Magikarp #129

💡 HOLY GRAIL — GOLDEN (shiny) Magikarp, Tomy Monster Collection figure from 2005. The ONLY golden Magikarp in the entire MonColle line. THE GAME: it was a prize from the「夏休み大作戦！2005」event (Great Summer Operation 2005) hosted by the Pokémon Daisuki Club (official site pokemon.jp), from Jul 15 to Aug 31, 2005. It was a themed site about an uninhabited island, "Osanoda," divided into 5 areas with minigames — one of them the "Magikarp Fishing Tournament" (コイキングつり大会). By playing you collected "Pokémon Plates" (~100 types), and depending on how many you gathered you qualified for prizes: 70+ types of merchandise given out to ~3,000 winners (up to a GameCube + Pokémon XD and a Mew-edition DS). ⚠️ NOTE: the claim that the Gold Magikarp was for "the first 2,000 people to catch a golden one" (and that 2,000 were made) is collector LORE (kidgengar) — Japanese press from 2005 (Dengeki, ITmedia) confirms the event, the dates, and the fishing tournament, but does NOT name the figure or a cutoff of 2,000. What is documented and certain: it was a 2005 Daisuki Club prize, extremely rare. The exact production number is unknown. THE FIGURE: classic MonColle Magikarp mold mounted on its dark blue wave base — it DOES come with a base: the reference photo (tomypokemonfigure.info) and documented examples show it on the wave. The "golden" finish is a factory-made champagne PEARL yellow in two tones (pearl gold body; pearl white fins and whiskers) — it is NOT metallic gold paint applied on top. MyFigureCollection catalogs it as «Metallic Monster Collection — Shiny ver., Golden Koiking (Pokémon Daisuki Club)». 💰 SALES: the oldest documented sale ¥32,500 (~$217 USD at 150; Jan-2009, Yahoo Japan — authenticated by denkimouse on pkmncollectors: "one of the earliest Daisuki Club prizes"); loose historically ~¥50,000 (~$333 USD). 🥇 SEALED vs OPENED: sealed in blister is the greater grail (~¥125,000 (~$830 USD) / ~$1,100); opened/loose ~$440. Condition drives the value. ⚠️ FAKES: painted-over copies abound (any Tomy Magikarp gets gilded) — the original is two-tone pearl PVC, not uniform gold; check the base stamp, the two-half seam, the paint, and the original blister. 🔍 DO NOT CONFUSE (the other "golden Magikarps"): · magikarp-gold-haneru-2019 — the only OTHER officially golden Magikarp figure: shiny variant of the wind-up gacha «はねる!∞コイキング» exclusive to Pokémon Center (Jul-2019). Different mold, wind-up mechanism, NO wave base. · The "golden pair + red Gyarados from HG/SS" that circulates among collectors are Pokémon Center PLUSHIES (Dec-2009; the golden one was reissued in Apr-2013 for the reopening of Pokémon Center Nagoya). There is NO golden MonColle figure from that campaign. · grail-shiny-gyarados (red Gyarados) is a separate figure — a gift for purchasing 5 MonColle, Jan-2010 (MFC 412903); it does NOT pair with this Magikarp. · The 金のコイキング from Nagoya 2013 was a VIDEO GAME distribution (Lv. 99 in B/W) + plush and cushion — not a figure. Sources: Dengeki Online + ITmedia/Netlab (Jul-Aug 2005) · kidgengar.livejournal.com/9856.html (archived 2019) · pkmncollectors.livejournal.com/2254648.html · myfigurecollection.net (Golden Koiking · Pokémon Daisuki Club) · pokevault.com/NagoyaGoldMagikarpPlush · dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/615/615077/ (Nagoya 2013).