ONE PIECE Card Game Shops Add Facial Recognition to Block Scalpers
The facial recognition rollout lands on the same day as the World's Strongest Warriors booster pack, a set with a Kaido card by Baki artist Keisuke Itagaki and the debut of Rocks, making it a direct test of whether the anti-scalper measure holds up under high demand.
Reporting from 1 source: Animehunch.
Official ONE PIECE Card Game shops in Japan will use a facial recognition system during product sales starting Aug 22. Bandai Namco says the system will temporarily collect and verify customer facial information when purchasing related products, and that the data will not be used for any other purpose. The move follows a nationwide sellout of a Weekly Shonen Jump issue that bundled a promotional card, which resellers later listed at inflated prices.
The system goes live Aug 22, the same day the World's Strongest Warriors booster pack reaches shelves. The set carries a newly drawn Strongest Creature, Kaido of the Beasts card illustrated by Keisuke Itagaki, the manga artist behind Baki the Grappler. It also marks the debut of Rocks in the card game and introduces a Pirate Crew Super Parallel rarity featuring Luffy and Rocks.
The scalper problem came to a head with the July 13 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. Shueisha raised that issue's print run by 500,000 copies ahead of release because of demand for its bundled promotional card, yet it still sold out at bookstores and convenience stores nationwide. Copies then surfaced on resale marketplaces at sharply higher prices. Shueisha apologized to readers on July 17 and promised measures to prevent repeat shortages.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.