The One Piece Card Boom, Explained — A Collector Perspective

Prices are up, pop culture is paying attention and one early collector explains what’s really driving the One Piece card boom.

Jan 26, 2026

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One Piece cards are gaining a lot of attention and the value of the TCG has jumped over the last several months.

Card Ladder’s three-month index shows an increase of 61.44%, and 119% growth in the last six months. I’m sure you’ve heard collectors talking about it or have seen prices that got notice.

The Dodgers did a One Piece card giveaway last year and currently there is a college basketball giveaway with select teams, including Rutgers. Both of these cards have been selling for hundreds of dollars, if not thousands.

The long-running Japanese manga began in 1997 with the first TCG hitting the market in 2022 through Bandai.

I had a chance to speak to JB, a collector I know from Twitter who has been into collecting One Piece for a few years now. I wanted to get his perspective as someone who started early on and is now seeing a huge jump in popularity and value.

Q: When did you get into One Piece cards?

A: I got into One Piece cards right around the second set, Paramount War. I had seen Romance Dawn in stores a couple times before and didn’t really know anything about it.

I follow an account on Twitter, FTC Hobby. He just goes by FTC. I saw him get really excited pulling a manga card out of that second set. Around the same time, I was talking to a buddy of mine who watches the show, and I said, “Hey, I’m thinking about getting a box.”

He came over, put on one of the One Piece movies kind of in the background, and we opened some cards. I got pretty into it after that and started opening a lot. This was early to mid-2023.

Q: How would you describe One Piece to someone who has never seen it before?

A: I’d describe One Piece as a show about pirates. It’s a really fun anime, and it’s the longest-running weekly show. They’re moving toward more of a season-based format now, but it’s been running weekly since 1999.

We’re at around 1,150 episodes or so. It’s a huge, expansive world with tons of characters and different arcs, which is what they call seasons in anime. There’s no set number of episodes per arc—some are 20–25 episodes, some are over 100. It just depends on Eiichiro Oda and how he wants to tell the story at the time.

Q: Why do you think One Piece cards have exploded in popularity?

A: I think there are a variety of reasons. I usually start with the game itself—the game is super fun. I play with my friends, I play on a simulator online, and we’ll hop on Discord and play together. Instead of poker or video games or chess, we play One Piece. The game is very popular and continues to grow.

The IP itself is also incredibly popular. You’ve seen Tom Brady show up on Big Noon Kickoff wearing a One Piece shirt. MrBeast has had Monkey D. Luffy as his Twitter profile picture. There’s a Netflix live-action show with a massive budget per episode. There’s been a Luffy balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Pop-culture-wise, things felt stale for a long time—mostly Pokémon and sports. I think people were looking for something different. One Piece has been around forever and already had a huge fan base. Combine that with a fun game, collectibles popularity, and a good price point, and it really worked. Bandai also didn’t print this stuff to the moon like Pokémon does.

If you look at population reports across grading companies, there just isn’t that much out there. Low supply drives demand.

Q: Where do you think One Piece cards can go from here?

A: For anyone who’s been doing this long enough, you just hope they don’t ruin it.

They’ve done a really good job keeping supply down while also keeping the game affordable. Unlike Magic: The Gathering or other TCGs where chase cards are more powerful, One Piece separates rarity from power.

You have base cards, alternate arts, special arts, and manga rares, but they all correspond to the same base card. If a base card becomes too expensive, Bandai will reprint it because they just want people playing the game.

For most decks, you can build something competitive for around $100 and have the exact same setup as top players. The way Bandai is handling the game gives it a real chance to be successful long term, and I hope they stick with that.

Q: What are some of the biggest mistakes you see people getting into One Piece cards right now?

A: This is interesting because I have a lot of legacy knowledge from 2023, when certain cards just weren’t popular.

For example, there’s a Roronoa Zoro local winner card that used to be $10–$20. That card is now around $300 raw. I’m personally not a believer in that card.

