PokéShiny FindsDOSSIER — The GOLDEN Tomy Magikarp (金のコイキング)
The definitive reference. PokéFig research, July 2026. Every fact carries its certainty level:
[CONFIRMED] = primary source or verifiable catalog · [LORE] = collector accounts without a primary source · [UNRESOLVED] = open question.
This document feeds the public page
/dossier/magikarp-doradoand the catalog entriesgrial-gold-magikarp,magikarp-gold-haneru-2023andgrial-shiny-gyarados.
0. Executive summary
How many official golden Magikarp FIGURES exist? → TWO.
| # | Figure | Year | How it was obtained | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MonColle Gold Magikarp — Pokémon Daisuki Club prize | 2005 | Prize from the web event 「夏休み大作戦！2005」 | GRAIL · grial-gold-magikarp |
| 2 | Haneru!∞ Koiking golden ver. — Pokémon Center gacha | 2023 | Blind capsule (gacha), rare variant ~10% | Rare · magikarp-gold-haneru-2023 |
Everything else that circulates as a "golden Tomy Magikarp" is not a figure: the famous "HG/SS golden pair + red Gyarados" were plushes (Dec 2009), the Nagoya 2013 金のコイキング was a video-game distribution + plush/cushion, and the 2024 Nagoya golden statue is store decoration (with derivative merch that isn't a figure). Details in §3.
Key correction that motivated this dossier: in the catalog, the red Gyarados note said "HG/SS lottery — paired with Shiny Magikarp." False on two counts [CONFIRMED]: the red Gyarados was a *purchase gift* (not a lottery) from January 2010, and it had no Magikarp figure pair (the pair was plushes). Also, the old import's criterion "comes with a wave base ⇒ not the grail" was a myth: the 2005 grail DOES sit on its blue wave (§1, reference photo).
1. FIGURE 1 — MonColle Gold Magikarp (Daisuki Club prize, 2005) · the grail
The campaign [CONFIRMED]
- Event 「夏休み大作戦！2005」 ("Great Summer Operation 2005") of the Pokémon Daisuki Club (pokemon.jp), Jul 15 → Aug 31, 2005. Themed site around the uninhabited island "Osanoda", 5 areas with minigames; one was the Magikarp Fishing Tournament (コイキングつり大会).
- Playing earned you "Pokémon Plates" (~100 types); depending on how many you collected you qualified for prizes: 70+ types of merchandise for ~3,000 winners (up to a GameCube + Pokémon XD and a Mew-edition DS).
- Sources: Dengeki Online and ITmedia/Netlab (Japanese press, Jul–Aug 2005); event page preserved on the Wayback Machine (
web.archive.org/web/20050815003930/http://www.pokemon.jp:80/portal/index.cfm).
The prize mechanics [LORE]
- The standard account (source: informational post by kidgengar, LiveJournal
/9856.html, archived 2019): *"the first 2,000 to fish a golden Magikarp in the minigame received the figure"* and *"2,000 were made"*. - ⚠️ The 2005 press confirms the event, dates and tournament, but never names the figure or the 2,000 cutoff. Another version from Japanese forums says 1,000 winners [LORE]. Actual production run: unknown [UNRESOLVED].
The physical figure [CONFIRMED by reference photos]
- Mold: the classic MonColle Magikarp, mounted on its dark-blue wave base. The reference photo (tomypokemonfigure.info, catalog entry) and documented specimens show it on the wave — the myth "the grail has no base" is busted.
- Finish: factory PEARLESCENT champagne yellow, in two tones — pearl-gold body; fins, tail and barbels in pearl white. It is NOT uniform metallic gold paint.
- External cataloging: MyFigureCollection lists it as *«Metallic Monster Collection — Shiny ver., Golden Koiking (Pokémon Daisuki Club, Tomy)»*.
- Packaging: blister; at least one documented auction with the piece still sealed (kidgengar, ~2017). Exact blister design: [UNRESOLVED] (no good public photo).
- Community authentication: the Jan 2009 sale was validated by denkimouse (pkmncollectors): *"one of the first Daisuki Club prizes"* — not a paint error nor a bootleg [CONFIRMED].
The PokéShiny Finds specimen
- Own photos (IG
@pokeshinyfinds, post DDIk0UMSiLP, Dec 2024): classic mold + blue wave + two-tone pearl — matches the 2005 grail reference point by point. Loaded onto thegrial-gold-magikarpentry as secondary images. - The previous import had excluded it from the grail "because it comes on a wave base" — a wrong criterion (see above). Definitive authentication of the specimen: check the base stamp and seam (§6) [UNRESOLVED until that inspection].
