The Scandal that RUINED Yu-Gi-Oh (Almost)

The Scandal that RUINED Yu-Gi-Oh (Almost) | Yu-Gi-Oh TCG

Рет қаралды 27,684

Жыл бұрын

Yu-Gi-Oh was a juggernaut in the early 2000's and quickly became that era's best selling card game. Despite its success, a lawsuit between the two companies involved in the TCG's distribution almost brought the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game to a halt in Europe and the Americas.
This video details the story of some of Yu-Gi-Oh's most infamous fake cards, and how they almost ended the game as we know it. This is the story of Konami vs Upper Deck Entertainment.
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！Opinions expressed in this video are those of the author/video creator and not necessarily Cardmarket.
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Some of the links promised at the end of the video:
The Info About Konami against Vintage:
www.iptrademarkattorney.com/l...
Konami Drags in Upper Deck, and the source of the "Mutually Assured Destruction" quote:
www.iptrademarkattorney.com/u...
Dutch Court Sides with Upper Deck:
icv2.com/articles/games/view/...
Konami Wins:
www.iptrademarkattorney.com/f...
@Ruxin34 Video Source of Duel II King opening:
• This Product Nearly EN...
@StrictlySealed Video Source for Various info about the Cards in Duel II King:
• The Effect of the Kona...

Пікірлер: 131

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

If you want to have a look around for any of the cards mentioned in the video, follow the link here: bit.ly/3ojOvJ3

@ilyafoskin Жыл бұрын

It sounds like Upper Deck were basically just a criminal organisation using their official connection with Yugioh to produce convincing counterfeits.

@LordTyph 11 ай бұрын

I'm pretty sure they were involved with Pokemon TCG too and caused problems there, though I might be getting things confused.

@chrishusted9296 10 ай бұрын

@@LordTyphpokemon was WoTC and then they had deals with Topps for non tcg trading cards iirc.

@Technizor 9 ай бұрын

Nothing has changed with Upper Deck.

@haruhisuzumiya6650 4 ай бұрын

Upper deck was preying on the counterfeit market

@Psysaber 3 ай бұрын

Konami is an evil company, upper deck was merely stupid. Konami has one of the most hostile workplaces on earth, they micromanage and humiliate their employees.

@mrummgoat53 Жыл бұрын

My dad once bought me some Yu-Gi-Oh cards, he didn't know they were fake but I'll never forget one card telling me to "shake the elbows three times and deal damage times 300"

@milehighgambler 11 ай бұрын

😂😂😂.

@VanFactor Жыл бұрын

I attended upper deck day. It was awesome. So much stuff was given out. It was quite obvious they just wanted to cash out and get rid of their product before they had to burn it.

@Lucario1121 Жыл бұрын

The jokes Little Kuriboh said when this was going on was pretty hilarious too "Kaiba we may hate each other as much as Konami hates Upper Deck now, but we have to focus and WORK together"

@robb4606 7 ай бұрын

He also wasn't wrong when he said "yugioh: the only card game endorsed by Satan"

@SeelieFhey Жыл бұрын

I remember upper deck day. That was actually a scam. The one I went to in New Jersey had an address and there was no event there. Like 10 people drove out there and stood around for an hour before leaving

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Crazy! - Adam

@polocatfan 25 күн бұрын

I would have protested. Stores aren't allowed to advertise something then not deliver.

@sinjull2256 11 ай бұрын

I had always wondered why Upper Deck got the boot off Konami. And I was a legal judge for Upper Deck YGO and then all of a sudden my contact person here in Sweden just wrote a mail "there are some problems, there wont be any sanctioned tournaments for a while".

@DVG96 Жыл бұрын

I loved this style of video! Great detail and provided a lot of context behind the situation back when I was a kid. Keep up the great work Adam! Hope to see more of this in the future.

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Looking forward to making more similar kinds of videos, detailing interesting parts of Yugioh's History! - Adam

@TheSliferSlacker199 Жыл бұрын

I spit out my apple juice when you said Konami would be concerned over quality control 😂😂😂😂

@Lich_V. Жыл бұрын

the ocg kind of is, the tcg on the other hand...

@CamelHoarder101 Жыл бұрын

The 2000s was a strange time.

@r3zaful Жыл бұрын

I can confirm that ocg cards are Far thicker than tcg.

