St. John's cancels 'One Piece' collectible Japanese card giveaway after collectors caused frenzy outside MSG
This image is of a One Piece collectible trading/game card given out before the St. John's vs. Xavier game at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 9. Credit: Peter Kersich
St. John's has canceled a collectible card giveaway scheduled for Saturday's game against Villanova to "ensure the best experience for all fans," according to a statement from the school.
This was the third and final scheduled promotion that featured cards based on the popular Japanese manga comic book series, "One Piece." The first two giveaways created a frenzy among collectors who were offering $100 or more for the cards outside Madison Square Garden after the games. Many of the St. John's fans who received the cards were unaware of the card's value.
“I am not going to pretend that I knew all about the popularity of 'One Piece,' but I loved the idea of the partnership and got even more excited when I heard how positively young people were reacting to it,” St. John’s athletic director Ed Kull told Newsday. “We’re thrilled they see St. John’s as a platform to tap into the power of college basketball and the New York market.”
"One Piece" has become enormously popular worldwide and has spun off a Netflix TV series, graphic novels, magazines and even a line of Lego sets. Its main character, Monkey D. Luffy, has even appeared as a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The school on Tuesday sent emails to ticketholders and posted on social media announcing the decision to cancel. The post on X read, “The planned trading card and poster giveaway for the February 28 game will no longer take place. We're truly grateful for the excitement you've brought to the past games. See you on Saturday, February 28.”
The first St. John’s "One Piece" event was at the Connecticut game on Feb. 6, and those who attended the game received their collectibles as they were exiting the building. Not only were they met by people waving cash on the streets around the Garden seeking to buy the cards, there were some who did not attend the game attempting to get into the building to get one of the handouts.
“Once you got out onto Seventh Avenue under the marquee, you were basically swarmed by card buyers who were just waving cash and making offers,” season ticker holder Theo Rabinowitz told Newsday. “The first offer I got was for $100 and then $150 and finally I got one for $200. But you had to sort of squeeze your way out and I could see people feeling like it was an uncomfortable situation.”
According to accounts on social media, seekers of the collectibles were waving $100 bills and bidding against each other for the cards.
At the Xavier game on Feb. 9, ticketholders received the "One Piece" cards and posters upon entering the game. There was still activity outside the Garden, but far less.
“At that game, I got a few offers from people on the concourse who had come into the building to buy the cards,” Rabinowitz said. “For many in the St. John’s community on social media, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. We’d heard what happened at [other schools] with the giveaways.”
St. John’s is one of five schools that participated in the "One Piece" promotion this college basketball season. The others were Rutgers, Houston, Gonzaga and Illinois. There was reportedly a burglary at Rutgers where cards for the Scarlet Knights’ game against Michigan State were stolen.
There also were reports about the other locations where some tickets were bought solely for the purpose of receiving the collectibles upon arriving at the game and then left immediately.
“I know our students loved the 'One Piece' giveaway,” Kull said. “That was one of the goals and a reason we feel the partnership has been so successful.”
St. John’s is still holding that night’s “White Out” against Villanova and will be giving out t-shirts to everyone seated in the Garden’s lower bowl. Fans are being encouraged to wear white.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