2. FIGURE 2 — Haneru!∞ Koiking golden ver. (Pokémon Center gacha, 2023)
- What it is [CONFIRMED]: Pokémon Center exclusive gashapon «はねる!∞（ムゲン）コイキング» ("Jump! Infinite Magikarp"): a WIND-UP toy that recreates Magikarp's Splash. Online pre-sale Jul 6, 2023; in-store machines from Jul 8, 2023.
- Variants [CONFIRMED]: male (yellow barbels), female (white barbels) and golden shiny — blind capsule.
- Rarity of the golden one: no official run published [UNRESOLVED]. Empirical data point: a Japanese buyer documented 2 golden in 20 capsules (~10%) — a nod to the in-game 1/4096 shiny odds. Source: JP blog
126711chnrgmt2.blog.jp/archives/21336183.html(purchase with photos). - Physical: its own mold with a wind-up mechanism, NO wave base. Manufacturer not stated in the source (official Pokémon Center gacha; attributable to Takara Tomy Arts, its usual supplier) [manufacturer UNRESOLVED].
- Why it matters here: it's the only OTHER official golden Magikarp figure — and the #1 source of "I have the grail" confusion when what people have is the gacha.
3. What is NOT a figure (but feeds the myth)
| Object | What it actually was | Certainty |
|---|---|---|
| "HG/SS pair: golden Magikarp + red Gyarados" | Pokémon Center PLUSHES, Dec 2009 (HG/SS era). MFC lists the red Gyarados *Posing Plush* (Pokémon Center · Takara Tomy A.R.T.S). The golden plush was re-released in Apr 2013 for the Pokémon Center Nagoya reopening (PokéVault: "originally made back in 2009... re-made for the Nagoya renewal"). No golden MonColle figure exists from that campaign. | [CONFIRMED] |
| Nagoya 2013 金のコイキング | A VIDEO-GAME distribution: Pokémon Center Nagoya gave away (late Mar 2013 → Golden Week) a golden Lv. 99 Magikarp (with Bounce/Hydro Pump) for Black/White, for the reopening. + re-released plush + life-size cushion ¥5,800 (~$39 USD). | [CONFIRMED — Dengeki Online 615077] |
| The 2024 Nagoya golden statue | Reopening at Nagoya PARCO (Oct 12, 2024): a decorative golden Magikarp statue in *shachihoko* style + merch (statue magnet, acrylics). Not a line figure. | [CONFIRMED — press/PC Online] |
| 8" golden plush (various years) | Pokémon Center shiny plushes (separate line, multiple re-releases). | [CONFIRMED] |
| Golden Magikarp from Pokémon GO / the Hanero Koiking mobile game | On-screen only (2017), origin of the modern 金のコイキング boom. | [CONFIRMED] |
| Taobao "studio replicas" (Magikarp, etc.) | Chinese replicas/customs — bootleg. | [CONFIRMED — sources intake #11] |
4. The sister figure: the RED MonColle Gyarados (and the correction)
- What it is [CONFIRMED]: a factory red repaint of the classic Gyarados mold, on its blue wave. MFC item 412903: *Monster Collection DP «Shiny ver., Akai Gyarados»* — January 2010, gift for PURCHASING 5 MonColle figures (not a lottery), 38mm, barcode 4904810372189.
- Independent JP confirmation: the Asami blog (asami-1120.hatenablog.com) documents the «buy 5 MonColle/MonColle Plus → limited red Gyarados» campaign, contemporary with the 1,000-unit shiny Lucario.
- Rarity: the "most common" Tomy shiny (Shiny Garden); HTF in the community 1st-gen guide.
- ✏️ Corrections applied to the catalog:
grial-shiny-gyaradossaid "HG/SS lottery — paired with Shiny Magikarp" → corrected with the real story.gyarados-tomy-shinyis the same figure (duplicate flagged, merge pending).
