One date that was curiously absent from the 2026 Dodgers home schedule filled in just before Memorial Day: almost one year to the day, the Straw Hat Pirates of One Piece will make their return to Dodger Stadium.
By all accounts, last year’s festivities were enjoyed by most. We at True Blue LA got far more mileage than expected with last year’s announcement and subsequent festivities,
with one major point that we will focus on in a moment.
Last year, the Dodgers and Toei Animation did a joint press release. This year, the Dodgers have largely been mum on the specifics, but one would expect another drone show, intro video, and features around the ballpark on July 2nd.
Frankly, it would be shocking not to see something similar on July 2. As an aside, in the video, Luffy wears 56 as a bit of a Japanese pun – “go” means five, “mu” means six, and the fruit that gave Luffy his stretchy powers is called the Gomu Gomu no Mi (The Gum Gum Fruit).
The theme night will again include a Dodgers-branded signature straw hat, similar to the one Luffy wears, now for the first 52,000 ticketed fans instead of 40,000. The main newsworthiness of last year’s event is the same draw for this year’s event: this year’s promotional card for the One Piece trading card game.
Using last year as an example of why this news is a big deal, it’s not every day that the Dodgers give away a promotional item that last year’s model is still selling for two and a half to five thousand American dollars online.
That Monkey promo card is selling for how much?!?
First, the character is generally known as Luffy (pronounced Loofy, not Luff-y — don’t be Michael Kay), not Monkey; it’s Japanese.
Second, last year, the Dodgers gave away a promotional trading card on One Piece night: a promotional card compatible with the One Piece trading card game, featuring Monkey D. Luffy holding a baseball in a Dodgers uniform.
Here is what I reported at the time:
To the unaware, the card, featuring art from the manga’s creator, Eiichiro Oda, looks like a simple trading card. However, over the past couple of years, games like the One Piece card game and the Pokémon Trading Card Game have developed subcultures centered on collecting rare cards from randomized packs.
These packs, which were originally sold for less than $10 per pack, now sell for significantly more (think anywhere from $25 to $500 or higher per pack). This explanation is generalized for brevity. It is not hyperbole to point out that some of these cards are valued and sold in excess of $1,000 per card…
…Still, after checking online, seeing that secondary sellers are selling the Luffy promo card for an average of $350-$500 is shocking. While prices have dipped from the initial frenzy, I would not expect prices to approach something reasonable until the market crashes.
The market did not crash, dear reader, as much as fans of the One Piece card game would have wanted it to.
The price of the 2025 Luffy Dodgers promo just kept going up and up, as the market for a limited-edition, one-off promotional card clearly demonstrates supply and demand. Now, the 2025 Luffy Dodgers promo card cannot be found in mint condition for sale for less than $2,250. Seeing prices for a mint condition of this card in excess of three thousand dollars is not uncommon.
Capitalism, everybody! For the nuances of how the economies of trading card games and the like work, see the attached link.
Last year’s card invited scalpers to Dodger Stadium, who approached unsuspecting fans, asking for their promotional cards or offering to buy them for what turned out to be pennies on the dollar.
The Dodgers have announced that each ticketed fan will be limited to one set of items, as last year, the folks doing the giving away were a bit overwhelmed, per reports, which is odd considering how adroitly they handled themselves during multiple Shohei Ohtani giveaways, but such is life.
Consider the following pullquote as an informal public service announcement:
Do I expect this year’s card to be comparable in value to last year’s version? Honestly, no.
This year’s card is not as striking as last year’s card, and in these matters, aesthetics matter.
Next, I think the cat is out of the bag, and the situation is eerily similar to the speculation bubble in American comic books that nearly nuked pre-Disney Marvel. This argument needs context, so we must rely on movie critic Bob Chipman for the analogous on-point argument.
The contents of the video essay are predictably evergreen for any overvalued asset.
The reason why last year’s card will always be inherently more valuable than this year’s card is the small number of promotional cards that survived that night at Dodger Stadium. Most of the fans that attended 2025’s One Piece night thought they were getting a couple of ticky-tacky baubles, not something that could potentially be sold for consequences-level money.
Now, people know better, as word (and articles like this one) has gotten out; by definition, more promotional cards will survive, which will increase supply, lower demand, and potentially save us all from a part three in 2027.
I can dream, right?
I suddenly envisioned a future in which I would have to write a synopsis of One Piece for a non-anime baseball audience. While I am having this existential meltdown, you might be having a different thought. If you don’t have tickets to this game, you might be suddenly inspired to see the spiraling San Diego Padres for some reason. Accordingly, you might be tempted to pick up game tickets for Dodger Stadium on July 2.
This article serves as a public service announcement on that front, too.
Game tickets for 7/2 cost how much?!?
Do you like paying NLDS prices for game tickets in July? Why do I ask? Well…
The embedded Bluesky post is not a typo; the lowest price seat from the team is $376. These seats are in the upper deck. Prices get exponentially worse from there. Not “NBA Finals in New York for the first time in a generation” bad, but still astronomical for a summer regular-season game.
In comparison, the following night, the lowest price seat from the team is $81. The secondary ticket market is similarly overheated, with the lowest prices just shy of $400.
From anecdotal evidence, the ticket prices for the game shot up by a third once the existence of this year’s promo card was confirmed. Do I expect ticket prices for this game to drop? No, if anything, I expect the opposite.
Now, if one wanted to avoid this upcoming madness, one could make a tidy little profit by reselling one’s game ticket. One just might do that; I couldn’t possibly comment.
There is a hidden advantage to sitting this out: the likely confusion that will likely bleed into that night’s broadcast, especially if the game is a blowout.
Would I enjoy Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser trying to decipher this madness on the telecast? Very much so. Would I enjoy listening to Stephen Nelson try to explain this madness to Rick Monday on the radio? Very much so. Would I enjoy Eric Karros harrumphing in confusion at the festivities? Less so, but fun can still be had in this scenario.
I would hope for a blowout in either direction to ensure that Nelson/Tim Neverett and Monday have no choice but to fill time by talking about it.
Will noted One Piece fan Shohei Ohtani enjoy the festivities? Probably. Regardless of whether you are going, want to go, want to flee, or you should flee, you cannot claim that you were not told.
