Gogo's Crazy Bones

Gogo's Crazy Bones (also referred to as Crazy Bones or Gogo's) are small, collectible figurines that became a popular fad during the late 1990s  through the 2000s.  They are produced by Spanish company Magic Box Int.,  and PPI Worldwide Group, the sole distributor in North America. 

History
Crazy Bones was inspired by a children's game played in Ancient Greece and Rome called 'Astragal' (Knucklebones), where children played a similar game using sheep's knucklebones. 
This ancient pastime is also known as Tabas. 
Games played are reminiscent of marbles and jacks. 
Crazy Bones is a modern version of this game, played with characters molded from plastic.  There are hundreds of individual characters, each character having a unique face and name.  Each series has a number of 'rare' (referred to as 'wanted', 'most wanted' or 'w' on trading cards.)  pieces that are sought after by collectors and are sold on numerous websites for many times their original value. 

Crazy Bones was launched in the United States by Peter Gantner after witnessing the success of Barcelona-based GoGos in Spain, which had sold over 350 million packs from its inception in 1996 to 1997. 
Gantner formed Toy Craze in December 1997 with his brother David Gantner and businessman Scott Harris, and the company acquired the distribution rights in the US. 
Some sources indicate Bill Flaherty, who became President of Toy Craze, also founded the company. 
Gogos agreed to provide him with inventory with no upfront costs in return for 50% of all profits. 
This deal was later renegotiated, and the manufacturer was later paid a royalty of sales. 

A small company at the time of inception, Crazy Bones became a popular fad in the late 90s.  The product was aggressively marketed to children, and promotional events took place in scout meetings, club groups, fairs, and shows, where free sample packs were distributed. 
Toy demos have also taken place in SkyDome, where children were given free packs and taught how to play Crazy Bones.   This promotion was organized by the Canadian marketers of Crazy Bones, a joint venture by Wayne Fromm and Eric Segal of All 4 Fun Consumer Products Ltd. All 4 Fun Toy Products Ltd. also created a series of Crazy Bones for the Toronto Blue Jays, a cereal promotion with Cap'n Crunch and another with Wrigley.  In 1999 and 2000 Fromm and Segal created one of Canada's largest collectible fad in the toy industry. .  Fromm conceived of a musical band based on Crazy Bones in 2000, called B2Krazy.   This was a joint venture between Fromm, Segal and Iron Music. 
Nearly four million free packs have been distributed. 
Crazy Bones secured a number of high-profile partners, including McDonald's, which included the product as Happy Meal toys nationwide. 
These Crazy Bones were significantly larger than the normal toys, possibly to reduce risk of choking among young children. 

Within two years, the company's revenues had grown to nearly $17 million.  By favoring tours of scout meetings and the like over television and print advertisements, Toy Craze has also kept its marketing costs to around 10%. 

Crazy Bones were originally distributed in Canada through the Concord, Ontario-based company Playtoy Industries, where they enjoyed similar success.   Playtoy Industries declared bankruptcy in December 1999 and Wayne Fromm and Eric Segal catapulted Crazy Bones through a joint venture (www.frommtoys.com)

Crazy Bones enjoyed incredible popularity in the late 1990s.  From 1998-2000, 31.5 million packages were sold. 
Over 23 million figurines were sold in the UK and Spain in a recent relaunch between March and December 2008.  

Crazy Bones were banned in many schools, as they were blamed for encouraging theft, arguments, and in-class distractions. 

Gogo's Crazy Bones in America

US
Crazy Bones was first released by an American company HotShots. 

HotShots later lost or sold the Crazy Bone patent.  Toy Craze then obtained, distributed and licensed it, with Magic Box int.  manufacturing them.  

The original bones were small plastic figurines made with faces.  Each bone had a different name and personality.  The long line of characters included the well known Jaws, Top Hat, and Eggy.  Slight variations in design with a shift to a more spooky nature, of 59-78, led to production of the Mutant set of bones.  On the other hand, Things, Ghost, Aliens, Buddies, and Sports were intended as each containing brand new characters. 

