Gizmodo reported on April 26, 2023, that Wizards of the Coast had used Pinkerton investigators before the 2023 visit to a Magic: The Gathering fan’s home—but the earlier Pinkerton-specific claims came from anonymous sources. Wizards’ public response to a 2017 theft referred to private investigators without naming Pinkerton. The distinction matters: the 2023 investigation is tied to a specific, disputed encounter; the alleged earlier use is not established by the company statement alone.
What the report says about earlier Pinkerton use
In its April 26, 2023, report, Gizmodo said anonymous sources told the outlet that Pinkerton employees investigated the 2017 theft of an uncut foil sheet from the then-upcoming Ixalan expansion. The report also said a Pinkerton detective later interviewed staff at a game store where someone tried to sell the sheet.
Gizmodo further relayed an unnamed source’s account that an agent said Pinkertons had been used “multiple times” for similar Wizards of the Coast problems. The report did not identify those other incidents. Accordingly, it supports saying that earlier Pinkerton involvement was reported, not that a documented list of prior assignments has been publicly confirmed. Read Gizmodo’s report.
What Wizards said about the 2017 investigation
Gizmodo also quoted a contemporaneous 2017 statement from Scott Kelly, then Wizards’ vice president of Creative and Production Studios. Kelly said the company worked “with a number of groups and individuals, including private investigators, investigators who specialize in supply chains, cyber security experts, and local law enforcement.” That statement confirms Wizards described using private investigators in the recovery effort; it does not identify Pinkerton. The agency-specific connection comes from the anonymous-source reporting, a separate and less directly verifiable claim.
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What happened in the 2023 Aftermath incident
Dan Cannon, who posted as oldschoolmtg, said he acquired boosters of March of the Machine: The Aftermath before its planned May 12, 2023 release and uploaded unboxing videos. Gizmodo reported that the set had been expected to be revealed in early May and that Cannon’s videos exposed around 75% of its limited release. That percentage is Gizmodo’s approximate 2023 report, not an independently measured count.
Cannon said he believed a distribution error led him to buy the product thinking it was from the already released March of the Machine, and put his purchase cost at about $4,000. Wizards said how he obtained the product remained under investigation, so the distribution-error explanation was not established in the report.
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Where the accounts agree—and where they differ
Wizards acknowledged sending an investigator to contact Cannon as part of an inquiry into unauthorized distribution and disclosure of embargoed product. The company said several calls had gone unanswered, the investigator asked Cannon to contact Wizards and return the product and packaging, and Wizards would replace the product he had intended to buy.
Cannon described the agents as Pinkertons, said they called the cards stolen, and alleged that they partly forced their way through the doorway and threatened escalation; he also said his wife became distressed. Wizards disputed his description, saying: “We strongly refute this depiction of events, which contradicts both the report from the investigation as well as the conversation between the individual and a Wizards of the Coast representative after the interaction in question.” The company added: “Under no circumstances would we instruct any employee or contracted agency to intimidate an individual.” These are competing accounts, not an independent finding about what happened at the door.
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Timeline of the reported incidents
- 2017: The alleged Ixalan foil-sheet theft and investigation. Wizards’ public statement referred to private investigators and other groups; anonymous sources later identified Pinkerton personnel to Gizmodo.
- April 19–21, 2023: A contemporaneous May timeline says Cannon posted three unboxing videos across these dates.
- April 22, 2023: The same timeline says investigators Cannon identified as Pinkertons came to his door on Wizards’ behalf.
- April 26, 2023: Gizmodo published its updated report, including expanded Wizards statements and anonymous-source claims about earlier use.
- May 12, 2023: The contextual timeline lists this as the planned release date for March of the Machine: The Aftermath. See the timeline and context.
Why the distinction matters
Protecting unreleased cards can involve legitimate commercial and embargo concerns, while the manner of a recovery effort can still raise questions for the person being contacted and the wider player community. A leak, by itself, does not establish criminal conduct or a contract violation; nor does a company’s stated purpose settle allegations about how an investigator behaved. In this case, the 2023 contact is acknowledged by Wizards, but its account and Cannon’s differ on the encounter. The earlier Pinkerton connection rests on anonymous reporting, while the cited 2017 company statement names no agency.
For readers asking whether the 2023 visit was the first time Wizards used Pinkertons, the careful answer is: Gizmodo reported that it was not, citing anonymous sources describing the 2017 Ixalan investigation and other alleged assignments. The public evidence cited in that report does not independently establish those earlier agency-specific claims or identify the other cases.
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