Duel Masters Withdraws $1M Bounty
Posted by: Loren Coleman on October 18th, 2005
Duel Masters Withdraws and Rescinds $1M Bounty Hunt (Renton, Wash.) As noted by international cryptozoologist and author Loren Coleman earlier this week, the Duel Masters trading card game produced by Wizards of Coast [Hasbro, Inc.’s (NYSE: HAS)], explored the possibility of sponsoring a one million dollar bounty hunt that would encourage the live safe capture of Bigfoot, Yeti (Abominable Snowman) or Nessie (Loch Ness Monster). Prior to the start of the promotion, Duel Masters reconsidered based on safety concerns for both the public and for creatures-at-large. Specifically, Duel Masters feared that untrained cryptozoologists would engage in unsafe behaviors in their attempt to capture these legendary creatures and that innocent creatures may be harmed in the process. Instead, Duel Masters is sponsoring a photo contest that provides a guaranteed first prize of $5,000 for the photo that best perpetuates the mystique surrounding the hunt for the legendary creatures Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster and/or Yeti. A second place prize winner will receive $2,500, and three third place winners will receive $500. The contest will be launched on October 24, 2005, which is the beginning of Creature Appreciation Week. A full set of contest rules may be viewed beginning Oct. 24, 2005 at the official website for Creature Appreciation Week.
Loren Coleman comment: Okay, I’ve seen it all in 45 years, so this doesn’t really surprise me….But I understand. My phone has been ringing off the hook (since getting back from Texas). I’m hearing from people from around the world, from Scotland to Australia. The media story on this bounty has caused an unprecedented worldwide frenzy in which, apparently, Duel Masters felt a monster hunter could have gotten badly hurt in the race for the million dollar bounty. No one wants that. The company seems to have discovered all kinds of legal considerations too. Duel Masters may have discovered, for example, that the Loch Ness Monsters are protected under British law, specifically The Protection of Animals (Scotland) Act of 1912 and The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. And a few American counties have laws with heavy fines and imprisonment for harming Bigfoot, which could have accidentally occurred. Glad to hear there are guaranteed prizes of $9000 for photographs now.
[Edited to talk out a media misquote. I was never happy with this bounty.]
Hasbro produced one set in 1973, demonstrating a lengthy awareness by the company into Yeti hunts.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