"Sports" included 40 sports-uniformed Crazy Bones characters, whilst "Buddies" included 58 Gogos, each, like the past series, with its own function and design including: Liberty, Bookworm and Slick.  In the "Things" series (60 units), all the bones are shaped like various everyday objects such as: a TV, a couch and a book, but as with the other series they had smiley faces.  In the "Aliens" series, there are 60 different anthropomorphic figures of a classic grey, big eyed, alien.  Some of the designs included: Salad Head (Caesar), Cyclops, Boris, Tut and others. 
A "Third" series of Crazy Bones (in the old packaging and design) named "The New Generation" was later released, including 120 all new characters.   Some seem to be variations of the originals, or mutant original, but they are all meant as new characters to the series.  A second sports series was released, but instead of uniformed characters, it features characters from the Original, Buddies, and Mutants series performing a sport (Eggy playing basketball or Speedy driving a car).  There was also a series with magnetic characters, which are incredibly difficult to find.  Rockers are music themed characters. 

As of October 2010, the current distributor for Gogo's Crazy Bones in the US (as well as Canada) is Jonic Distribution North America. 

Canada
The Classic series was available in Canada in the 1990s.  The rebranded Gogo's Crazy Bones series 1 was sold in Canada in 2009.  Series 2 became available in May 2011, then came series 3 and now series 4. 

Gogo's Crazy Bones in Europe
In Europe Crazy Bones are released in different sets for different countries. 

UK

Sets
The following sets have been released:

Gogo's Crazy Bones (series 1) - 80 bones, each available in 5 colours, plus 5 'Most Wanted' and 15 'Wanted' rare bones with different paint schemes
Gogo's Crazy Bones Evolution (series 2) - 80 bones, each available in 5 colours, approximately half are translucent with embedded glitter
Gogo's Crazy Bones Explorer (series 3) - 80 bones, each available in 4 normal colours and a 5th 'laser' metallic colour
Gogo's Crazy Bones Advance - 10 bones, each available in 5 colours.  Only available in tin boxes
Gogo's Crazy Bones Power (series 4) - 80 bones, each available in 2 normal and 2 metallic colours, and 10 'Most Wanted' rare metallic bones with added paint steps.  This set also adds a collectible card game to the mix with each pack containing 2 bones and two cards (often 1 normal figure, 1 metallic figure, 1 normal game card and 1 metallic card) with a chance of a 'Most Wanted' figure or card replacing one of these.  The Most Wanted cards have the character name suffixed with a '-W', and have a laser-style finish. 
Gogo's Crazy Bones Gold Series Limited Edition Tin Part 1 - 10 bones.  Only available in tin boxes.  Gold metallic versions of popular characters from series 1-3. 
Gogo's Crazy Bones England 2010 - 27 bones and 5 'laser' variants.  These bones each represent a member of the England 2010 football squad.  Each has a more complex paint scheme than usual, and the rear of the bone has the name of the player it represents. 
Gogo's Crazy Bones Superstar (series 5) - 80 bones, each available in 2 colours, plus 4 Most Wanted versions.  Features a selection of the most popular bones from Series 1-4.  Each bone has a new "fuzzy" finish.  Most Wanted versions have a combined Fuzzy Metallic finish.  Packs have a retail price of £1.99 and contain 2 bones, 2 stickers and 1 storage/display cube.  The cubes come in seven colours and can be attached to each other in the style of popular building bricks. 
Gogo's Crazy Bones Gold Series Limited Edition Tin Part 2 - 10 bones.  Only available in tin boxes.  Gold metallic versions of popular characters from series 1-4. 
Gogo's Crazy Bones Trading card series - 160 cards, 128 'Normal' and 32 'Leaders'.  Trading card versions of popular characters from Series 1-4. 
Gogo's Crazy Bones Edge (series 6) - 60 bones.  These launched in the UK at the end of January 2012. 

Specials
In March 2009, to mark the release of the Explorer series in the UK, the Daily Mirror newspaper ran a week-long promotion where they gave away free figurines, stickers and sticker books.  Two of the figurines were exclusive to this giveaway

In April 2009, the Entertainer toy shop in Kingston upon Thames held a 'swap day'.  Every swapper received a special 'Laser Mosh' - Mosh is the first bone in the original series.  The Laser Mosh is lime green, and carries the same coating as the Explorer special Gogos. 

