Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast Sued Over Special Edition Magic: The Gathering Failure
By TheBlast Staff on May 9, 2019 at 4:00 AM EDT
Something went terribly wrong in the multiverse when thousands of Magic: The Gathering players got screwed out of a limited-edition set of cards and now a class action lawsuit is holding the gaming company responsible.
According to documents obtained by The Blast, attorney Matt Wetherington filed a class action suit against Wizards of the Coast and its parent company, Hasbro, alleging breach of contract and negligence.
The lawsuit stems from a special edition set of MTG cards, "War of the Spark Mythic Edition," that was offered through Hasbro's shop on eBay on May 1. The online store accidentally oversold the 12,000 units produced and ended up confirming orders with thousands of customers for products that did not exist.
In the aftermath of the purchasing chaos, eBay was forced to refund tons of orders, and customers who had believed they purchased the highly-lucrative set of trading cards had their orders canceled and given refunds.
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The lawsuit argues that customers had "entered into a binding contract" to purchase War of the Spark Mythic Edition, and the contracts were canceled "without legal authority."
The documents also claim that because the product is now sold out, any customers who want to purchase the set of cards on the secondary market will be forced to pay way above "fair market value."
For reference, the set was initially offered by Wizards of the Coast at $249, but are now being re-sold on eBay for more than $900 each.
The lawsuit accuses Hasbro and Wizards of breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing and negligence.
Since the debacle, Wizards and eBay have offered a consolation prize to those that had orders canceled, by sending customers an uncut foil sheet of the rare set of cards ... however we're told that is not going to stop the lawsuit.
Sources close to the case tell The Blast, since Wetherington announced his intentions to put together the class action lawsuit, he has had over 2,000 calls from Magic: The Gathering customers wanting to sign up in the case.
We're told the phones are on "fire."
