Gold Magikarp (2005 Daisuki Club prize)

📜The story

GRAIL — GOLD (shiny) Magikarp, a 2005 Tomy Monster Collection figure. The ONLY gold Magikarp in the MonColle line. THE GAME: it was a prize from the 「夏休み大作戦！2005」 (Great Summer Vacation Operation 2005) event of the Pokémon Daisuki Club (official pokemon.jp site), July 15–August 31, 2005. A themed site set on a desert island, “Osanoda,” split into 5 areas with minigames — one of them the “Magikarp Fishing Tournament” (コイキングつり大会). Playing earned you “Pokémon Plates” (~100 kinds) and reaching thresholds qualified you for prizes: 70+ kinds of merch across ~3,000 winners (up to a GameCube + Pokémon XD and a Mew-edition DS). ⚠️ NOTE: the claim that the Gold Magikarp went to “the first 2,000 to fish a golden one” (and that 2,000 were made) is collector LORE (kidgengar) — the 2005 Japanese press (Dengeki, ITmedia) confirms the event, dates and tournament, but does NOT name the figure or a 2,000 cutoff. What's documented and certain: it was a 2005 Daisuki Club prize, extremely rare. The exact production run is unknown. THE FIGURE: the classic MonColle Magikarp mold mounted on its dark-blue wave base — it DOES come with the base: the reference photo (tomypokemonfigure.info) and documented examples show it on the wave. The “gold” is a factory two-tone PEARL champagne-yellow (pearl-gold body; pearl-white fins and barbels) — NOT metallic gold paint on top. MyFigureCollection catalogs it as «Metallic Monster Collection — Shiny ver., Golden Koiking (Pokémon Daisuki Club)». 💰 SALES: earliest documented ¥32,500 (~$217 USD at 150; Jan 2009, Yahoo Japan — authenticated by denkimouse on pkmncollectors: “one of the first Daisuki Club prizes”); historical loose ~¥50,000 (~$333 USD). 🥇 SEALED vs OPENED: sealed in blister is the top grail (~¥125,000 (~$830 USD) / ~$1,100); opened/loose ~$440. Condition drives value. ⚠️ FAKES: painted ones abound (any Tomy Magikarp gets gilded) — the original is two-tone pearl PVC, not uniform gold; check base stamp, two-half seam, paint and original blister. 🔍 DO NOT CONFUSE (the other “gold Magikarp”): · magikarp-gold-haneru-2023 — the only OTHER official gold Magikarp figure: shiny variant of the Pokémon Center-exclusive «Haneru! ∞ Koiking» wind-up gacha (Jul 2019). Different mold, wind-up mechanism, NO wave base. · The “HG/SS gold + red Gyarados pair” collectors mention is PLUSH from the Pokémon Center (Dec 2009; the gold one was re-made in Apr 2013 for the Pokémon Center Nagoya reopening). No gold MonColle figure exists from that campaign. · grial-shiny-gyarados (red Gyarados) is a separate figure — a buy-5-MonColle campaign gift, Jan 2010 (MFC 412903); it is NOT this Magikarp's pair. · The Nagoya 2013 “golden Magikarp” was a VIDEO GAME distribution (Lv. 99 in B/W) plus a 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 (Nagoya 2013).

Foto: tomypokemonfigure.info