Gogo's Mega Metropolis
In January 2010, Gogo's Crazy Bones Mega Metropolis was re-released in the UK after an earlier trial in selected areas.  A Partwork, the magazine features a new 'Mega Gogo' each week.  Starting with Mosh (Gogo #1 from series 1), the Mega versions are thus far all from series 1.  After that, the others have been released in a different order (1,8,3,9 etc.) 
Each Mega Gogo has a flip-top head which opens to reveal an evolution series 2 bone.  The Mega Bones' heads are also removable, allowing different versions to be created once other models have been collected.  Each Mega Bone comes in several colour variants, some of which do not match the original colours from the series.  The Mega Bones are contained in a hexagonal 'pod'.  These are connectible and also have different colours to collect.  It is possible to pull these apart to make multi-colour pods. 

Gogo's Trading Card Game
From January 21, 2011, Magic Box International added a new Gogo's Crazy Bones Trading Card Game.  
This new trading game complemented the range of Gogo collectable figurines and created an exciting new way to play and collect Gogos.  There were 160 cards to collect, including 32 special prismatic 'Leader' cards. 
Packets of the Gogo's Crazy Bones Trading Card Game contain 6 cards, including 1 special card and were priced at 50p. 
A Starter Pack was also available containing a Collector Album for storing the cards, a full game guide, checklist and 3 packets of cards.  The Starter Pack was priced at £3.99. 
As with all Gogo's Crazy Bones collections, an extensive marketing campaign was in place to support the launch.  This included a large TV advertising campaign and product sampling via the Gogo's Crazy Bones Comic. 

Gogo's Crazy Bones in South Africa 

Gogo's Crazy Bones Series 1 was released in South Africa in October 2009.  The collectables are available as 4 product variations:
 A booster pack with 3 figurines and 3 stickers
 A collectables special bag sold with 3 figurines
 A sticker album
 A collector’s item tin containing 10 unique figurines that are not available in any of the other product lines

In December 2009, the largest South African Sunday newspaper listed the toy as the top gift for boys between the ages of 6 and 8.   Four months after release the sales exceeded 200,000 units. 

Gogo’s Crazy Bones Series 2 was released on March 18, 2010.   The South African distributors and licensors of the toy are Blowfish Entertainment. 

Gogo's Crazy Bones In Other Countries

 Foot Gogo's.  Football themed Gogo's: Sports 3
 Cool Gogo's.  Gogo's with a Hip-Hop theme.  A tin with 10 metallic Gogo's was also released. 
 Urban Toys.  Very similar to series 1.  Gogo's are colored differently, some are numbered differently, and there are only 60 Gogo's. 
 Megatrip Gogo's.  A series with 80 different Gogo's.  Special colors included Glow, Glitter, Multicolor, and Metal. 
 2012 Olympics.  Gogo's performing olympic sports.  Sports 4? 
 Turma da Monica.  Gogo's based on the popular Monica's Gang comic series from Brazil. 

Gameplay
Other than the collectible nature of Crazy Bones there are multiple games that can be played with the figurines including:

 Teleport, teleport, ATTACK! -  Players select 1 gogo each.  Each player takes it in turn to take a go.  They may either "Teleport" by moving the gogo to any point on the playing surface, or "Attack", by flicking the gogo at that of the opponent.  If the opponent's gogo is hit, the one who attacked wins the game.  If the attack misses, the gogo remains in the spot where it lands, and the opponent takes their turn.  Players may not Attack on their first turn. 

Other merchandise

European Crazy Bones, Evolution, Explorer and Superstar packets also contain stickers.  These can be collected in sticker albums which are sold separately. 

Series 4 Power Gogo's replace stickers with cards.  There is a collector's folder with transparent sleeves for all cards. 
Released February 2011, The trading cards also have a collector's folder, sold with a free pack of cards @ £3.99. 

Magic Box Int has also created various collector tins, bags (blue and green) and containers for the gogos. 

In August 2009, plush toys of three types were released:
 'Clipper' Keyrings (8 different designs)
 6" Reversible dolls (5 designs that swap between 'normal' and 'most wanted')
 8" 'Bone Shakers' (3 designs with removable heads that reveal a cup to throw normal-sized bones with)
All plush designs are based on bones from series 1

In March 2010, the 'England dugout 2010' was released to store the England 2010 collection. 