@youwayo 11 ай бұрын

@@r3zafulKorean OCG cards are similar to TCG cards imo.

@CaptainMarvel4Ever Жыл бұрын

"Or if you're Irish, communion money" lol yup, that line made my day. It's funny there was a time when the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG cared about the reputation of its card quality that much. I know the OCG has always had better everything, but these days the card quality control over here has declined to comical levels. I'm not saying Konami of America/Europe is Wizards of the Coast bad, but it's a real shame that with the rise of popularity of TCGs in the west the quality seems to be on an inverse trajectory, especially since all of Bandai's games have released the same standard of quality control for their cards as they do in Japan. Least we don't need to deal with the bozos from upper Deck anymore. Crazy story though, this was a great video highlighting some juicy history of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG. Really hope this one gets some traction, it was very well done. I'm curious who edits these, because I think Carl's the main editor (could be wrong) and I don't see him being able to do such deep dive references while editing for a game he doesn't play.

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Thanks, hopefully this becomes one of those evergreen hallmark videos for anyone who ever searches for it! Carl is our creative director focusing mostly on Magic content, while editing and animation for all Yu-Gi-Oh produced media is done by our wonderful editor/animator Carolina, and occasionally myself. - Adam

@CaptainMarvel4Ever Жыл бұрын

@@CardmarketYGO Well I'll be sure to share it when citing this event. Ah, well you both did a great job.

@robb4606 7 ай бұрын

Dude, i completely lost my shit at "Sealed Dark Big Rabbi". Holy shit. 😂

@HeneLv Жыл бұрын

Knew somewhat about the upper deck situation but cool to know the relatively full story about it now.

@dante9284 Жыл бұрын

The best summary of the situation I've watched to date

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Thanks! It took hours of legal paper digging to find everything!

@chimmyinfernape9189 Жыл бұрын

This whole situation reminds me of what happened to the card game chaotic. It was huge for a very short time then one company sued another and it was ent allowed to make cards. Which is a shame cos it was a super fun game I preferred it to yugioh. And it was a juggernaut sales wise where I could have seen it being up there with yugioh,mtg and Pokémon as a 4th game

@demonic_myst4503 28 күн бұрын

Not the same nor had that ended chaotic stoped because they rented rights for the game iff a asian comoony that owned the game then made a show and the western producers tried claim ownwrship of the entire thing that legal battle hone on for over a decade and last time i check it was finishing uo back before oandemic and planed a return but went silent after that

@TazzzyBear Жыл бұрын

i know nothing about Yu-Gi-Oh, i just watch for Adam x

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

I know nothing about TazzzyBears, but thank you ❤️ - Adam

@valrex 10 ай бұрын

I really don't get how Upper Deck thought counterfeiting the 3 promos would go unnoticed. Of course Konami would end up noticing. Like these arts/or rarity were not suppose to exist yet. They greed for some extra cash in the moment and that cost them their compagny. It's sad but they deserved to fall with what they did.

@SakuraAvalon 11 ай бұрын

"The poorer quality of these cards could cause irreparable damage too Konami's brand identity and have public perception of their product quality drop" *Cut to modern YGO cards*

@DroolingLizard Жыл бұрын

I had a ton of fake yugioh cards back in 03-05 😂 I distinctly remember the BEKAS card shown at 6:56, my brother and I still reference those bad knockoffs to this day. They also smelled really bad, like some sort of strong solvent which could've easily caused some brain damage...

@milehighgambler 11 ай бұрын

The smell bro. It smelled like burnt/molded cardboard 😂😂😂

@novalaxia Жыл бұрын

Konami were well-known for lawsuits throughout the 2000s, they certainly didn't mess around during this time... (how fitting that this video comes up while Konami is suing Cygames) Unlike a lot of other legal pursuits around this time (anyone remember In the Groove?) Konami definitely had much more fair ground here, though they really went around it in a wild way here LOL. pretty funny to see how little things have changed...

@04lraffaini Жыл бұрын

Great vid about a sort of unknown beef, its famous to an extent but this was very detailed and really well made! Keep it up Cardmarket!