5. Identification comparison table
| Trait | 2005 grail (Daisuki Club) | 2023 gacha (Haneru!∞) | Typical fake (painted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mold | Classic MonColle (identical to the orange Magikarp) | Gacha's own mold, body attached to the mechanism | Classic MonColle (from a real figure or a bootleg) |
| Base | Dark-blue wave (YES it has it; the wave stays blue, not gilded) | No wave — wind-up mechanism | Wave present, sometimes gilded too (red flag) |
| Size | ~4 cm (standard MonColle) | Gacha capsule (~5 cm with mechanism) | ~4 cm |
| Finish | Factory two-tone pearl: pearl-champagne body + pearl-white fins/barbels | Uniform shiny gold | Uniform metallic gold paint over the PVC; chips at the edges |
| Base stamp | ©Nintendo + TOMY sharp and deep (classic mold) | Modern gacha stamp | Blurry, covered by paint, or present but with paint flooding the engraving |
| Seam | Two glued halves → visible seam | N/A (different construction) | Faint seam if re-molded; paint bridging the seam if repainted |
| Original packaging | Prize blister (rarely seen; sealed = bigger grail) | Blind gacha capsule | No packaging or re-sealed blister |
| Era/provenance | 2005 web prize, Japan | Pokémon Center Japan, Jul 2023 | Anywhere; abundant in "rare" eBay/Taobao lots |
6. "WHICH one do I have?" — step-by-step classification
1. Does it have a wind-up mechanism / does it jump? → It's the 2023 gacha. Done.
2. Is it on the blue wave with the classic mold? → Candidate for the 2005 grail. Continue:
3. Check the finish under raking light: is it TWO-TONE pearl (champagne body, pearl-white fins) born from the plastic, or a uniform coat of gold paint on top? Uniform paint / gilded fins / gilded wave → repaint (fake).
4. Flip the base: ©Nintendo / TOMY / MADE IN CHINA stamp deep and sharp. Engraving flooded with gold paint = repaint over a real figure. Blurry/absent engraving = re-molded bootleg.
5. Seam test: the original is 2 glued halves — a visible seam runs along the body. No seam = re-mold.
6. Smell and weight: raw PVC smell or a "shrunken" piece = bootleg (general Tomy rule).
7. Blister? Sealed multiplies the value (~$440 loose → ~$1,100 sealed) and an intact blister is part of the authentication (beware re-seals) [kidgengar].
8. If it passes 2–6: likely the 2005 grail. For sale/insurance, get a second opinion with base+seam photos in the community (pkmncollectors / r-PokemonFigures) — the run is so small every specimen counts.
Community note: send photos of (a) the whole figure with base, (b) the base stamp, (c) the side seam. Those three classify 95% of cases.
7. Known prices (¥ → ~USD at 150 unless noted)
2005 grail
| Date | Piece / condition | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2009 | Yahoo Japan sale (condition undocumented) | ¥32,500 (~$217; ~$300+ at the era's rate) | pkmncollectors 2254648 (validated by denkimouse) |
| ~2014 | $500 asked (grey market); community valued it "~$140 tops" back then | $140–500 (asks, not sales) | pkmncollectors 17294768 |
| ~2016 | A buyer publicly offered $400+ (without landing one) | $400+ (bid) | pkmncollectors 21411012 / 21413872 |
| Oct 2017 | Sealed in blister (JP auction) | ¥125,000 (~$833 at 150; ~$1,100 at 2017 rates) | kidgengar /9856.html |
| historic | Loose/open | ~¥50,000 (~$333; ~$440 at the era's rate) | kidgengar /9856.html |
| reference | Yahoo average for "モンコレ 色違い" (75 lots, whole category) | ~¥19,470 (~$130) | aucfan / Yahoo closed search |
Reading: condition rules. Loose sits around $300–450; sealed has touched 4 digits. No recent public sales documented [2024–2026 price UNRESOLVED → monitor aucfan/Yahoo with モンコレ コイキング 金色 and プレゼント モンコレ コイキング 金色].
2023 gacha (golden)
- 2023 capsule price: not documented in the source (standard PC gacha ~¥300–500) [UNRESOLVED].
- Aftermarket: no data series; being ~10% of a recent gacha, orders of magnitude below the grail [UNRESOLVED — collect on Mercari JP].
Context (sister figure)
- Red MonColle Gyarados: a 色違い lot including it closed at ¥75,000 (~$500) (Yahoo, Jun 2026); MonColle Gyarados max ¥38,000 (~$253) (yahoo_prices harvest).
8. Common fakes
1. The gold repaint (90% of cases): they take any Tomy Magikarp (or bootleg) and paint it metallic gold. Tells: uniform finish (no two-tone pearl), gilded fins instead of pearl white, gilded wave, paint inside the base engraving, chipping at edges. [CONFIRMED — already warned by kidgengar in 2017]
2. The re-molded bootleg: absent/faint seam, blurry stamp, shrunken piece, PVC smell. (General rule from the catalog's Tomy guide.)
