In November 2000, Japan printed a gold fish and quietly changed what a chase card could be. Shining Magikarp was the first colour-variant — Shiny — Pokémon ever to appear in the card game, according to the official 25th Anniversary site, and it arrived on Magikarp.
Twenty-one years later, Japan brought it back for the TCG’s 25th birthday as card 010/025 in the Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition (S8a-P) — a pack you could not simply buy off a shelf. This guide covers the 2000 original, exactly what the 2021 reprint is, how the promo pack was distributed, and where the PSA 10 sits in today’s market. We grade-check and ship Japanese PSA 10 singles out of Tokyo daily, so the prices below are live store listings, not estimates.
Shining Magikarp 010/025 reprints the 2000 Awakening Legends original (EN: Neo Revelation 66/64) with a Confetti Holofoil finish and a red-and-gold “25th” logo. Our PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥31,636 (~$199) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) — well below the top S8a-P promos. The sealed route to pulling one today runs through the 25th Anniversary Golden Box, which contains five promo packs.
All prices in this guide are current Samurai Sword Tokyo listings as of 30 August 2026, converted at ¥159/USD.
The 2000 Original: Japan’s First Shiny Pokémon Card
The card being celebrated here debuted in Japan on 23 November 2000 in the Neo-era expansion めざめる伝説 (Awakening Legends), illustrated by Ken Sugimori — the illustrator credited on the card. English players met it about ten months later, on 21 September 2001, as Neo Revelation 66/64: a “Shining Holo” whose number sits above the printed set size, an early Shining card.
The official 25th Anniversary site’s own caption for the reprint reads “ひかるコイキング（2000）— 初めてポケモンカードゲームに登場した、色ちがいのポケモン”: the first colour-variant Pokémon to appear in the card game.
That is why this card earned a slot in the anniversary promo pack alongside Base Set Charizard and Umbreon ★.For the wider family of Magikarp printings, see our Magikarp & Gyarados cards guide.
What the 010/025 Reprint Actually Is
Released on 22 October 2021, the Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition (set code S8a-P) contains 25 cards, numbered 001/025 to 025/025, each reprinting one landmark card from the TCG’s first quarter-century. Shining Magikarp is number 010.
Per Bulbapedia, every card in the pack shares the same anniversary treatment: a Confetti Holofoil background illustration and border, a red and gold “25th” graphic in the bottom-right corner, and surface etching. The reprints otherwise retain the original print’s numbering, rarity and copyright line — the /025 figure is the promo index, not the card’s own number.
One detail buyers often miss: the official pack page states these cards cannot be used in official tournaments. S8a-P is a pure collector’s product, which is exactly how the market treats it. Our full S8a-P promo pack guide walks through all 25 cards.
Why You Could Not Just Buy This Pack
The scarcity of S8a-P singles comes from how the pack was handed out. It was never sold on its own in Japan — it was earned or bundled, one random card per pack, through four channels:
| Channel | Promo packs | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Store campaign | 1 | Buy 4 packs of the 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (S8a) at participating shops, receive 1 promo pack |
| 25th Anniversary Golden Box | 5 | ¥17,600 MSRP premium box; Pokémon Center Online lottery, then an Amazon made-to-order run in Jan–Feb 2022 |
| Special Set | 1 | ¥1,188 convenience-store set: 4 S8a packs + 1 promo pack + 1 coin |
| PCO box-lottery bonus | 4 | Winners of the S8a booster-box lottery (applications 13–19 Aug 2021, one box per person) received 4 promo packs |
Run the numbers and the design intent is clear: each pack held one random card of the 25, so no specific card was assured, and most collectors only ever saw a handful of packs. The S8a booster boxes themselves were lottery-allocated at Pokémon Center Online, and demand for the Golden Box was strong enough that a second made-to-order window had to be added months later.
Background on the pack-out of the main set is in our S8a pull rates and best cards article.
