- Launched
- 1977Shogakukan, for Doraemon
- Peak
- 1.8Mcopies a month, 1997
- First cards
- 15 Oct 1996November issue inserts
- Top sale
- $3.3MIvy Pikachu · CGC 8.5 · private
CoroCoro Comic is Shogakukan's monthly children's manga magazine, launched in 1977. It revealed Mew in 1996, gave away the first Pokémon trading-card-game cards with its November 1996 issue, and carried about 40 promo cards between 1996 and 2001. "CoroCoro Mew" can mean two cards: the 1997 glossy Mew or the 2001 Shining Mew. A Shining Mew PSA 10 holo error reportedly sold for $156,000 in April 2026.
Last updated . Prices include buyer's premium unless noted.
The magazine behind Pokémon
CoroCoro Comic is Shogakukan's monthly manga magazine for children, launched in 1977 for Doraemon. In the Pokémon boom its circulation peaked at about 1.8 million copies a month (1997); by late 2025 it was about 213,000. It was so central to early Pokémon that Pocket Monsters Blue was first sold only through the magazine.[1]
For card collectors, CoroCoro is where it all started:
| Issue (on sale) | What CoroCoro did |
|---|---|
| 15 Apr 1996 | First acknowledges Mew, with a draw for 20 Mew game giveaways [2] |
| Sep 1996 issue | Announces the Pokémon card game [2] |
| Nov 1996 issue (15 Oct 1996) | Pikachu and Jigglypuff card inserts: the first trading-card-game cards released, five days before the first set [3] |
| Feb 1997 issue (15 Jan 1997) | The glossy Mew No.151 insert [6] |
| Nov 1997 issue (15 Oct 1997) | Announces the illustration contest whose prize became the Pikachu Illustrator [5] |
| May 2001 issue (15 Apr 2001) | The Shining Mew insert [3] |
CoroCoro goes on sale around the 15th of the month before its cover date.
Which "CoroCoro Mew" do you mean?
People search for "CoroCoro Mew" meaning two different cards, and listings mix them up:
| Card | Came with | How to tell it | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glossy Mew No.151 | Feb 1997 issue (on sale 15 Jan 1997) | 40 HP Basic with the Neutral Shield power, art by Ken Sugimori. Also given at a JR East stamp rally, and reprinted in English as Wizards Black Star Promo #47 (2002). | Tens of dollars raw (check) |
| Shining Mew | May 2001 issue (on sale 15 Apr 2001) | Unnumbered. Cosmos holo, not the embossed foil of the neo-era Shining cards. The bottom edge names the issue it came with. | ~$1,170 raw · ~$5,450 PSA 9 · ~$41,550 PSA 10 |
Shining Mew values are guide estimates from recent sales (PriceCharting, via Cardlines, Sep 2026).[3]
The Shining Mew is the one collectors chase. A PSA 10 with a holo error, the only one PSA has graded as such, reportedly sold for $156,000 on 17 April 2026.[7] Collectors on Elite Fourum believe the error is a missing top holo layer, and that some unlabelled PSA 10s may share it.[8] That's a forum theory, not a grading-company finding.
The CoroCoro card that beats them all
The most valuable CoroCoro card isn't a Mew. Ivy Pikachu is the first of five variants of the 1996 CoroCoro Pikachu, recognisable by the leaves under Pikachu's foot; it's the version CoroCoro used in its October 1996 marketing. In August 2026 a CGC 8.5 copy sold privately for $3.3 million, the highest price ever paid for any CGC-graded card.[9]
Fakes and false errors
What to search for in Japan
Finding CoroCoro promos
The rarest way to own a CoroCoro promo is the whole magazine with the card still inside, listed in Japan as 付録付き. Those mostly turn up in Japan. Tell us which card or issue you're after.
