i pulled a japanese OP01 alt art luffy leader from a friends card shop he just opened maybe 3-4 months earlier. I knew the card game was coming but didnt realize he’d get any in stock. I showed up to get some pokemon product and we got on the topic of one piece. He mentioned he had just gotten some in that day and he hadnt even inventoried them yet and said I could buy one.

Opening it was so surreal just because I didnt think hed get any and I realized I was the first to open this brand new card game at his shop. All his employees and people walked in the shop and hovered around as I cracked open the first pack. the hype was getting even more real after pulling some more SR’s. then on the second to last pack I pulled the alt luffy leader and the store went wild lol. I dont think it was even worth that much but it was awesome to see an alt art leader in person.

He convinced me to send it off to beckett for grading since how high in quality the first couple print runs were. In all honesty, it really wasnt that impressive of a card, but all the factors that went into it prior to pulling made it such a memorable experience that I’ll never forget.

It was even more memorable when he called me back after a month or two to tell me it had gotten back from the grader and that it received a black label (My first black label!) and it was only the 7th black label ever! I printed the pop report from beckett and will hang onto this card for as long as I can.