I try to focus on things that were highly desirable before this big boom. I think a lot of people are making mistakes buying anything and everything. Cards people didn’t care about much before are suddenly going for crazy money, and I think those will be the first to crash. The cards that were desirable before the boom are more likely to hold value.

Q: How much of this moment is organic fandom growth versus people looking to flip cards?

A: I think it’s a mix of everything.

If you look at it chronologically, Pokémon surged again with the Pokémon TCG Pocket app. Cards went crazy, people were chasing Prismatic, and then Pokémon cooled off.

That created an opportunity for something else. At the same time, One Piece was gaining popularity through pop culture—Tom Brady, MrBeast, the Netflix show, the Macy’s parade. So there was room for flip culture to move in.

The fandom growth is organic, and the flipping is kind of like kerosene on the fire.

Q: What do you think Bandai got right with One Piece cards from a design and storytelling standpoint?

A: First off, the quality of the cards is incredible. They’re textured, embossed, cut very well, and they grade extremely well—usually around 80–90% gem rates depending on the set.

Bandai takes a lot of pride in what they produce, and you can feel that in the cards. The art is beautiful, and the quality is high, which is now being reflected in their value.

Compared to Pokémon, where I’ll open packs and immediately know cards aren’t worth grading because of whitening or bad cuts, One Piece feels very different.

From a storytelling standpoint, the game mechanics tie into the show really well. For example, Roronoa Zoro uses three swords, so he has cards that attack three times or become stronger when you attach three Don!! cards. There’s also synergy between cards from the same pirate crews, which mirrors the anime.

Q: Do you think grading is changing how people approach ripping One Piece cards?

A: I was one of the earlier accounts on Twitter talking about grading One Piece cards, and I got a lot of flack for it at the time.

Back then, most people opening cards were playing the game, and the attitude was, “Why would you grade these? They’re meant to be played.” I understood that—I’ve played at locals and small tournaments—but I also like collectibles, and the quality was there.

So I graded cards as well.

Q: Which types of One Piece cards actually make sense to grade, in your opinion—and which don’t?

A: I’ve seen some pretty ridiculous cards get graded.

For me, a card generally needs to be at least $30–$50 raw to make sense. Otherwise, just play with it. Could you turn a $20 card into a $50 card? Sure. Is it worth it? Not to me.

I usually look for alternate arts of popular characters, SPs, manga rares, or something more significant.

Q: How does One Piece compare to Pokémon, Dragon Ball or Yu-Gi-Oh! in terms of collector mindset?

A: I can’t really speak to Yu-Gi-Oh! That was after my Pokémon and Dragon Ball phase and before college.

What I can say is that One Piece has a very loyal fan base. When I go to locals or talk to people about the game, most have some connection to the show itself. The IP has a dedicated audience, and it’s only getting more popular.

Q: Do you see One Piece becoming a “forever IP” in the hobby, similar to Pokémon?

A: I do.

There are a lot of TCGs right now—Lorcana, Riftbound from League of Legends, and of course Pokémon and Magic. I think One Piece will be part of a big three.

It has the fan base, staying power, and pop-culture relevance. If you fast-forward a couple years, I think it’ll still be One Piece, Pokémon, and Magic at the top.

Q: Are there specific card types that resonate more with collectors than players?

A: Players care about cards that are strong in the game. They like building expensive decks with alternate arts and showing up to tournaments with a $2,000 deck, even if they don’t grade those cards.

Collectors, on the other hand, care most about main characters—Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Chopper.

Where it gets interesting is when a card checks both boxes. A great example is Gum-Gum Giant. It’s the strongest event card in purple decks, it features Luffy, and the manga version is the most expensive manga event card. It’s popular with players and collectors, which drives value.

Q: If someone is brand-new to One Piece, where would you tell them to start?

A: I say the same thing to everyone: watch a couple episodes of the show. If you don’t want to watch the anime, watch the live-action.

Pick a character you like and collect that character. Don’t chase trends. Start with alternate arts—you can usually get something nice for $10–$30 depending on the character.

From there, just build on what you enjoy.

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