1) The original Kevin Long painting for Rifts Conversion Book One.
For legal reasons, I can NOT go into the entire picture of who did what. It could cause problems with the current police investigation and (hopefully) impending prosecution. Beside, Palladium tries not to publicize private/internal matters.
(Please Note: Before I go any farther, please let me state for the record that my ex-wife, Maryann, is NOT the person under investigation as some have suggested on the Web. It just amazes me how quickly people dive into bad news and go off on wild speculation with no actual anything to justify it. Yikes. I guess that’s why it is called the rumor mill. Maryann hasn’t even lived in Michigan for something like three years now!)
In addition to other problems, this individual stole a number of items from both Palladium Books the company and me personally. Many of these items may have already been sold on ebay and via online stores and auction houses who were unaware that these items were stolen.
Please, if you bought or sold any of these items please contact Palladium Books Inc. You are NOT in trouble – we just need evidence to put this scum bag in prison where the person belongs!
If you know somebody who bought or sold any of these items, please contact Palladium Books Inc. They are NOT in trouble – we just need evidence to put this scum bag in prison where the person belongs!
If you remember seeing the item being sold someplace please let us know, it could be a valuable lead.
In addition to seeking evidence of the resale of the stolen goods, I hope to be able to recover some of it (without hurting the current buyer who unwittingly bought the stolen items). MANY were one of a kind and irreplaceable.
I greatly appreciate any help that any of you can offer, but please try to provide us with facts and information (a name, approximate date, telephone number, online address, etc.).
These items were probably sold primarily on the Internet, but some may have also appeared at conventions and in stores.
Most were probably sold in the last year or two (2004 & 2005). Some may still be being offered on the open market. That’s where we need YOUR eyes, ears and memories to work for us.
Note: Palladium will not simply “take back” stolen goods you may have in your possession, but will try to work out a “fair trade” or buy it back from you. Some of these items have sentimental value, others continuing production and archival value. Please help if you can.
1) The original Kevin Long painting for Rifts Conversion Book One.
2) Pencil drawings by Kevin Long on layout paper for Villains Unlimited, as well as a few inked Villains Unlimited pieces (by Long and by Kevin Siembieda).
3) Other Kevin Long pencils (I think a few TMNT, and Fantasy illustrations too). – I had such a large collection I’m not sure what has gone missing, and the perpetrator cleverly stole the documentation of ALL artwork, so my reference files and lists are gone! I’m working entirely from memory.
PLEASE NOTE: That artist, Kevin Long, owned much of his original artwork and has sold some of it over the years, so not EVERY Kevin Long item on the market is stolen, they could be legitimate art sold by Mr. Long or other collectors. Still, it probably can’t hurt to let us know so we can follow the lead and make sure. The thief seemed to target a lot of artwork by Kevin Long as well as books and items by Kevin Long and Keith Parkinson.
4) Kevin Siembieda The Mechanoids cover (1985); and any framed Siembieda artwork. We believe some Scott Johnson and other artists’ works are also missing (The BTS Gold end sheet art, etc.).
5) Animation: A large, framed, Appleseed production set-up with background. Appleseed was in the middle of the piece with guardsmen and a building behind him. The art was framed.
6) Animation: Robotech/Macross: A close-up of the main deck of the SDF-1.
7) Animation: Donald and Daffy Duck, playing dueling pianos. This is two animation cels framed together. From the animated movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
8) Animation: Clutch Cargo – A cel depicting a grey dinosaur and a little explorer dressed in tan colored safari clothing and pith helmet. A couple dozen of these were stolen (had an entire animation sequence). All included the pencil drawing as well as the colored cel.
Other Clutch Cargo cels included Clutch ready to fight and an odd looking lumberjack with a read beard swinging a pole. All included the pencil drawing as well as the colored cel.
I have included an example of what these cels look like on this page for your reference. Note: Clutch Cargo cels are super-rare and I have NEVER seen anyone offer them.
9) A cel of Bugs Bunny at an artist’s drawing table and the pencil drawing of same. Both are framed together.
10) Animation: Disney, red genie and flame, plus pencil drawing matted and framed together from the Aladdin TV series.
11) Disney pencil drawings (30-40 of them), probably sold in bundles or in small sets/lots (maybe not). Included drawings of women, nudes, and other odds and ends.
Color Transparencies for ANY Palladium publication were stolen.
A color transparency is best described as a large slide or negative. Most were approximately 8x10, though a few were smaller, and a half dozen were larger. A “trans” can only be seen when held up to light or put on a light box.