Where the PSA 10 Sits in the S8a-P Market
Here is how the graded Shining Magikarp compares with the other S8a-P PSA 10 copies currently on our shelves, ranked by listing price:
| PSA 10 card | Promo no. | Original era | Current listing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charizard | 001/025 | Expansion Pack, 1996 | ¥111,494 (~$701) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| _’s Pikachu | 007/025 | All Card Calendar promo, 1998 | ¥110,638 (~$696) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| Umbreon ★ | 012/025 | PLAY promo, mid-2000s | ¥64,218 (~$404) |
| Shining Magikarp | 010/025 | Awakening Legends, 2000 | ¥31,636 (~$199) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| Blastoise | 003/025 | Expansion Pack, 1996 | ¥29,150 (~$183) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| Reshiram | 020/025 | Black Collection SR, 2010 | ¥25,846 (~$163) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| Venusaur | 002/025 | Expansion Pack, 1996 | ¥25,168 (~$158) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| Mewtwo EX | 022/025 | Psycho Drive, 2011 | ¥23,100 (~$145) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
| Xerneas EX | 023/025 | Collection X, 2013 | ¥6,270 (~$39) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) |
The pattern in that table is worth reading twice. The top tier (around $700) belongs to Charizard and the 1998 birthday Pikachu; the ¥60,000 tier belongs to Umbreon ★. Then comes Magikarp above every 1996 starter except Charizard — a fish outpricing Blastoise and Venusaur, on the strength of what it represents rather than what it does in a game it is not even legal for.
At ¥31,636 (~$199) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) the PSA 10 is the cheapest way into the “story card” tier of this promo pack — the cards chosen for a first-of-its-kind moment rather than a character’s popularity. We hold one copy at that listing as of writing.
Pulling One Yourself: The Sealed Routes That Still Exist
A common mistake: buying an S8a booster box expecting promo packs inside. The 16-pack S8a 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION booster box, currently listed at ¥74,000 (~$465), contains main-set cards (001–028 plus mirrors) — the promo packs came from the buy-four campaign and the bundles, not from inside the box. If your target is 010/025 specifically, only two sealed products actually contain S8a-P packs:
The maths favours the single. Each promo pack is one random card from 25, so even the Golden Box’s five packs give no assurance of a Magikarp — and the sealed Golden Box is currently listed at ¥288,400 against its ¥17,600 MSRP (our full Golden Box guide covers why). The Special Set is the affordable rip at roughly the same money as the graded Magikarp itself. We also list the loose 25th Anniversary Promo Pack, currently out of stock — restock requests go through Quick Order.
Magikarp and the 30th Anniversary
History is repeating with a twist. The 30th-anniversary set, MEGA expansion M6a “30th CELEBRATION”, launches worldwide on 16 September 2026 — ¥360 per six-card all-holo pack, 20-pack boxes at ¥7,200. This time the anniversary reprints sit inside the main set as a 30-card Classic Collection with golden borders, rather than in a separate earned promo pack, and Magikarp gets a secret-rare slot of its own at 165/103 — our Magikarp 165/103 guide breaks that card down.
Our M6a 30th CELEBRATION booster box page is live; it is currently out of stock, and restock requests go through Quick Order. For the broader picture across eras, see the 25th vs 20th anniversary sets guide and our 30th anniversary cards hub.
Where to Buy Shining Magikarp 010/025 from Japan
We ship PSA 10 singles and sealed anniversary product worldwide from Tokyo with tracked FedEx delivery. The graded Magikarp is a single-copy listing, and 25th-anniversary sealed stock sits alongside it.
Browse the rest of the graded shelf in our PSA 10 collection, or the wider Pokémon card collection for sealed anniversary product. For mixed orders — a graded single plus sealed boxes in one shipment — the Quick Order page is the fastest route.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shining Magikarp 010/025?
It is the 25th-anniversary reprint of the 2000 Shining Magikarp, issued in Japan’s Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition (S8a-P) on 22 October 2021. All 25 cards in the pack carry a Confetti Holofoil background, etching, and a red-and-gold “25th” logo in the bottom-right corner.
Why is the original Shining Magikarp historically important?
The official 25th Anniversary site describes it as the first colour-variant (Shiny) Pokémon to appear in the card game. It debuted in Japan’s Awakening Legends expansion on 23 November 2000, illustrated by Ken Sugimori, and reached English players as Neo Revelation 66/64, an over-numbered “Shining Holo” secret.
Can the 25th Anniversary promo cards be used in tournaments?
No. The official S8a-P page states the cards in the Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition cannot be used in official tournaments. They are collector’s items.
How much is a PSA 10 Shining Magikarp 010/025?
Our PSA 10 copy is currently listed at ¥31,636 (about $199 at ¥159/USD), with one copy available. That places it above the 1996 Blastoise and Venusaur promos from the same pack and below Charizard, _’s Pikachu and Umbreon Star.
Which sealed products contain the 25th Anniversary promo packs?
Only two: the 25th Anniversary Golden Box (5 promo packs) and the 25th Anniversary Collection Special Set (1 promo pack). The S8a booster box does not contain promo packs — those were distributed through a buy-4-packs store campaign and as lottery bonuses. Each promo pack holds one random card out of 25.
Picked for this article
📩 Get member-only sale alerts & coupons
Sale alerts, coupons and restock notices by email — straight from Tokyo.
