Stolen Artwork List, - Official Statement and Offer 8/7/19 - Updated 1/23/20

Due to numerous recent requests to authenticate Magic the Gathering artworks, Anson and I are making public the following list of artwork, which was reported stolen to the Seattle Police Department on 8-12-04.  (Incident #04-298873). (However, the date of the theft is unknown.) Our hopes in making this information public knowledge is to recover whatever artwork possible, gain some degree of healing for Anson and the opportunity to clear title on these pieces and move forward.

 

Briefly about the theft: The artwork was stolen from a secured room within his residence by a relative of the person he had entrusted the care of his home to. The thief was not personally acquainted with Anson, but their identity became known when an employee of a local store (who purchased much of the artwork) came forward, providing details of the crime and expressing a willingness to testify in court to the information provided.

 

We know this list is extensive and that the history of the pieces will be worrisome to those in possession of them. Having reviewed the facts and consulted with legal experts, we are confident that we have a strong claim to recovering all of the art which was stolen. However, after giving it consideration, we do not wish to pursue legal remedies at this time. Our wish is not to harm the MTG art community or it’s collectors. Therefore, for those in possession of any the following artwork not marked as recovered, who are willing to cooperate in returning the stolen pieces and provide information regarding how the art came into your possession, we will offer the art for public auction and split the proceeds with you evenly. We will extend this offer for 6 months from the date of this statement.

 

For those who wish to cooperate but are particularly attached to the artwork in your possession and want to retain it, we can discuss the possibility of working out an alternate arrangement under certain circumstances. You may contact me via email at brenda@ansonmaddocks.com for further details.

 

We have taken the liberty of color coding the list to preserve it’s integrity and provide the most updated information regarding the status of the individual pieces. Also for added clarity I have attached to the end of it, those artworks which were NOT associated with the theft either because they were sold by Anson, gifted by Anson or are presently still in his possession.

 

We apologize for being the bearer of bad news. If this information is upsetting to you, please consider the loss Anson has experienced as a result of this crime. This is an extremely painful topic for him to discuss and the lack of meaningful investigation on the part of the Seattle Police Department (despite being given the thief’s name) combined with a mere 10% global recovery rate of stolen artwork has left him feeling powerless and less than hopeful. I am on the other hand slightly more optimistic having already negotiated the recovery of several of the stolen items. Anson did not ask for this to happen. He wasn’t negligent in taking precautions. He didn’t do anything to warrant this violation whatsoever...to be striped of almost his entire body of Magic artwork in one fell swoop! Please note that this theft happened 11 years after the release of the Alpha set at which point Anson had only sold 2 of his 30 Alpha pieces. It is my sincere belief he would not have chosen to sell many, if any, of these stolen artworks.

 

We have the opportunity to right a very big wrong here for Anson, who has contributed so much to the early years of Magic the Gathering. A wrong for which the Seattle Police Department failed to deliver any justice, a wrong for which a claim with his insurance company, Pemco, failed to pay out for his loss due to a technicality. I am hoping that we are able to do better for Anson than the aforementioned. We are extremely grateful to those of you who will choose to act in accordance with your heart and hope that our offer to share a full 50% of the artwork’s value with you adequately reflects this. Thank you to everyone for all of your help!

 

Brenda Maddocks & Anson Maddocks

 

 

STOLEN ARTWORK (2004) - updated 2/27/20

 

LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS – A Prophecy Fulfilled

MTG Anaba Ancestor (Homelands)

MTG Anaba Bodyguard 1 (Homelands)

MTG Anaba Bodyguard 2 (Homelands)

MTG Anaba Shaman 1 (Homelands)

MTG Anaba Shaman 2 (Homelands)

MTG Anaba Spirit Crafter (Homelands)

MTG Animate Dead (Alpha)

MTG Ashnod’s Altar (Antiquities)

MTG Black Mana Battery (Legends)

MTG Blood Lust (Legends)

MTG Blizzard (Ice Age)

MTG Bone Shaman (Ice Age)

MTG Breeding Pit (Fallen Empires)

MTG Carapace 1 (Homelands)

MTG Carapace 2 (Homelands)

MTG Combat Medic (Fallen Empires)

COMBO Magazine Minotaur Cover Art

MTG Creature Bond (Alpha)

MTG Cyclopean Tomb (Alpha)

MTG Dancing Scimitar (Arabian Nights)

MTG Deathgrip (Alpha)

MTG Demonic Torment (Legends)

MTG Diabolic Machine (The Dark)

MTG Derelor (Fallen Empires)

MTG Disintegrate (Alpha)

MTG Dragon Engine (Antiquities)

MTG Drop of Honey (Arabian Nights)

MTG Electric Eel (The Dark)

MTG Elvish Archers (Alpha)

MTG Elvish Hunter (Fallen Empires)

MTG Eternal Warrior (Legends)

MTG Fallen Angel (Alpha)

MTG False Orders (Alpha)

MTG Fishliver Oil (Arabian Nights)

MTG Flight (Alpha)

MTG Foul Familiar (Ice Age)

MTG Frankenstein’s Monster (The Dark)

MTG Gaze of Pain (Ice Age)

MTG Giant Slug (Legends)

MTG Goblin Kites (Fallen Empires)

MTG Goblin War Cry (Portal 2)

MTG Guardian Angel (Alpha)

MTG High Tide (Fallen Empires)

