One Piece OP-17 Prerelease Hot and Cold List

One Piece OP-17 prerelease events begin ahead of wide release

World’s Strongest Warriors, also known as OP-17, reached prerelease tables in the U.S. on August 21, with the wide release set for August 28. Japan is scheduled to receive the set on August 22, creating a brief stretch where collectors in multiple regions are opening the same anniversary product at different times.

Bandai’s fourth anniversary booster is built around Elbaf and the Four Emperors, and it arrives with six confirmed Leaders spread across the color wheel. The lineup includes Edward Newgate in Red, Monkey D. Luffy in Black, Shanks in Green, Kaido in Purple, Charlotte Linlin in Yellow, and Rocks D. Xebec in Blue.

The set also introduces three premium card treatments officially named Super Leader Parallel, Super Parallel, and Conqueror’s Haki Special. Among them, the Luffy Super Leader Parallel stands out as the first Leader card in the game to receive that treatment, a card collectors have already nicknamed the Manga Leader.

At the top of the rarity ladder is a single Treasure Rare, confirmed as Edward Newgate, card OP17-040.

The market reaction is not following the obvious script

Going into an anniversary set centered on the Four Emperors, the expectation was that older cards tied to those characters would get a lift. The completed sales data has not matched that assumption. Most legacy Emperor cards are flat or slipping, while the strongest early market interest is showing up around cards that are brand new to the game.

That makes OP-17 an interesting prerelease watch. The set’s headline names are familiar, but the current secondary market movement suggests collectors are reacting more to fresh chase cards and premium treatments than to older staples simply because they share a theme.

Hot list: Rocks D. Xebec leads the early demand

Rocks D. Xebec, OP17-118, The World’s Strongest Warriors, Secret Rare

Rocks D. Xebec does not have any back catalog to compare against, which makes him the cleanest example of new-card demand in OP-17. The legendary captain, whose crew once included Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido before they became Emperors themselves, is making his One Piece TCG debut in this set.

OP-17 gives him the Blue Leader slot, with a base print at OP17-039 and this Secret Rare alternate art at OP17-118. Because there is no completed sales history for the card, there is no reliable price point to report yet. Even so, he is the name in the set drawing demand that is not borrowed from an older release, and that makes him one of the most important cards to monitor as more product opens.

For collectors tracking early movement, Rocks D. Xebec is the card that best reflects how much appetite there is for OP-17 itself rather than for legacy Emperor cards.

Shanks, OP01-120, Romance Dawn, Secret Rare

Shanks is one of the six confirmed Leaders in OP-17, and his manga panel printing from Romance Dawn remains the strongest legacy card in the market tied to this set’s theme. Completed sales place the card around $1,550, while the most recent transaction earlier this month closed at $1,825.

The card spent February through April trading in a wider range of roughly $2,000 to $2,800 before easing into its current level. That means it has cooled from its own peak, but it remains far above the $500 to $1,000 range it held through much of 2025.

As the game’s first manga panel card, Shanks continues to serve as the benchmark for the format. One important note for buyers is that OP01-120 exists with several print runs under the same collector number, and only the original manga panel version sits in this top tier.

Cold list: older Emperor cards are under pressure

Portgas.D.Ace, OP13-119, Carrying on His Will, Secret Rare

Portgas.D.Ace is the card most likely to cause confusion for buyers this month because OP13-119 exists as two very different chase prints. The standard manga panel version has been steady at around $1,100, while the red manga panel version is the higher-end version and the one that has been sliding.

Across spring and early summer, the red manga panel version traded between roughly $5,500 and $6,150. August completed sales have come in around $4,000, which marks a meaningful drop from the levels it held just a few months ago.

Even allowing for condition differences, that is a soft month for a card that spent the spring above $5,000. If the Marineford storyline at the center of this set was going to push one older card higher, Ace would have been the obvious candidate. So far, that lift has not shown up.

Edward.Newgate, OP13-042, Carrying on His Will, Super Rare

Whitebeard is one of the central names in OP-17, serving as the Red Leader and the confirmed Treasure Rare, but his older alternate art from Carrying on His Will has taken the sharpest hit on this list.

In late June, the card was trading in the $30s and $40s. August completed sales have landed roughly in the $15 to $20 range, which is about half of its early summer value in less than two months.

The decline appears more tied to rotation than to any loss of interest in the character. With a Treasure Rare and a Super Parallel version of Whitebeard arriving in OP-17, collectors seem to be shifting funds away from older Whitebeard alternate arts and toward the new premium cards.

For anyone holding this print, the key question is where the new Whitebeard treatments settle once the set is fully opened and the market has more data. Until then, the older alternate art remains under pressure.

Why OP-17 matters for One Piece collectors

OP-17 is more than a routine booster release because it combines anniversary branding, major character names, and several new premium card treatments in one product. The set’s structure gives collectors multiple ways to chase the same theme, from Leaders and Secret Rares to the top-end treatments tied to the anniversary identity.

That matters in the secondary market because it can shift demand away from older cards that once served as the main chase pieces for a character. Whitebeard is the clearest current example, but the same dynamic could affect other legacy Emperor cards if the new cards land at levels that pull collector attention and budget away from older prints.

At the same time, new debuts such as Rocks D. Xebec can create their own lane. When a card has no previous print history, there is no established ceiling or floor to anchor early sales. That makes prerelease and launch week especially important for setting the tone.

What collectors should watch as release week continues

With prerelease events underway and the wide release approaching, OP-17 is entering the period when early market assumptions either hold or break. The current data suggests three things are worth watching closely:

• Whether Rocks D. Xebec develops a clear early price once more sales are recorded
• Whether Shanks holds near current levels or drifts further after launch
• Whether Whitebeard and Ace stabilize once the new anniversary cards are fully absorbed by the market

The set’s mix of familiar Emperor names and new premium treatments gives it a wide range of possible outcomes. For now, the clearest strength is coming from the newest chase cards, while several older cards tied to the same characters are still adjusting to the arrival of OP-17.

As more product opens after the August 28 wide release, the market should show whether collectors are treating World’s Strongest Warriors as a true anniversary upgrade or simply as another set with a few standout cards carrying the load.