The Union Arena release schedule: every dated product, in order

By CardSpicy Founder · October 7, 2026

Quick answer

CardSpicy tracks what a publisher has actually put a date on, and Bandai publishes an unusually complete calendar for UNION ARENA. The game is a crossover card game in which every product is built on a licensed anime or game series, and the English schedule runs from a premium all-foil GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE pack on 23 October 2026 to a Mushoku Tensei booster on 21 May 2027, with a My Hero Academia Special Booster and a third BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War booster in between. Almost every product on that calendar is listed at the same 4.99 USD per pack.

The calendar is worth reading in full because the products are not interchangeable: one of them is configured completely differently from the rest, and the English edition does not always match the Japanese one.

What UNION ARENA is, in product terms

UNION ARENA is Bandai’s crossover trading card game. Instead of one fictional universe it assembles a roster of licensed anime and game series, and gives each of them its own booster pack, starter deck and card pool that can be mixed at the same table. The current line-up includes My Hero Academia, BLEACH, GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE, Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, Re:ZERO, Chainsaw Man, Inuyasha, Hunter x Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, Code Geass and Evangelion.

That structure produces a release pattern unlike a single-IP game. There is no yearly core set that resets everything; instead there is a steady sequence of franchise products, each with its own date. A collector who follows one series has to watch the calendar rather than wait for a rotation, and a player who wants one specific deck has to buy into whichever product carries it. Our glossary sets out the difference between a booster, a starter deck and a special or premium booster if any of those labels need unpicking.

Why the English calendar is the one to use

Bandai maintains a separate North American product page for the game, and it carries its own release dates and its own US dollar prices rather than a translation of the Japanese schedule. That distinction matters, because the two editions are not always one-to-one. The Japanese My Hero Academia content was released across two volumes, while the English product is a single Special Booster that combines them.

The practical consequence is simple. The only reliable calendar for a buyer in the United States is the English one, and every date and price on this page is taken from it. If you are ordering from outside the United States, the same caveat runs in the other direction: check the listing for your own region before treating a date here as your street date.

The dated UNION ARENA line

Two entries on that table are paired launches rather than single products. The BLEACH Advanced Deck lands a week ahead of the BLEACH booster, and the Umamusume starter deck lands a week ahead of its booster. That staggered habit is common among the Japanese publishers of anime card games, and it is the reason a “release date” for a series in this game is often two dates rather than one: the deck exists to get a new player to the table before the booster that expands it arrives. Anyone planning a storage or binder purchase around a set should work from the later of the two dates.

The NIKKE Precious Booster, which is not a normal booster

One product on the calendar sits apart from the rest. The GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE pack carrying the code UP01BT is a “Precious” booster, and the whole point of that label is that every card inside it is foil. It is a premium product rather than a standard booster, and it is priced and configured accordingly.

Three details are worth separating. The first is the price: 5.99 USD per pack against the 4.99 USD that most of the line carries, for a pack that holds four cards rather than twelve. On a per-card basis that is a materially more expensive product, and it is meant to be; every card being foil is the product, not a bonus inside it.

The second is the chase structure. Bandai lists foil-stamped autograph cards signed by members of the voice cast including Yui Ishikawa, Kana Hanazawa, Yoko Hikasa, Chiwa Saito, Reina Ueda and Aoi Yuki, and separately describes serial-numbered, hand-signed Action Point cards that appear at what the listing calls an extremely low pull rate. The signed cards are the reason a premium pack exists at all, and a buyer who wants only playable cards is being asked to pay for the top of the rarity curve. Our page on whether to open a box or keep it sealed goes through how that usually plays out for a product like this one.

The third is the legality note that Bandai attaches to its product pages: cards become tournament legal from the pre-release date in the buyer’s region. For a premium pack that is a reminder that it is a playable product and not a pure collectible, even though its economics are driven by the signatures.

My Hero Academia, and the English-only combination

The My Hero Academia Special Booster is the other entry that behaves differently from a plain franchise booster. Bandai’s English listing carries the code UE25BT, dates it 11 December 2026 at 4.99 USD per pack, and configures it as a twelve-card, sixteen-pack display. It is a “Special” booster, which in this game signals a larger combined release, and it is the English counterpart of content that the Japanese edition spread over more than one product.

For a collector the significance is less the product code than the timing. The Japanese and English editions of a crossover game do not necessarily land together, and a series that has already been released in one region can arrive later in the other as a differently-shaped product. That is the single most common source of confusion when people compare dates across regions, and it is why this page uses only the English listing.

The two BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War products follow the more familiar pattern for the game: an Advanced Deck on 6 November 2026 at 24.99 USD, and the third booster, carrying the code UEX08BT, on 13 November 2026 at 4.99 USD. Bandai lists a pre-release date of 6 November for the booster, which means organised play for that set begins a week before general retail.