MTG Holy Strength (Alpha)

MTG Icy Prison (Ice Age)

MTG Infernal Medusa (Legends)

INQUEST Magazine Issue #0 Cover Art

INQUEST Magazine Issue #12 Vampire Cover Art

JYHAD Cryptic Mission

MTG Inquisition (The Dark)

MTG Invisibility (Alpha)

MTG Ironclaw Orcs (Alpha)

MTG Ivory Cup (Alpha)

MTG Jade Monolith (Alpha)

MTG Labyrinth Minotaur 1 (Homelands)

MTG Labyrinth Minotaur 2 (Homelands)

MTG Lifetap (Alpha)

MTG Lim-Dul’s High Guard 1 (Alliances)

MTG Lim-Dul’s High Guard 2 (Alliances)

MTG Living Armor (The Dark)

MTG Living Artifact (Alpha)

MTG Living Wall (Alpha)

MTG Llanowar Elves (Alpha)

MTG Lurker (The Dark)

MTG Maze of Ith (The Dark)

MTG Moor Fiend (Ice Age)

MTG Null Rod (Weatherlight)

MTG Orcish Artillery (Alpha)

MTG Onulet (Antiquities)

MTG Paralyze (Alpha)

MTG Plague Rats (Alpha)

MTG Pygmy Allosaurus (Ice Age)

MTG Pyrotechnics (Legends)

MTG Ritual of the Machine (Alliances)

MTG Screeching Drake

MTG Serendib Efreet (Arabian Nights)

MTG Serra Bestiary (Homelands)

MTG Shield of the Ages (Ice Age)

MTG Siren’s Call (Alpha)

MTG Snow Covered Island (Ice Age)

MTG Soldevi Golem (Ice Age)

MTG Spinal Villain (Legends)

MTG Spitting Slug (Legends)

SHADOWFIST Sword of Biting

MTG Throne of Bone (Alpha)

MTG Transmute Artifact (Antiquities)

MTG Two Headed Giant of Forisys (Alpha)

MTG Urza’s Mine (Antiquities -unused alternate art #1)

MTG Urza’s Mine (Antiquities – unused alternate art #2)

MTG Urza’s Mine (Antiquities – unused alternate art #3)

MTG Urza’s Mine mouth (Antiquities)

MTG Urza’s Mine pulley (Antiquities)

MTG Urza’s Mine Sphere (Antiquities)

MTG Urza’s Mine Tower (Antiquities)

MTG Vampire Bats (Legends)

MTG Wall of Bone (Alpha)

MTG Wall of Brambles (Alpha)

MTG Worms of the Earth (The Dark)

 

 

LEGEND:

 

- Purchased by local store from the thief, then resold, never recovered

 

- Returned to artist by local store, considered recovered. (False Orders gifted to store employee for cooperation in providing information regarding theft)

 

- Sold to third party by local store, later recovered

- Later recovered through a different employee of same local store.

- Secondary theft (taken under false premise and sold without Anson’s consent/agreement), never recovered

- Unmarked items stolen reported 2004, no further information regarding their provenance known

 

 

 

– NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THEFT: Not Stolen

Armor of Faith (Ice Age) - sold

Casting of Bones 1 (Alliances) - sold

Casting of Bones 2 (Alliances) – sold

Crimson Kobolds - gifted

Fallen Ideal - sold

Fallen Empires Comic Book Cover Art Issue #1 – sold

Fallen Empires Comic Book Cover Art Issue #2 - sold

Foriysian Interceptor

Foriysian Totem

Hurloon Minotaur (Alpha) - sold

MTG Island 1 (Ice Age)

MTG Island 2 (Ice Age)

MTG Island 3 (Ice Age)

Legions of Lim Dul

Lim-Dul’s High Guard 1 -sold

Lim-Dul’s High Guard 2

Lord of Tresserhorn

Lure (Alpha) – sold

Mishra - sold

Pit Trap (Ice Age)

Raise Dead

Reconstruction (Antiquities) – sold

Santawar Elves (Unpublished)

Scarecrow (The Dark) – gifted

Serendib Djinn (Arabian Nights) - sold

Sengir Vampire (Alpha) – sold

Scarwood Hag (The Dark) – sold

Shanodin Dryads (Alpha) – gifted

Sixy Beast

Skyshroud Falcon

Stop That! (Unhinged) – sold

Stromgald Cabal

Temporal Manipulation (Portal 2) – sold

Thrull Wizard (Fallen Empires) – sold

Urza’s Mine (Unpublished, Unused Artwork 1 of 4) – sold

Vampiric Spirit

Volrath

Volrath’s Stronghold (Style Guide)

Windseeker Centaur (Media Promo) – donated

Whimsey - sold

 

 

If you have any questions regarding this statement or regarding the history of an artwork not addressed on either of the above lists, I am happy to assist. If anything on this list requires a correction or update I am eager to see this information to be as sound and complete as possible. I encourage those with any knowledge which might contradict this record to please contact me so that we can reconcile any discrepancies together. I can be reached by email here: brenda@ansonmaddocks.com. 

 

And last but not least, for your own protection, if you are a prospective buyer of any artwork and the ownership isn’t being transferred directly by the original artist, please investigate the provenance to ensure the seller can demonstrate a clear title of ownership before you make the purchase. One of the best ways to do this is to contact the artist directly, if possible.