Java Serialization Object Input

I made a mistake that I need to find a way to recover from. I am working on an investigation project that requires a large set of samples. I am out of town for the week so I took some samples and used Serialization save the data so I could use it while I am away. In my rush to make progress I guess I changed the base class of the sample class structure and now I can't read the samples any longer. I can't remember what I changed in the base class.

Is there any way to recover from this. I am going to try using the reflection api. Any suggestions would be helpful.