@nauticoom Жыл бұрын

I heard about this but never really got into detail. Thanks for history lesson :)

@edwardlara4271 11 ай бұрын

I remember I got one of those blisters, similar to Duel King 2, at a Toys R Us in the LA area in 2008 when I culminated from 5th grade but the promos my blister had were the Aqua Neos, Electrum, and Flute of Summoning Kuriboh and they came in standard sized Ultra Pro sleeves(with Larry Elmore art on it) that I still have. Also, back during the sneak peek days of the GX era they used to have promo shirts based on the sets that were releasing and for Hobby League as well, I think those were also an Upper Deck idea since those shirts stopped releasing after early 5Ds era (2008).

@noisepollution4473 Жыл бұрын

Props to Adam and the scriptwriter (might also be Adam! Not too sure but if someone else wrote the script, I wanted to shout them out too.) Well-explained in an interesting way. Great video!

@Draenal Жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed this video. Honestly surprised I had never heard of this. Appreciate the research.

@zomenis Жыл бұрын

Fantastic video my guy! Well researched, well narrated, really well edited. P. S. come back to gamers world we miss you

@turtvark Жыл бұрын

I've been waiting for this! I a proud subscriber of the resleevables and the old podcast version of the resleevables had a wonderful rendition of this because Patrick Sullivan worked for them at the time.

@brcienpartin5462 Жыл бұрын

I'm not really interested in this topic but like you guys so popping it on.

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Hopefully you were satisfied! - Adam

@ryanjohndavies4092 Жыл бұрын

This story would make a great documentary/mini series

@GoggleCandy 9 ай бұрын

So I was a YuGiOh judge and hobby store co-owner at the time all this went down. I remember general confusion around the Upper Deck day from my regulars as well as an increase in counterfeit cards coming into the store, generally from a local fair. One thing I will note as well to add to the story that I clearly recall was receiving a package from Upper Deck around the time I heard Konami would be taking over. It was full of booster boxes and swag as a 'thank you' for all the years blah blah. I cannot recall if it was sent to me for being a judge or the store, but I think it was to long-time judges (had been one since 2003).

@Xelorsrs Жыл бұрын

Extremely well done video! props.

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Thanks, hopefully I helped inform you of how it all went down! - Adam

@Xelorsrs Жыл бұрын

@@CardmarketYGO I was familiar with the base story for a while now, but you filled in many intricate details. looking forward for more!

@mageside Жыл бұрын

Could you discuss the conspiracy theory behind The Anime Art of Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon? The Conspiracy being they made the Millennium Tablet art in conjunction to the UDE lawsuit and lost the rights to the anime artwork. So Konami limits the usage of the anime artwork and often just (LAZILY IMO) use the Millennium Tablet Artwork when it comes to importing those three iconic cards instead of using the obviously more popular artwork from the anime that made the card game itself a cultural phenomena the world over. I haven't found concrete evidence for this theory, it's just wild speculation for trying to quell the nerves whenever DM, BEWD or REBD get reprinted with probably some of their least favorited artwork (Which is just my speculation)

@autobotstarscream765 Жыл бұрын

Does Upper Deck own Air Neos in the TCG?

@Kylora2112 Жыл бұрын

My man really called baseball cards a trading card game ;) I was big into football and baseball cards in the 90s, and Upper Deck were one of the REALLY big names (along with Topps, Donruss, and Fleer), and always had incredibly high quality products.

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Baseball Trading Cards aren't a "game". They're a way of life. - Adam

@Reachmond Жыл бұрын

Man this channel is so underrated!! I watch all of your vids

@navygrubbs Жыл бұрын

Upper deck were mental!

@omicronshiri44 Жыл бұрын

This was mentioned to my FB yesterday and this appeared today. What a coincidence 🤣

@gerald_axl Жыл бұрын

Great video

@jeanpitre5789 Ай бұрын

The wildest part of this is that people dont even acknowledge that Konami scams its players much worse by rarity bumping from the OCG, by short-printing, and by monetizing people's gambling addictions.

@mechaotaku394 Жыл бұрын

I remember pulling so many Ultis from the packs back then. They were always so thin and scratched to hell and back. Say what you will about Konami and quality control, but Upper Deck was worse.

@bryanalonso7978 4 ай бұрын

Konami still has a grudge towards upper deck by excluding us from promos and qcr especially from ocg

@lastnamefirstname8655 Жыл бұрын

interesting history. thanks, cardmarket.

