TPCi has provided a statement conveying that no products were affected by the factory theft that recently came to light.
“We take the protection of our partner products very seriously. This matter remains under investigation and we are unable to comment on the details at this time. However, we can confirm that the Sword & Shield booster packs and products were shipped to retail as planned and we have no indication that the integrity of the products was compromised by any confirmed or unconfirmed theft. Additionally , we continue to invest significantly in both the production and security of our TCG business. We value the faith our fans place in us and our products, and these investments are intended to help us continue to maintain their trust.”
The cards appear to have been stolen during the production phase when they are stored in boxes (secret rares are printed separately from other cards due to their texture). Secret rares are printed on large sheets, cut into individual cards, and stored in long, white boxes. At least five of those white boxes are packed into a cardboard box that is sent to machines that sort the cards into booster packs. The machine loads different boxes of cards into each booster pack based on their rarity. We imagine the sorting machines alert workers when they are running low on certain rarities, meaning packs shouldn't have escaped the factory without the proper rate of secret rarities. Otherwise, it would be common for packs to be missing cards.
Fusion Strike has a fairly low hit rate as shown by the following data from our friends at TCGplayer. Fortunately, we are seeing better draw rates on Scarlet & Violet :
