Quest for the One Piece! One Piece Trading Card Game 1 Year Review!

One Piece Trading Card Game - A TCG Kingpin of Recent Times

As we make our way through 2024, we look back at the last year (and a bit) of the whirlwind that is the One Piece Trading Card Game.

Brought to us by Bandai & Cardass, this sensation hit the market in December 2022 with the introduction of Romance Dawn OP-01 which showered us in super bright and colourful artworks showcasing some of our favourite and instantly recognisable Anime/Manga characters from what is one of the worlds most famous names in the Anime world.

With language options in both Japanese & English there is a great variety of options for all.

One of the key features, as it is with most TCGs, of course is the chase cards. The One Piece Trading Card Game has somewhat outdone its’ entire competition by the introduction of its’ Manga Art Rares. These cards are extremely rare and extremely sought after. This is backed up by the eye watering secondary market values for even the raw versions of these cards and even more so with graded versions fetching thousands in their respective Gem Mint grades.

Let’s take a look at some of these eye popping cards and we’ll break down each set, the stories/arcs they are based on or inspired by and maybe you’ll pick up a little snipit of One Piece history along the way.

OP-01 Romance Dawn

The name Romance Dawn comes from the first arc of the One Piece manga and anime. It was also the original name of the manga series before it became One Piece. So after the the initial starter decks for the TCG was released, this sits as a nice ode to the old days and beginnings of One Piece.

The rarest card to find in the set is the second Parallel version of the OP01-121 Shanks, known as “Manga Shanks”.

OP-02 Paramount War

Paramount War is based on the Marineford Arc, the culmination of the first half of the One Piece manga. It depicts the war to rescue Ace between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Navy.

The Marine Headquarters Arc and the fourth story arc of the Summit War Saga sees Luffy and his companions escape from Impel Down and travel to Marineford, the base of Marinet Headquarters. With the odds stacked high against him, the imminent threat of Whitebeard, and the ulterior motives of pirates that wish to overthrow the Emperor, Luffy struggles to hold his own in this titanic clash of powers.

Your main chase of this set is the very hot and fiery Manga Ace!

OP-03 Pillars of Strength

Pillars of Strength brought together enemies of the Straw Hat Pirates various places in the One Piece saga being themed around East Blue, Water Seven, and Whole Cake Island.

Pillars Of Strength introduces new characters and abilities from the Dressrosa Arc, such as Sabo, Fujitora, Doflamingo, Law, and more!

The Dressrosa Arc was based on The Straw Hats landing in Dressrosa, an island controlled by the warlord Donquixote Doflamingo. Upon learning of Doflamingo's conquering of the kingdom, the Straw Hats team up with the Revolutionaries and the kingdom's deposed princess Viola to overthrow Doflamingo and save Dressrosa

Your main chase card in One Piece OP-03 is the Manga Sogeking!

OP-04 Kingdoms of Intrigue

Based around the characters from both Arabasta Arc and Dressrosa Arc.

We already know about the key events of the Dressrosa Arc so with that in mind, a little touch in the Arabasta Arc see the Straw Hats finally reach the desert kingdom of Alabasta and begin their race across the land to reach Alubarna before a massive war breaks out between the kingdom's royal guards and the rebels. However, the true perpetrator of the war, Mr. 0 and the remaining Baroque Works officer agents stand in the way of reaching their goal.

The main chase card you’re aiming for in One Piece Kingdoms of Intrigue is the Manga Sabo!

OP-05 Awakening of the new Era/Protagonist of the New Era

This is where things get interesting! Although first a little bit of intro to the arc that inspired OP-05 “The Skypia Arc” The Straw Hats arrive on the Sky Island Skypiea and learn of its connections to Jaya and Mont Blanc Noland's tale of a lost city of gold. As the crew embarks in search of treasure, they become entangled in a three-way war between the native Skypieans, the vengeful Shandians, and the land's cruel "god", Enel.

With the TCG itself, the creators of the One Piece Trading Card game decide to drop on us not one, not two… But three! Manga Art Rares to find! In retrospect and using a bit of maths, this just means the one we really want to pull is now 3 times harder to find given that you have x amount of cases to open before cracking enough packs to hit a manga. Although they are all Manga Art cards, one is certainly more popular and sought after than the others! And no surprises it is the Gear 5 Monkey D Luffy Manga Art… Probably one of One Piece’s most rare and expensive single cards in existence currently!

Here are your 3 Mangas in all their glory!

OP-06 Wings of the Captain/Flanked by Legends

Inspired by the Fishman Island Arc and Thriller Bark Arcs OP-06 is one of the latest One Piece releases available to buy. A little look into the synopsis of these arcs: The Thriller Bark arc sees our team on their journey through the Florian Triangle, the Straw Hats arrive on a seemingly haunted island called Thriller Bark, where they encounter the Warlord Gecko Moria. Using his Devil Fruit abilities, Moria steals the Straw Hats' shadows. With the help of a mysterious talking skeleton named Brook, the crew must regain their shadows before sunrise in order to survive.

The Fisherman Island Arc sees the Straw Hat Pirates finally arrive at Fishe-Man Island. There, the crew learn the history of Fisherf Tiger and the ongoing discrimination between humans and Fish-Men, while the New Fish-Man Pirates plot to overtake Ryugu Kingdom and make Fish-Men be recognized as the supreme race.

With the upcoming release of OP-07 500 Years into the Future and the long awaited expectation of a Female Manga Art that we now know will be the legendary Boa Hancock, we certainly have more One Piece info to share with you. Until then, your big OP-06 big chase is this beautiful Manga Zoro! A character we’ve been itching to see in this card format!

Upon reflection, the One Piece Trading Card Game has seen a huge surge of growth and is proving to be one of the biggest growing TCGs above even those that have dominated the space for so many years and we are here for it!

More info, promotions and deals to come for our One Piece Collection so keep your eyes peeled!

Don’t forget, you can get all of your One Piece collecting needs taken care of right here at Japan2UK

Until next time, the quest for the One Piece continues!