@CamKoudo Жыл бұрын

Omg how was I never aware of this :O

@milesstereo3448 11 ай бұрын

Man this guy nailed my childhood

@bikivlogz8336 Жыл бұрын

There was more of a mixed transition than you mentioned. Ie a bunch of European nationals were still ran by ude despite having already lost the court case.

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

UDE Europe is actually quite a sad story, with them never being involved in the shenanigans of UDE America. Sins of the father kind of thing. This is potentially why they still ran events, as a part of an easing out for UDE Europe, as opposed to the American branch just getting completely removed immediately. - Adam

@RayGwah Жыл бұрын

Thank you Adam

@tibalt966 11 ай бұрын

Can we get a game with some of these goofy counterfeit cards and you guys try to play with them? I think that would be a hilarious video

@AyELTee88 Жыл бұрын

I hate to admit it but i miss those packs lol. Walmart had those by the boatload lol.

@Leyus03 Жыл бұрын

Konami vs 4Kids should be interesting too

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

Juicy. Maybe one day! - Adam

@residentgrey 10 ай бұрын

Talking about 4Kids as a whole would also be worth the time too. They changed the shows SO MUCH, they essentially became another entity.

@CD-Gaming 11 ай бұрын

So, wait, is that what happened to the "Yu-Gi-Oh! Sized" sleeves then? I used to love them! They were bigger than Small and smaller than Standard (used by all the others,, Digimon, Magic, Pokémon) and the cards weren't as snug or as much of a pain to get in! Plus, Bandai originally printed Yu-Gi-Oh! cards...

@newbiesama Жыл бұрын

I actually played yugioh on Game boy advance before it was on TV where I live

@DavidsFeverDream Жыл бұрын

this is like a vsauce 2 video

@JuanMunoz-ym6hp Жыл бұрын

Honest what a wild story

@Zeecarver Жыл бұрын

never thought I would be rooting for Konami in a lawsuit

@Ozymandias1111 Жыл бұрын

Fun fact: Up until a few minutes ago, I thought that Brock’s rice ball were just what was considered a doughnut in Japan. Why not? He said there was jelly in them. Last week I saw someone put a pickled plum in a rice ball. I didn’t even bat an eye.

@killerbee1974 11 ай бұрын

I think I still have 1 of those

@spyderman312 11 ай бұрын

Upper-Deck is a garbage fire of a company. SOOOO many scummy and even illegal actions.

@MaChaoUK 11 ай бұрын

And now konami themselves are dropping the quality of their cards instead

@haruhisuzumiya6650 4 ай бұрын

I bet it was the masters the very thing konami gave to upper deck

@ant-onemusic444 Жыл бұрын

imagine there was no way to differenciate the reals from the fakes... L from upper deck

@BenediktWernicke Жыл бұрын

Actually having silver eyes of Anubis was Just cause the Card was unlimited and Not First edition. But If it's First and have the silver eye it's obviously a Fake 🤷‍♂️

@DerUser94 11 ай бұрын

I thought this was going to be about the very obvious fake yugioh cards that were floating around all over the place (at least in Germany) they looked like Japanese cards from the card format I‘d guess

@kkahakusan5591 Жыл бұрын

Damn ..

@MSTGamingTV Жыл бұрын

If I got a nickle everytime legal action happen over localization of Japanese IP in the west, I would be a millionaire.

@OGCxDaizy 11 ай бұрын

Its crazy how greedy and stupid people can be. The game was clearly insanely popular and profitable but instead of looking at the long term gains they risked it all and it cost them everything.

@demonic_myst4503 28 күн бұрын

Lol i had the most obvous fake destiny hero dreammaster when i was a kid the text was not same it long and so tiny and brokenly powerful

@irekaias Жыл бұрын

We can all agree that Ghost rares are thrash.

@CardmarketYGO Жыл бұрын

I used to agree, but then I pulled a Ghost Rare Sphere-Mode, and I kinda fell in love! - Adam

@irekaias Жыл бұрын

@@CardmarketYGO I really don't like that when you are playing it just looks like a blank white square on the table... But they do sell for a pretty penny

@AllBeganwithBBS Жыл бұрын

Too bad Konami doesn't properly reprint the popular cards at lower rarity outside of the OCG.

