Why Shanks OP01-120 Is Moving Right Now
The Card Everyone Underestimated From Day One
Shanks (OP01-120) is a Secret Rare Character card from Romance Dawn, the very first English-language One Piece Card Game set, released in late 2022. A 9-cost Red with 10,000 power, [Rush], and an attacking ability that strips your opponent's low-power Blockers, it is not a complicated card — but it is an iconic one. It sits at the literal end of the Romance Dawn card list, illustrated by Makitoshi, and it depicts the Red-Haired Emperor in the kind of composed, menacing pose that defines the character.
For most of 2024 and into early 2025, the raw copy traded in the low-to-mid single digits in English. Collectors who pulled it from old packs often traded it sideways. That has changed.
The Catalyst: Benn Beckman and a Red Shanks Deck Renaissance
The immediate spark is a new card: Benn Beckman from the latest set, The Time of Battle (OP-16), which became legal for tournament play in late June 2026. Benn Beckman — Shanks's right-hand man and one of the most feared pirates in the world — arrives as a card described by competitive analysts as "absolutely insane for Red Shanks decks." The effect is straightforward: pair him with the Red Shanks leader shell, and suddenly the whole Red-Hair Pirates engine becomes much more consistent and threatening.
The new Benn Beckman has caused nearly every Red-Hair Pirates support card to skyrocket in price. Lucky Roux (PRB02-003) is the most dramatic example — the alternate-art version jumped from around $7 to well over $30, while the regular Rare version went from under a dollar to $10.
The ripple effect landed squarely on OP01-120. As the original, foundational Shanks card and a four-of in many Red Shanks builds, demand picked up fast. Both alternate-art Leader cards for Shanks have been rising sharply alongside the support spike. The raw OP01-120 currently sits at $8.99 on Cardbrd — modest in absolute terms, but worth tracking closely given the trajectory of every other Red-Hair Pirates card in the ecosystem right now.
The Bigger Picture: Elbaph Is Doing What Wano Did
The competitive catalyst is real, but the broader cultural moment matters just as much. One Piece Season 22 began broadcasting on April 5, 2026, adapting the Elbaph arc from the 111th volume onwards — the arc centered on the Giant Warrior Pirates and, critically, one that pulls Shanks back to the center of the story. The season follows a new two-split-cours annual schedule with a maximum of 26 episodes per year going forward, meaning Elbaph content will be pacing out across the rest of 2026 and into 2027.
The anime's momentum is considerable: the One Piece manga has sold more than 600 million copies globally as of March 2026, and Netflix's live-action adaptation has already produced two seasons.
Analysts tracking the market have noted that anime story revelations directly influence card prices — as more Elbaph-related moments hit the screen, related cards have been moving in real time. Shanks is the most prominent Four Emperors figure tied to the Elbaph arc's early episodes, and his profile in the story is only going to grow. Episode 1156 featured Shanks and Blackbeard as the two most prominent non-Straw Hat narratives, generating exactly the kind of fan energy that historically lifts character-linked cards.
On top of all that, Bandai's Next Plan presentation on June 18 revealed two upcoming sets: The World's Strongest Warriors (OP-17) and ONE PIECE Heroines Edition 2 (EB-05), both slated for July–August 2026. OP-17 draws directly from the Elbaph arc, with sample cards already revealed for Luffy, Edward Newgate, and Loki. More Elbaph-themed sets means more Shanks-adjacent cards, more Red-Hair Pirates support, and more reasons to hold the original.
Raw vs. PSA 10: The Grade Gap Is Enormous
This is where the math gets interesting. The raw English OP01-120 sits at $8.99 on Cardbrd. A PSA 10 copy is $428.54 — a multiple of roughly 47x.
That gap is not unusual for a high-profile Secret Rare from a first-edition set. Romance Dawn packs were opened aggressively when the English game launched; early print runs had documented quality control inconsistencies, and the card's dark border and foil treatment make centering flaws immediately visible. A pack-fresh PSA 10 on OP01-120 was never trivially easy to achieve. The result is that the PSA 10 population is relatively constrained for a card this old in the English game.
What this means practically:
| Condition | Price (Cardbrd) | Who It's For |
|---|---|---|
| Raw (ungraded) | $8.99 | Players building a Red Shanks deck now; speculators willing to grade |
| PSA 10 | $428.54 | Long-term collectors; people who want the definitive copy |
If you have a raw copy that looks pristine — tight centering, no print lines, clean corners — submitting it to PSA has real upside at current levels. If the 10 population stays thin and the Elbaph arc continues to elevate Shanks's narrative profile, the graded ceiling has room to move. Conversely, if you just want the card for a competitive deck, $8.99 for a played-condition raw is an entirely reasonable entry right now.
The window between "playable demand spike" and "collector demand spike" can close quickly on marquee cards from a Set 1. Romance Dawn is not being reprinted as new product — older inventory is all there is.
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Sources
- The Biggest One Piece Card Price Shifts in May 2026 — TCGplayer
- Elbaph and Heroines Lead One Piece TCG's Next Wave — Outlook Respawn
- One Piece Season 22 — Wikipedia
- One Piece's Elbaph Arc Gives Anime Fans Their First Glimpse of Luffy vs. Shanks — CBR
Cover photo: Photo by CC PD on Unsplash.