Amazing piece came in this week. 
Am I A Magikarp Collector Now?
I have jokingly said in the past that every Gyarados collector wishes they could be a Magikarp collector as well. Alas, very few venture that full dream and less are likely to find a way to complete it considering the untold avenues one must consider (*coughcoughSnapMagikarpcoughcough*). But I’ve loved seeing the collections of some other members like Steph’s Legendary Magikarp Collection as well as @mrmagicarpe 's Magnificent Magikarps. Not forgetting the multiple conversations I’ve had with our own @papafrankgod regarding his love for both the carp and dragon.
The past few years I’ve thought of getting a few Magikarps that I really liked. Having enjoyed the Shiny Magikarp released from Toys’R’US years back, I had found myself wishing I had a Unikarp but knew it was out of my reach (read more about the Tamamushi University Magikarp here). However, I told myself that if I could find a Web Karp - the Poor Man’s Unikarp - for a decent price, I would buy one one day.
That day came last year with a very thankful auction.
HERGALOOLALGHBLALGH!
Fast forward to this year and I stumbled across Steven/@chopin 's [Instagram Post About the Unikarp ID Set.
](https://www.instagram.com/p/CN5M6vLlxOl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link)Photo credit to @chopin
I hadn’t recalled ever seeing the Student ID card before. And upon neurotic close up of recognizing the tell tale signs of Gyarados patterns, I immediately recognized that the Tamamushi University had 2 Gyarados Statues!
Tamamushi University is also known as Celedon University and has apparently made a couple of appearances in the manga:
Taking a closer look at the card, I recognized something I had ALSO never noticed before. I’ve been familiar with the Tamamushi University pin and some related products over the years, but I never looked at the logo too closely - dismissing it as just some pattern and Japanese text. I now recognize my ignorance because the very base for which Magikarp is resting upon is a Gyarados!
Gyarados Ouroboros anyone? … Gyaraboros?
Photo credit to @chopin
Education is all about the struggle of advancing, learning, and growing, so the full cycle of Magikarp-to-Gyarados symbolism was not lost on me.
Least to say, I was blown away by this realization and immediately set off to find my own set.
However, the few auctions I located I continued to lose so instead I focused on saving and began reaching out to people to see if they had any leads. Luckily, some had, and one old school E4 member in particular was able to set something up for me - but that’s a story for next month.
In either case, up until this point, I still did not have a set in hand. And then I came across @nidokingdom 's IG story about @chopin selling that exact same set months later. And with @prochaos 's blessing (as he was the first to reach out to him - thanks again, man), we made a deal.
Welcome to what I like to call -
"The Hyper Beam Corner"
Forgive the shady toploader situation with my New Year Present card - that will be transferred soon to a better holder. And yes, I know Magikarp is using “Dragon Rage”.
It meant a lot to get this as I’ve been trying to focus my non-TCG stuff to exclusively rare and unique artwork. It meant more so since Steven’s post was the first time I recognized the Student ID Card. The booklet that the ID came with it’s own charm as well as it had come from an original owner and had drawings and writing inside:
Photo credit to @chopin
And the Surfing Pikachu Pop-Up Card in the corner was also a nice surprise gift from him! Thank you again, man. I absolutely love this and it makes that corner of my display feel complete. Having it side by side with the Web Karp makes me feel like I have a Unikarp in tow.
And to answer the question of whether or not I’m collecting Magikarp officially now… Well… No. I can’t say that I am truthfully.
But I’ll be eagerly happy to sprinkle them into the mix.
After all, they’ve been there since the beginning.
The struggle is real.
Thanks for reading, folks!
- Azul
