The recent events that unfolded at the home of a Magic: The Gathering YouTuber have shocked the community. The YouTuber, known as Dan “Oldschoolmtg” Cannon, found himself at the center of a controversy after obtaining a box of Magic cards before its official release. As a result, Pinkerton agents showed up at his front door, demanding the return of the cards on behalf of Wizards of the Coast.
For those who may not know, Pinkerton is a private security company that was originally founded as a detective agency. Their reputation is not without controversy, as they have a history of being involved in strikebreaking and union-busting. However, they have since diversified their services, which now apparently includes the seizure of Magic: The Gathering booster boxes.
According to Cannon, Pinkerton agents arrived at his residence while he was filming a video for his youtube channel. His wife answered the door, only to find the agents demanding the return of the cards. Cannon claims that the agents threatened him with fines and even jail time if he did not comply with their demands.
The incident has raised questions about the use of private security companies and the lengths to which game publishers will go to protect their intellectual property.
This is not the first time that a game publisher has taken legal action to protect its intellectual property, and it is unlikely to be the last. As the gaming industry continues to grow, we can expect to see more cases like this in the future. However, it is important that all parties involved act in accordance with the law and respect each other’s rights.
Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the upcoming May 12 release of March of the Machine: The Aftermath, a new 50-card set meant to be a supplement to the March of the Machine expansion.
Unfortunately for Cannon, the excitement surrounding the release turned into a headache when he mistakenly received the Aftermath set instead of the publicly available expansion set he had intended to purchase. Cannon, however, does not believe that his trading card dealer intentionally broke the street date or that anyone involved dealt with stolen product.
He thinks the similarity of the names—March of the Machine and March of the Machine Aftermath—led to confusion and the wrong cases being sent. Cannon’s dealer, who is more of a Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! guy, may have sold them thinking they were the collector’s edition. One can only hope that his dealer doesn’t face a similar fate to Cannon’s, who found himself with Pinkerton agents at his doorstep.
When we reached out to Cannon and WotC, a spokesperson for WotC confirmed that private detectives were sent as “part of their investigation.” In a video, Cannon recounts that the Pinkerton agents asked him to call WotC to sort out the situation. According to Cannon, the WotC representative he spoke with was apologetic for the heavy-handed tactics that made his wife cry that morning, but wanted the cards back to investigate further. They promised to compensate Cannon with additional product, which he graciously accepted.
Cannon’s experience with the Pinkerton agents was less amicable. According to Cannon, the detectives threatened him with severe consequences such as a $200,000 fine and a possible decade in jail.
Many are now questioning whether the use of private detectives was necessary or justified in this case. Some YouTube commenters have even suggested that WotC’s apology was insufficient and that Cannon has grounds for legal action.
Despite the unpleasantness of the situation, Cannon remained cooperative with WotC, even going so far as to ask reposters to remove any clips or screenshots of his Aftermath pack-opening video, which he removed at the company’s request. “They apologized for going through the drastic means of sending Pinkertons to my front door,” he said.
