Did WotC Send Pinkerton Agents to a Fan’s Home?
WotC fans should be talking about the May release of a Magic: The Gathering expansion set. Instead, they’re asking why WotC sent Pinkerton agents to a fan’s home.
Many were shocked that Pinkerton still exists today. A few sarcastically wondered if the agents came on horseback.
Wizards of the Coast (WotC) is famous for collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering (MTG) and role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. They are owned by Hasbro. It was reported that WotC made more than $1 billion in sales in 2021.
The Pinkerton controversy has been covered by gaming and technology websites, such as Gizmodo (Magic: The Gathering Fan Allegedly Set Upon by Pinkertons for Unreleased Cards); Techdirt (Wizards Of The Coast Sends Pinkerton Agency To Person That Bought Unreleased ‘Magic’ Cards In Error); and CBR (Wizards of the Coast Sent Pinkertons to Confiscate MTG Leaker’s Cards). And by Yahoo! Finance. It has even become a meme.
What Happened?
An MTG fan and YouTuber called oldschoolmtg accidentally got a case of the eagerly anticipated March of the Magic: The Gathering set (March of the Machine: The Aftermath) — ahead of time. As many fans do, he recorded videos of himself opening packs and showing the new cards to other fans.
How did oldschoolmtg get these unreleased cards by mistake? He thinks that the distributor accidentally sent the wrong case of cards to him. It was an honest mistake and not theft. (He ordered March of the Machine: Collectors boxes, which were already published and available). It took me a while to keep the names straight.
oldschoolmtg posted videos on his YouTube channel and shared them elsewhere. He has since taken these videos down. (If you want to see some of his other unboxing videos, you can view this one and another one.)
Yes, leaks of an unreleased product can be bad for a gaming company. Fans don’t want surprises to be spoiled. But how the company reacts to the leaks is another thing.
In the short video titled The Aftermath of The Aftermath … Everything Is Gone!, he announced that WotC responded by sending Pinkerton agents to his house — private security agents with a notorious reputation. The Pinkerton agents demanded what they called “stolen goods.” (Keep in mind that the fan paid through a legitimate company for those “stolen” goods.) They ended up confiscating the Aftermath cards, the empty packages, and the empty box as well as telling him to take the videos down.
In a later video, he shares new revelations. The Pinkerton agents had been there earlier (when he was not at home). The agents harassed some of his neighbors, including an elderly woman, asking for information — and lying to the neighbors about their visit.
More recently, he also addressed some of the misinformation that has been appearing in media coverage. He encourages fans that they shouldn’t believe everything they see in other videos or articles. Let alone in “official statements.” “If you don’t see it from my videos, don’t believe it,” he warns.
Pinkerton?!
As a fan of history, oldschoolmtg encouraged people to look up the history of Pinkerton agents. It is eye-opening, particularly their history in labor disputes. Ask the coal miners how they feel about Pinkerton agents.
If you’re like me, you know about Pinkerton agents from Westerns and hard-boiled Dashiell Hammett novels. The reality is a lot more complicated than that. The Wikipedia entry is a good start. Also, read up on the Anti-Pinkerton Act of 1893.
More Coverage and More Intrigue
Legal information YouTuber Runkle Of The Bailey also covered the case from a legal standpoint in the video Wizards Of The Coast Sends The Pinkertons After One Of Their Fans. It’s a great video, and I recommend watching it. He discussed better ways WotC could have approached this.
This is also covered in Pinkertons Take ‘Stolen” Magic the Gathering Cards From YouTuber by attorney Steve Lehto on his Lehto’s Law YouTube channel.
On top of that, Gizmodo revealed this was not WotC’s first rodeo. They have used Pinkerton agents before, which The Gamer website also discusses. Also, the Director of Security Risk Management for Hasbro (WotC’s parent company) used to work for Pinkerton.
Both Angry and Uncertain Reactions From Fans
Many fans reacted with anger on Twitter, including GateGeek, LogantheGM, GyzmoFyre, doradee_, and mustangsart. They highlighted the reputation of Pinkerton agents.
Linda Codega, a journalist for I09 and Gizmodo, asked people to contact them if WotC sent Pinkerton agents to their homes, stores, or places of business.
Yet not all fans think WotC went too far! Some criticized Linda Codega for their stance. Some also pointed out that investigations are vital because leaks can hurt the gaming company.
But surely there is a way to investigate leaks without intimidating long-time fans.
On Reddit, a post called WotC’s Use of the Pinkertons to Retrieve Magic: The Gathering Cards was removed by the mods of r/magicTCG because they weren’t “comfortable: with the post. Yet other posts (such as WOTC sends Union Busting corporation Pinkerton after March of Machines Leaker to intimidate them and ‘confiscate’ cards) were allowed to stay.
It has also been discussed in a lively thread on the RPG.net forum. That thread also has some history of Pinkerton and their involvement with union busting — and in other incidents involving gaming companies.
For all this, some fans are still defending WotC. They’re saying WotC was upset with the constant leaks, so they had every right to use Pinkerton agents to investigate them. Some are claiming the cards are “stolen” property (even if oldschoolmtg got them by mistake).
But more fans are defending oldschoolmtg, and they are angry with WotC because of what happened. Even some fans who hate leaks think WotC went too far.
How that affects sales of MTG and other WotC products in the future remains to be seen.
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