Note: Palladium has NEVER sold, released or given away color transparencies. NEVER!! So if you have seen or heard about something like this for sale (or purchased one) then it was stolen and we probably need it back!!!
Without the color transparency we can NOT make prints, posters, new covers, interior color pages, etc.
The transparencies for more than 50 different titles were taken (including duplicates) from many of Palladium’s book covers, including:
Rifts®
Robotech and Macross II
RECON
Palladium Fantasy RPG
Heroes Unlimited
Nightbane
Beyond the Supernatural (the original Richard Corben cover)
TMNT covers and more.
Among the most irreplaceable transparencies are the double-page spread from the Rifts 1993 Calendar (Skelebots and CS troops in the ruins of a city), the covers to Rifts® Sourcebook One, Rifts® Mindwerks, Rifts Mercenaries, the Glitter Boy painting that appeared on the cover of the Second Rifts® Novel, the Rifts® RPG, Federation of Magic, Rifts® England, Rifts® Psyscape, Rifts® Atlantis, PFRPG Adventures on the High Seas by Steve Hickman, PFRPG Old Ones (by me, Kevin Siembieda), PFRPG Monsters & Animals (the Gromek on the cover), Robotech RPG, Robotech Lancer’s Rockers, Robotech RDF Manual, other Robotech covers, RECON and others. Like I said, if it looks like a big color slide or negative of ANY Palladium product, it is Palladium’s. Please let us know who was selling it, where, a contact name/address/e-mail/website/etc.
Note: Palladium will not simply “take back” stolen goods you may have in your possession (even though the law would allow us to), but we will try to work out a “fair trade” or buy it back from you. Some of these items have sentimental value, others continuing production and archival value. Please help if you can.
Rifts Gold, Heroes Unlimited Gold, and Palladium Crimson (the signed and numbered editions) that are numbers 1-2-3.
Any Palladium books signed by Florence Siembieda (my Mom who died in 1989).
Palladium books being sold by the case. Some of you might remember hearing about Beyond the Supernatural, 2nd edition being sold by the case on ebay back in April. Those were stolen books.
First printings of Palladium titles and books signed by lots of people, particularly Kevin Long (but some of these could be from Conventions and X-Mas Grab Bags we’ve done over the years); including the Robotech RPG, especially if several copies of a Robotech title was being offered. In addition, the Mechanoids 1985 edition pictured above is the only one remaining of several file copies.
Rifts Miniatures – The thief took several boxes of Rifts miniatures, including the “masters” which are needed to make “new” molds to create new figures. Masters look pretty much like any pewter miniature, except that they are a bit shinier. The perpetrator probably sold the masters as ordinary figures.
If you know of anybody who is selling or has sold “out of print” Rifts miniatures, namely the Glitter Boy pack and the Atlantis pack in the last 6-12 months, they are Palladium’s stolen file copies and masters. Please let us know. The G.B. hasn’t been available for years, and we ran out of the Atlantis pack back in November 2004.
A lot of other (less descriptive) items like our books, old Star Wars Action Figures (still on the Star Wars, Empire and Jedi cards), vehicles and play-sets, and other collectibles were taken. I only mention this because if you know of someone selling Palladium items and/or the more easily identifiable items with toys and stuff, they may all have been taken from the Palladium office.
I’m hoping Palladium fans might have seen – or acquired – some of these items and can tell us where they bought them/who sold them (name, address, whatever you can provide). And if you were the purchaser, maybe, trade them back to Palladium for other stuff.
More than the above was taken, so anything that seems unusual or suspicious – even if it was a few months to a year ago – PLEASE let us know about it.
The web is way too big for us to cover it all ourselves. Worst, most of these items have probably already been sold over the last year or so. But if you have any info that you think could help, please, please pass it on to us. Even sales over the last year or so may help us link the stolen goods to the person who stole them. Thank you very much. Your help is greatly appreciated!!!
You can contact us via e-mail at tipster@palladiumbooks.com.
Did you get a Palladium order shipped from elsewhere than Taylor? This is probably a long-shot, but do any of you recall getting a mail order or X-Mas Grab Bag in 2004 or January 2005 from an address or post mark from an address or post office other than TAYLOR, Michigan? This could be helpful too, especially if you happen to still have the package!
Were any of you instructed to write a check or money order in any name other than Palladium Books in 2004?
Thank you.
Copyright 2005 Kevin Siembieda. All rights reserved.