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Magic: The Gathering Rarities: Terry Garfield's "Splendid Genesis"

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When you create a multi-million dollar game for a large entity such as Wizards of the Coast, it has some perks to it. This Magic: The Gathering Rarity Showcase article will delve into what we know about Splendid Genesis, one of the cards designed by Dr. Richard Garfield, Ph.D. to commemorate important events in his life and the lives of those around him. This one, in particular, looks at the birth of his first child, a daughter named Terry Garfield.

The full art for Splendid Genesis, a special card from Magic: The Gathering that was created to celebrate the birth of creator Richard Garfield's first child, his daughter Terry Garfield. Illustrated by Monique Thirifay.
The full art for Splendid Genesis, a special card from Magic: The Gathering that was created to celebrate the birth of creator Richard Garfield's first child, his daughter Terry Garfield. Illustrated by Monique Thirifay.

Not much is known about the exact origins of this card. One can fairly safely presume that once Dr. Garfield knew that his then-wife, Lily Wu, was pregnant with their first child, he commissioned Wizards of the Coast to create this card, in the same vein as his first special-occasion card, Proposal, a card we covered a few days ago in another Magic: The Gathering Rarity Showcase article. He sent 110 of these cards to various friends, family members, and various Wizards of the Coast employees in 1997. However, the physical announcement of Wu's pregnancy was only sent out to the family and friends of the couple, meaning there are presumably more copies of Splendid Genesis out in the wild than there are announcements.

Splendid Genesis, a card from Magic: The Gathering that was created to celebrate the birth of creator Richard Garfield's first child, Terry Garfield.
Splendid Genesis, a card from Magic: The Gathering that was created to celebrate the birth of creator Richard Garfield's first child, Terry Garfield.

In March of this year, Splendid Genesis again hit the forefront of peoples' Magic: The Gathering fixations when a copy alongside an authentic announcement card sold on Heritage Auctions' website for a whopping $21,600 USD. While the card itself is effectively priceless to many, the card does certainly fetch a high price due to its scarcity and the amazing level of sentimental value behind it.

What do you think about Dr. Garfield's commemorative Magic: The Gathering cards? Will Wizards of the Coast make more to celebrate his life in the future? Let us know what you speculate in the comments below!

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Joshua NelsonAbout Joshua Nelson

Josh Nelson is a Magic: The Gathering deckbuilding savant, a self-proclaimed scholar of all things Sweeney Todd, and, of course, a writer for Bleeding Cool. In their downtime, Josh can be found painting models, playing Magic, or possibly preaching about the horrors and merits of anthropophagy. You can find them on Twitter at @Burning_Inquiry for all your burning inquiries.
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