his passport and $ on him, but all his stuff got burnt ( mainly cloths and I have plenty to give him ) but I am so fricking bummed that $330 in brand new never opened games got burned in the fire

Why - cause of a crack head. This was such a blow I was in a daze so bad that I actually couldn't even finish my game of Conquest of the Fallen Lands ( the game was almost over and I was going to lose, and we knew who was going to win, so my volunteers understood ). I am just really happy My friend was not hurt, but my stomach is still in knots thinking of all those lost games. That was to be my big game order of the year, so now I can only dream of getting some of those games next year, but with my wife pregnant for the first time I am now figuring $ will be tight once our new gamer arrives.

I really thought my collection was starting to kick butt and I would have games for almost anybody or any friend who showed up. Oh well. The only good news is I had already bought Carcassonne a while back so I still have that. I was going to have an extra copy for the volunteer program, but that idea went up in smoke ( or fire ).

So please remember people Crack doesn't just Kill, it also destroys Board Games

Man, I'm really sorry to hear that. What a bummer.

That is one helluva sad story man. Sorry for your loss.

That really, really sucks, Tom. It is good your friend got out though.

It also doesn't sound like the type of hotel that's going to have insurance or something to cover losses...that sucks. Good that your friend is ok, though.

Hendal - PM me your e-mail address. I'm sending you a Paypal to buy you a new Carcassone.

Anyone with me helping this guy out? Spread the the mighty wings of geek love to Costa Rica.

Falloutfan.

I'm glad to hear your friend was not injured. Sucks about the games though...

Oh man, That really sucks,

Tom, I'm sorry to hear about the loss and the obvious disappointment it caused you.

I was thinking of maybe sending a care package of games to Hendal's US address (if he says it's ok). I've got a couple I can spare. Anyone interested?

I can't do much, as I've got a high value (for me, anyway) buy on the line and am looking at a house (which makes me cry at how little my game budget will be), but I can chip in something. I'd like that email address too if you don't mind :)

And hey, at least everyone is OK. I know it sucks but you still get to enjoy old games with your bud, and that's always better than new games with the memory of your bud.

Cheers mate. Happy gaming :)

Sure count me in

I've got a spare Carcassonne I'll happily contribute.

That does indeed suck, but keep things in perspective - it's only "stuff". Getting games out into the Jungle does sound like a bit of a chore - how do they hold up in that environment?

This makes me really sad. Sorry for your loss - look on the bright side, you still get to live in beautiful Costa Rica! :) I was there for spring break, backpacking - I think I know the hotel you are talking about actually but we didn't stay there when we were near San Jose (we stayed in Alajuela).

Where do you live in the country? There's a chance that my friend and I are going to head back to Central and South America for a few months this fall - if we do, we definitely plan on spending a little more time in Costa Rica, probably the Osa Peninsula. If you are anywhere around there, maybe we could arrange to bring a game or two to you? It would probably have to be small (maybe some card games) because our space is very limited, especially for a backpacking trip for that amount of time. But I would love to help out if we can.

I have to check, but I THINK I have a Risk 2210, potentially still in shrink, I'd be happy to send. I haven't played it and my game group has enough stuff in queue. I feel your loss, Hendal...My groundfloor apartment flooded two years ago and I lost 4 games, including one now OOP (Giganten) and my binder of oldest magic cards (some worth a fair amount...Multiple dual lands, etc).

Any chance of an insurance claim? Many policies cover damaged personal property.

Ah... me too! My garage burned down and I totally lost my new BMW collection. Anyone care about sending me a car care package?

Hendel, you can have the extra Ca$h & Gun$ I keep in the trunk of my car. Do you want me to ship it to you or give it to you at GenCon?

Jim

I can pick up a copy of Blue Moon at my local store and send it to you. Or, maybe, send you some paypal$ ?

I can pick up a copy of Blue Moon at my local store and send it to you. Or, maybe, send you some paypal$ ?

How ironic.

Jim

Nah... see, the thing is, we LIKE Hendal...

Yep. Count me in. Send me the email, too, Hendal.

If he had to pay $100 for Last Night on Earth, maybe it would be more cost effective to find a BGG-er flying to Costa Rica already and we mail that person some games so he's not stuck with customs.

Tickets from Dallas are about $900+, so that sorta rules out buying someone a ticket.