Whew finally been able to watch that episode and it was really good. Gear 2nd animated was really great to see though. And by checking the manga it seems to have been the right first after all that did the punch it was just not the part that never got my attention. If you check page 04-05 of chapter 388 you´ll clearly see the vibration lines around Luffy´s right fist which indicates that it returned to its regular position. Well maybe old news to everyone else but I really never saw it as if it was the right first at until now so I´m quite happy to have just learned another new thing about OP.
On the topic of the artwork, actually both Senshi and Randy are right. Toei in fact had a good animation team for 273 however the older team especially around Drum was better. But personally I can most definitely do much more then just live with the current team. :)
About the next episode now after finally seeing the preview I think it´s fair game to assume that the flag burning part with Luffy´s response to Spandam will appear here. The part where Luffy yells in the preview is the moment from chapter where he says that he doesn´t care that Robin wants to live or die but that she should be with the crew. So the flag burning thing will (thank god) most probably come after the flashback, just as in the manga. And seeing from what footage is going to be in the next episode the flashback is most likely to start within episode 275. Hooray!!!