3. The "grail" that is actually the 2023 gacha: sellers (sometimes in good faith) list the wind-up golden one as a "gold Magikarp rare Tomy figure". The wind-up mechanism gives it away instantly.
4. Re-sealed blister: with the sealed premium (~2.5×), re-sealing is profitable. Demand macro photos of the blister edges.
9. Open uncertainties (and what evidence would close them)
| # | Uncertainty | What would resolve it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Actual run of the 2005 grail (2,000? 1,000?) | Official Daisuki Club 2005 material: full prize page on Wayback (deep crawl of pokemon.jp 2005), or a scan of a winner notification (当選通知) |
| 2 | Design of the 2005 prize blister | Photos from the 2017 sealed auction (trace on aucfan by date) or from kidgengar (post images not archived — 404 on Wayback) |
| 3 | Authenticity of the PokéShiny Finds specimen | Photo of the base stamp + seam (checklist §6) |
| 4 | Manufacturer of the 2023 gacha (Takara Tomy Arts?) | Photo of the capsule/mini-leaflet (奥付) of the gacha |
| 5 | 2024–2026 market price of the grail | Monitoring aucfan/Yahoo closed (モンコレ コイキング 金色) — no recent public sales today |
| 6 | Did the red Gyarados also have a vintage G/S run (~2000)? | The 1st-gen guide lists it as an HTF variant without a date; MFC only records the 2010 one. A specimen with a CGTSJ stamp (90s) vs a 2004+ stamp would tell them apart |
| 7 | Merge gyarados-tomy-shiny → grial-shiny-gyarados | Pending catalog task (migrate the TomyDatabase image and user_collection refs) |
10. Sources
Primary / period:
- Dengeki Online + ITmedia/Netlab (Jul–Aug 2005) — Daisuki Club event (already cited in the grail's entry).
- Wayback Machine — pokemon.jp event portal (Aug 15, 2005):
web.archive.org/web/20050815003930/http://www.pokemon.jp:80/portal/index.cfm - Dengeki Online — PC Nagoya 2013 reopening (game distribution + merch):
dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/615/615077/ - JP blog on the 2023 gacha purchase:
126711chnrgmt2.blog.jp/archives/21336183.html - Asami blog (JP reference for 2009–2011 MonColle campaigns):
asami-1120.hatenablog.com— "5 MonColle → red Gyarados" campaign.
Community / catalogs:
- kidgengar — "Information Post About the 2005 Tomy Lottery Prize Gold Magikarp":
kidgengar.livejournal.com/9856.html(journal deleted; Wayback snapshot 2019-12-13). - pkmncollectors:
/2254648.html(¥32,500 sale + denkimouse validation) ·/17294768.html($500 ask / $140 valuation) ·/21411012.html+/21413872.html($400+ offer) ·/16761633.html(1st-gen rarity guide: shiny Gyarados HTF). - MyFigureCollection: *Golden Koiking (Pokémon Daisuki Club)* — Metallic Monster Collection · item 412903 (Akai Gyarados, MC DP, 01/2010, gift for buying 5).
- Shiny Garden — list of official Tomy shinies:
shinygarden.weebly.com/official-figures.html - PokéVault — Nagoya 2013 golden plush (2009 origin):
pokevault.com/NagoyaGoldMagikarpPlush - tokiteto.chu.jp cp1/cp2 — negative evidence: its catalog of MonColle 限定/非売品/キャンペーン records no extra golden Magikarp.
- Bulbapedia *Monster Collection* — negative evidence: only lists the Red Gyarados as a special release; no gold Magikarp.
Internal:
data/harvest/pkmncollectors.txt(Topic 4 — grail shiny Magikarp) ·data/harvest/yahoo_prices.txt·data/pokeshinyfinds_ig.json(post DDIk0UMSiLP).
*Compiled by Claude Code · PokéFig · 2026-07-02 (EN translation 2026-07-04). Corrections applied on the same date to: grial-gold-magikarp, grial-shiny-gyarados, gyarados-tomy-shiny (DB notes + src/lib/grails-i18n.ts EN/JA), new entry magikarp-gold-haneru-2023, per-figure guide in src/lib/identification.ts (key magikarp).*