One Piece Follows in Pokémon’s Footsteps With Controversial ID Measures
Card trading games have become targets for scalpers seeking to buy products in bulk at manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) and resell them at significantly higher prices. This practice disrupts legitimate customers’ access to collectible cards and damages the community. Both the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the newer One Piece Card Game have experienced this problem extensively.
To combat this issue, The Pokémon Company implemented facial recognition technology at its official stores to identify and limit bulk purchases by individuals. This controversial measure aims to prevent scalpers from monopolizing inventory while allowing regular collectors to purchase cards at fair prices.
Following Pokémon’s lead, the One Piece Card Game has adopted similar facial recognition-based purchase controls. While both initiatives target a genuine problem in the trading card market, they raise privacy concerns among consumers who question the necessity and scope of biometric data collection for retail transactions. The facial recognition systems remain one of the most aggressive anti-scalping measures undertaken by trading card game publishers to date.