I wanted your help before, but now I need your help.

In 2011, I began a project on the art of Alpha, Magic: The Gathering’s first set of its limited edition. I wanted to set a foundation to do some great things, and after some initial research on the original art, I found an underwhelming amount of information for nearly three hundred individual artworks with rather memorable depictions for players, collectors, and store owners dealing with Magic. To begin the conversation about Magic art, I wrote this article about creating a catalogue raissone or a formal documentation, often culminating in a book, of all known artworks. I wanted to know where every art was located first.

You really should read that as a refresher into this project. It’s short. I promise.

This documentation project is a work of scholarship. Those who own original Limited Edition Alpha art, the collectors, and their names aren’t shared until the project is finished, and it will only be shared if they wish to be publicly known. Most do not wish to be known. Ideally, this will eventually culminate in an art exhibition showcasing the art, but that is more likely to happen on Magic’s twenty-fifth anniversary in 2018. (Most art exhibitions take two to three years to organize, and that’s when people know where the art is located!) I’d love to have a multi-site exhibition tour.

I had a backlog of information sent to me about people who own Alpha originals or people hearing about others who did for well over a year. It then trickled and has finally exhausted itself.

Vesuvan Doppelganger by Quinton Hoover, in a private collection

So, Here We Are. The List of Where I Am Is Below.

Here are some things to look for and know:

• Notice how not all rares have been found—or commons, for that matter. Tournament-table cards, the so-called “iconic” depictions, are the ones that generally are owned and found.
• A lot of art is known about, but the collectors are incredibly hesitant to confirm due to some theft of early Alpha artworks.
• No sales are implicitly being made, nor are the collector lists for sale or supposed to be openly distributed. This involves zero dollars changing hands by me doing this.
• Nearly every collector who has an Alpha has some sort of insurance policy on the artwork.
• All the original artists have been contacted, numerous times, and their records aren’t inclusive of these pieces. In the early 1990s, provenance for gaming art wasn’t really a thing.
• Magic’s influx of new players since the Great Recession ended has increased interest in and raised the pricing of all Alpha art that hits the market—meaning it’s rare that it comes into the public.

Legend

A: Found, collector contacted, documented

I have a form that accompanies confirmation with medium, size, provenance, and similar information.

B: Known, but collector MIA

A lot of pieces I know exist and with a particular person, but I haven’t heard back from the collector yet.

C: Rumored known but collector unknown; trail gone cold

For some of these, I knew previous owners—or someone moved or a piece disappeared after I heard about it.

Summarizing

I need a ton of help. There are so many artworks, and collectors are reluctant at best in contacting me. What the project could use from you, the reader, player, and community member is this:

• There are two major Alpha collectors still out there. Many people in the community know who they are. Show them this article please.
• I could really use a bump from you talking about this project. Drumming up support shakes out trees of folks with one or two pieces.
• If you know of an art gallery that would love to host part of the set with an exhibition, have them get in touch with me.
• Collectors can be totally anonymous in the final study, but standards are in place to confirm on my end that the art is, in fact, in their possession.
• The final “form” is unlikely to be a book, but rather a living document I could share with Wizards for the twenty-fifth anniversary in case something for art is planned.
• If you have information on any specific piece, especially ones I have zero information on, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. I’m not hard to find online; use Google!

Thanks for reading!

- Mike