First, the state of the market. One Piece sealed product is still holding firm even as singles cool from the red-hot highs of the past year to more reasonable levels. The best example is the set that just landed. TCGplayer currently shows the English OP-17 box around $310 as of October 12. A box that sells for more than two and a half times its MSRP six weeks after release tells you sealed demand has not gone anywhere. That also updates our earlier One Piece slab-dip piece: while graded singles have been sliding, the sealed side of this hobby is behaving like a different market entirely.
Now to the contenders, starting with the Heroines. EB-05 is the sequel to a proven product. EB-03 was the first all-female character set in One Piece Card Game history; which released February 20, 2026. That set gave collectors a lot to chase: nine SP cards, God Packs, Gold Dons, and an Uta Manga (still near $940 NM). The English EB-03 box now trades around $320 on TCGplayer, and those are the numbers every EB-05 pre-sale gets measured against.
The EB-05 headliners are already taking shape. The box itself features exclusive Nico Robin cover art, and Robin leads the set too. Card-list trackers report EB05-010 as a Green/Yellow Nico Robin Leader with a Super Parallel version, though its number is still disputed, alongside a Nico Robin Super Rare (EB05-016) with Parallel and SP versions. The card with the most buzz is Nami EB05-055. The official One Piece Card Game X account introduced it on October 5, 2026, with art newly drawn by Kentaro Yabuki, the creator of To LOVE-Ru, and reports put three Parallel versions on top of two Yabuki variants. A guest artist like that on the series’ most popular heroine is exactly how a chase card gets made. Our estimated chase list: the Yabuki Nami variants, the set’s lone Secret Rare (reported as a Nami, EB05-061, with a Parallel), the Robin Leader Super Parallel, the Shirahoshi Manga and Super Parallel versions, and the SP slots like Miss Buckingham Stussy and Vinsmoke Reiju.
OP-18 is a different bet. It is a full main set, and Bandai’s pages confirm a total of 127+1 card types, so your pulls are spread across a much larger pool. The story hook is strong: Bandai names Saint Gunko and Saint Shamrock as characters making their One Piece Card Game debut. The likely chase is where things get speculative. Media reports name two OP-18 Secret Rares, Saint Shamrock and Loki, though neither appears anywhere on Bandai’s official OP-18 pages. TCGroup AU reported that Yoshitaka Amano created original art for the Loki and Saint Shamrock Secret Rares, with Parallel and gold-foil Parallel versions. If an Amano Loki is real, it could be the year’s most talked-about card. But it is still unconfirmed, and you would be paying a premium on a rumor. Though the rarities are high, the character appeal is lacking for these headliners.
Here’s how they stack up side by side. On release, EB-05 arrives October 30 and OP-18 arrives November 20, so EB-05 gets three clean weeks of attention and spending before its bigger sibling arrives. On chase, EB-05 has a confirmed headline card in the Yabuki Nami. On precedent, EB-05 has a direct predecessor holding near $300 as a sealed box, while OP-18 inherits the general main-set strength that OP-17 shows. On risk, EB-05’s risk is print run: if Bandai prints heavily to meet Heroines demand, the premium shrinks. OP-18’s risk is dilution: a 127-card pool, a crowded holiday release slot, and a chase that may not stack up to it's predecessors.
Our verdict: put about 80% into EB-05 sealed and about 20% into OP-18, but don’t buy either at launch-weekend prices. Bandai’s pack price puts a box near $120 at retail, but in this market the realistic floor for most One Piece booster boxes is around $200, and that’s what to base your targets on. For EB-05, start watching once a box drops under $300 and buy once it’s under $250. At that price, $700 gets you two boxes with room to spare, and if the price dips closer to $230, you can get a third or double down. Keep them sealed. EB-03 has already shown what a Heroines box can do after release, and Vol. 2 has more name-brand art behind it. For OP-18, be more patient and wait until boxes settle around $200 or lower, close to that floor. Your $300 then covers one box to open plus a few singles, or you can skip the box and buy only the cards you want. Main-set singles almost always cool off after the first frenzy, while a well-loved extra booster tends to stay hard to find, so set your price limits now and stick to them.
None of this is a guarantee. Sealed prices can turn on a reprint announcement, and the One Piece market has made fools of confident predictions before. But if the question is where the next dollar does the most work, the evidence points one way. OP-17 shows that One Piece sealed demand is healthy, EB-03 shows the Heroines brand holds its value, and EB-05 arrives with confirmed chase cards and three weeks of uncontested spending. Look for the drop on OP-18 singles, and put your Heroines boxes on the shelf.
Sources:
Samurai Sword Tokyo – EB-05 Card List
Samurai Sword Tokyo – EB-05 Release Date, Leaders, SP Cards
Samurai Sword Tokyo – EB-05 English vs Japanese
Samurai Sword Tokyo – OP-18 Secret Rares, Reported vs Official
Samurai Sword Tokyo – EB-03 Pull Rates & God Pack
Thornberry Media – OP-17 Release Pricing
Card Cavern – OP-17 Booster Box listing
PixelHeart – EB-05 English pre-order