@Kylora2112 Жыл бұрын

Umm...Upper Deck was still in charge when we had $200 cards in mono-deck formats (like DAD). And rarer cards are easier to pull, too (just that the chase cards are way more valuable). I'd rather have core set ultimate rares again, and multi-rarities, but the modern ratios are WAY better than they used to be.

@aka_Ingmar 11 ай бұрын

It's a shame because in hindsight, I wish this never happened cuz uhhhhhh Konami sucks lol

@KokujinHibiki19 Жыл бұрын

Still doesnt answer why havent they not REPRINTED AIR NEOS

@autobotstarscream765 Жыл бұрын

Or does it? 🤔

@demonic_myst4503 28 күн бұрын

4kids proven self capable” tell that to anime fans their the most clowned on componies in animd

@spiderbitedml385 7 ай бұрын

You must be on something cause every pokemon movie i watch and show called them rice balls not donuts

@blankcheck2276 11 ай бұрын

Major League Baseball, not national baseball league lol

@fastfire7356 11 ай бұрын

4kids is far from capable

@MuchasDistracciones Жыл бұрын

no way we were so CLOSE to being FREE, the curse will last forever

@MrRiseagainst1000 Жыл бұрын

Just play goat format bro

@MuchasDistracciones Жыл бұрын

@@MrRiseagainst1000 its just a joke, like, we will never stop playing

@autobotstarscream765 Жыл бұрын

@@MrRiseagainst1000 Everyone switching from Goat to Edison as the cycle of nostalgia reaches 5D's.

@minabasejderha5972 11 ай бұрын

I'd be interested in the story of how 4kids got kicked off as well, but I understand that might be outside y'all's wheelhouse.

@potatodiggs9602 11 ай бұрын

Boohoo ill play the scum at konami a song on the tiniest violin

@LisaLisa-ii9bw 11 ай бұрын

n i thought always china made fake every popular toys

@baileyayyy5085 3 ай бұрын

who else used fakes as a kid with friends because im not buying expensive cards im 10 lmao

@crystalknighthgaming 5 ай бұрын

Please do not call sports cards a tcg as there is no game there

@evanmccarville4664 Жыл бұрын

What a shame that this video wasn’t named “Synchro summoning almost killed yugioh” given that this took place in the 5D’s era

@r3zaful Жыл бұрын

Yugioh attendant in 2018 wcs qualifiers at their peak in Japan.

@TenebraeXVII Жыл бұрын

That would have been incredibly stupid and misleading as a title.

@evanmccarville4664 Жыл бұрын

I’ll take that as a compliment.

@autobotstarscream765 Жыл бұрын

This post was sponsored by Meklord Gang.

@SonicSanctuary Жыл бұрын

bro your eyes are so wet

@trentwolfgram9571 11 ай бұрын

I love a tale of sordid, soulless businesses knifing each other over cardboard rectangles. The stakes, absolutely nothing. The prize, millions of dollars and the state backed right to fleece us dorks out of our hard earned money for more cardboard rectangles. This is why if I want a specific card for a deck, I'll hit control p and use my money on things like, my brakes on the car I need to work, or my kids, or literally anything besides a 30 dollar card for a children's game. The seriousness we place on stupid games is mind bogglingly wasteful. Also, I love the Dutch backing this ridiculous court intrigue, very in character for the swamp germans that invented stock corporations to begin with. Classic Dutch. Gotta love that prank of a nation, with their goofy language perfectly in between german and english.

@Alex-Omega Жыл бұрын

We did lost Yugioh already... the game is still there but in fact, absolutely unplayable. Its only about who has his Auto-Win card on its starting hand and thats it. I liked to play the game, also in a competitive way but that only showed me, that Yugioh is broken and not even fun when youre winning. Good thing that the PS5 is available everywhere by now

@r3zaful Жыл бұрын

So let's we forgot backup soldier exodia doesn't exist in early 20s

@VideoGamerabc Жыл бұрын

Play Edison format my guy!! It’s also very cheap!

@OyVeey Жыл бұрын

Skill issue

@TenebraeXVII Жыл бұрын

Cope harder scrub

@autobotstarscream765 Жыл бұрын

@@OyVeey He did say he was winning... 🤔