What this page does not claim

Four limits, stated plainly.

• The dates and prices are Bandai’s English North American listings. They are the storefront facts for the United States, and they are the only dates this page states as confirmed. Other regions follow their own schedules, and a date here should not be treated as a worldwide street date.
• Full card lists are not reproduced. Bandai publishes product codes, dates, configuration and, for the premium pack, a rarity breakdown. It does not publish a complete card-by-card checklist for every product in advance. Nothing here should be read as a list of the cards inside a product.
• “4.99 USD” is the manufacturer’s suggested price, not a market price. Retailers set their own prices, and a premium or special booster is not assumed to trade at its suggested price once it is out of print.
• No valuation. CardSpicy quotes the publisher’s own suggested retail prices and makes no valuation or investment recommendation about any card or sealed product.

If you are buying a product from this calendar to open it, our card market report is the place to look for the wider picture of what card prices are doing, and our grading page covers when a card is worth sending away. If you are storing what you buy, the card protection guide and card sleeve sizes pages cover the two decisions that come first.

Frequently asked questions

When is the next UNION ARENA product released?

The next dated release on Bandai’s English calendar is the GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE Precious Booster Pack, carrying the code UP01BT, on 23 October 2026 at 5.99 USD per pack.

How much does a UNION ARENA booster pack cost?

Most of the line is listed at 4.99 USD per pack. The NIKKE Precious Booster is the exception on the current calendar at 5.99 USD, because it is a premium product in which every card is foil and each pack holds four cards rather than twelve.

What is a Precious Booster in UNION ARENA?

It is a premium booster pack in which every card is foil. The NIKKE Precious Booster also lists foil-stamped voice-actor autograph cards and serial-numbered, hand-signed Action Point cards at an extremely low pull rate, and it is sold in ten-pack displays rather than sixteen-pack displays.

Does the English UNION ARENA release match the Japanese one?

Not always. The Japanese My Hero Academia content was released across two volumes, while the English product is a single Special Booster that combines them. Always check the listing for your own region rather than assuming a Japanese date carries over.

Are UNION ARENA cards tournament legal from release day?

Bandai states that cards are tournament legal from the pre-release date in the buyer’s region, which for the BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Vol.3 booster is 6 November 2026, a week ahead of its 13 November general release.

Sources

Sources and scope

1. Bandai’s official UNION ARENA North American product page for the Precious Booster Pack GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE, carrying the code UP01BT, used for the release date of 23 October 2026, the 5.99 USD price, the four cards per pack, the ten packs per display and twenty displays per case, the 51 card types split as PcC 27, PcR 14 and PcSR 10 plus 6 Action Point and 4 BP counter types, the named voice-actor autograph cards and the serial-numbered hand-signed Action Point cards.
2. Bandai’s official UNION ARENA North American product page for the Special Booster Pack My Hero Academia, carrying the code UE25BT, used for the release date of 11 December 2026, the 4.99 USD price, the twelve cards per pack and the sixteen-pack display configuration.
3. Bandai’s official UNION ARENA North American product page for the Booster Pack BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Vol.3, carrying the code UEX08BT, used for the general release date of 13 November 2026, the pre-release date of 6 November 2026, the 4.99 USD price and the pack and display configuration.
4. Bandai’s official UNION ARENA North American product listing page, used for the surrounding schedule: the BLEACH Advanced Deck on 6 November 2026, the GURREN LAGANN booster on 22 January 2027, the Umamusume: Pretty Derby starter deck on 5 February 2027 and booster on 12 February 2027, the D.Gray-man booster on 19 March 2027, the Puella Magi Madoka Magica booster on 30 April 2027, the Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation booster on 21 May 2027, and the 4.99 USD price that most of the line carries.
5. Our own pages on card accessories, grading, card protection, card sleeve sizes, storage boxes, binders and frames, penny sleeves and toploaders, protecting cards with sleeves, opening a box or keeping it sealed, the card market report for October 2026 and the collecting glossary, used for the internal links.
6. Scope note: only details published by Bandai on its English North American listings are stated as confirmed. Full card lists are not reproduced. CardSpicy makes no valuation or investment recommendation.

Release dates, product contents and prices are set by the publisher and can change. Check Bandai’s own product page before ordering, and check the listing for your own region rather than the North American one.

Related reading

• Is it worth grading a card
• Open a booster box or keep it sealed
• The card protection guide
• Card sleeve sizes, explained
• Card storage boxes, explained
• Binders, boxes and frames compared
• Penny sleeve versus toploader
• How to protect your trading cards with sleeves
• Card accessories
• The card market report, October 2026
• The card collecting glossary
• The Collector’s Library

Where to go next

• The CardSpicy card index — every card we track, with its PSA 10 population and market history (195 cards).
• The illustrator index — every artist behind those cards, card by card (110 artists).