What are the chances that a distribution chain would accidentally send out unreleased products by mistake? Well, it might be the explanation as to how a YouTuber got a hold of the March of the Machine: The Aftermath cards.
Pinkertons Arrived to Retrieve the Cards
March of the Machine: The Aftermath is the latest set to the trading card game, Magic: The Gathering. The publishers of the game, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) were surprised to see that the card set they were yet to release on May 12 was already on YouTube.
The publishers hired private investigators to retrieve the leaked cards and hired the Pinkertons to carry out the deed. For context, Pinkerton is a private security and detective agency that has been around since the mid-1800s.
The company may sound familiar given that it is a known name that has contributed to major historical events, as mentioned in Polygon. The descendants of the original Pinkerton agency now serve as a subsidiary of Paragon Systems.
The Pinkertons showed up at the door of the YouTuber whose channel is called oldschoolmtg He claims that he purchased the leaked cards through an acquaintance, clarifying that he did not do so through illegal means.
The handler of oldschoolmtg recalled that the Pinkertons showed up at his food after he was done with the video. The men tasked to retrieve the cards were described as "big heavy-hitter guys" which scared his wife to the point of crying.
The YouTuber purchased 22 boxes from the mentioned acquaintance, all of which were confiscated and taken back to Wizards of the Coast. He also decided to take the original video down after speaking with someone from WotC.
The content creator expressed that he was left with nothing since they even took the empty boxes and wrappers, not leaving even a "token" to show for his efforts. Although he did get something out of it, stating that his viewership was now twice more than it was.
What Happened After
The owner of oldschoolmtg explained what happened in a video, which was posted after deleting the previous one that showed the leaked cards. WotC seems to believe that the cards were not stolen and that it was probably distributed by mistake.
The leaked cards were taken back as it can help with the investigation to understand how the cards got out in the first place, and the YouTuber explained how the Wizard of the Coast representative spoke to him about compensation for this trouble, according to The Gamer.
He further explained that the person who sold him the cards probably did not know that they were March of the Machines collector's boxes, not The Aftermath. It was likely that the seller didn't even know what Aftermath really was.
WotC did admit that they were the ones who sent Pinkertons to the YouTuber's doorstep. They also apologized for the distress the investigators caused his wife after speaking about stolen products and even jail time.
Content creator oldschoolmtg advised those who downloaded his video with the leaked card, who used it to create reaction videos, to take them down as well as delete his original footage.
