Weekly Shonen Jump reportedly disappeared from shelves across Japan after resellers rushed to buy copies for a limited One Piece Card Game promotional card included with the magazine. What is usually a routine weekly purchase for manga readers became a scramble, with social media filling up with posts from people saying they could not find the issue.
The shortage was especially notable because the issue also carried the final chapter of Blue Box, Kouji Miura’s romance-sports series that has run in the magazine since 2021. After reports of the sellout spread, Miura posted on X to apologize to readers who missed the chance to read the ending in print.
Trading card speculation reaches beyond hobby shops
According to the report, the episode reflects a broader pattern in the trading card market, where limited releases have increasingly attracted resellers and investors. The Pokémon Trading Card Game saw a major surge during the pandemic, helped in part by collectors and influencers such as Logan Paul bringing rare cards and graded collectibles into the mainstream. Since then, limited promotions tied to Pokémon, Disney Lorcana, Magic: The Gathering, and Bandai’s One Piece Card Game have often led to long lines, purchase limits, and resale markups.
What makes this case unusual is that the speculative rush extended beyond specialty stores and into bookstores. Instead of treating Weekly Shonen Jump as a magazine for its stories, many buyers appear to have viewed it mainly as a vehicle for the promo card inside. The result was a rare shortage for a publication that has long been a staple of manga culture, and a reminder that trading card speculation is now affecting parts of the entertainment business far outside the hobby market.
Source: polygon.com
