Unboxing Half-Life 2: The Bubblegum

The infamous leak of Half-Life 2‘s beta in 2003 was a story with an international scope and wide-ranging consequences, some just now coming to light. Such as this box of Russian-made Half-Life 2bubblegum.

The guy unboxing this won it in an eBay auction for $US2.25. It’s obviously a knockoff – in 2003 and 2004, other than finishing and publishing the game, Valve’s top overseas priority was probably catching the hacker who leaked it, not licensing Russian confectioners to make Gordon Freeman into Bazooka Joe – which is the second product this stuff infringes on. (Note the tiny wax-paper comics.)

Right there at the end – is that the snap of a six-year-old ingot of bubblegum, or the shattering of a molar?

Thanks to Jim B. for sending this in.