Series 

 Gogo's Crazy Bones 1991 
 Things
 Rockers
 Sports (Football)
 Buddies
 Sports Series 2
 Mega Bones
 Skinny Bombers (Mega Crazy Bones)
 Aliens
 New Generation (Ghosts)
 The Diamond Tins
 Megatrip
 Dragonball Z
 Supserstars
 Mega Metropolis
 Fusion
 Edge
 Panasonic
 Groovy (Cool)
 Mega Groovy
 Third Series
 2012 Olympics
 Advanced
 C1000
 Cap'n Crunch
 Daily Mirror
 England 2010
 Evolution
 Explorer
 Foot
 Mega Foot (Brazil)
 Mega Foot (Israel)
 Genios Universe
 Glowies
 Bombers (Skips)
 Gogo's Crazy Bones 2007
 Hielocos
 Israel Collection
 Kellogg's
 Magnetic Series (Mags)
 Danone Dino Gogo's
 Marvel Heroes
 Medabots
 Sweet Box (Macro)
 Megatrip Mega
 Megatrip
 Monica's Gang
 Monica's Gang Mega
 Monster Bones (McDonald's)
 Mutants
 Pokémon (Unreleased)
 Power
 Q Mack & J Box
 Shin Chan
 Supergoal
 Tiny Gogo's (Eggy Key Chain)
 Tiny Gogo's (Mega Metropolis)
 Toronto Blue Jays
 Toy Story 2
 Urban Toys
 X-Gogo's
 Mega Mutants
 Hubba Bubba Gogo's
 Zany Brainy
 Disney

Similar products
During the mid 1990s, Coca-Cola released a similar brand of toys named "Hielocos" in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica and "Geloucos" in Brazil (translated to 'Crazy Ice Cubes'). 

Since the resurgence of the European Gogo's Crazy Bones, several similar products have entered the market;

 Little Tokyo's / Japs - Made by Exit toys of Barcelona
 Toonz/Blinku micro monsters (40 to collect + 2(?)half-toonz that connect to create a single micro monster) - Clearly derivative but with the gimmick of animated '3d motion effect' faces.  Made by Dracco, a Danish company with a Macau-based subsidiary. 
 X-Ray Toonz
 Skyzos - Made by Panini.  Each model has a good and evil side. 
 Fings - Made by Topps Europe
 Frikis - Made by E-Max (Have a BONES™ label on the back.) 
 Jojo's, Bouncin Boneheads and TimFoot - Made by Imperial Toys
 Fidgets' Knuckleheads - Made by Moose
 Dracco Heads, Jumbo Dracco Heads & Baby Dracco Heads  - Made by Dracco
 Simpsons - Made by Dracco
 Grolls & Gorks - Made by Dracco
 Dragon Hunter  - Made by Dracco
 Crazy Critters - Made by Avon Company (Use same sculpts as Knuckle Heads)
 Nitsus aka Jumpers - Made by Abril & Gici
 Jumpers series 2
 Jumpers series 3
 Jumperes series 4
 Disney Cars Jumpers
 Jetsons - Sold in Peru
 Abatons - Panini
 Les Barjo's
 Mini Toonix - Made by Top 5
 Pupákok - Made by Master Crok
 Moose Millennium Bugs
 Mini Dinos - By Danone
 Bumping Weirdos - Sold with Church's Chicken
 Avengers Chibis - Made by Bulls-Eye Toys
 DC Universe Chibis - Made by Bulls-Eye Toys
 The Walking Dead Chibis  - Made by Bulls-Eye Toys
 Hobbit Chibis - Made by Bulls-Eye Toys
 Forever Evil Chibis - Made by Bulls-Eye Toys
 Curious Gogo's
 Cartoon Network Hielocos in association with Gamesa Cookies
 Nog'nz aka Marvel Madz
 Digimon - Only released in Peru
 Digimon Tolas
 Matuolas - Made by Matutano (Characters were stolen from Crazy Bones)
 E - Flyers - Made by E Max (Added a gimmick of magnets)
 SpongeBob - Made by E Max (e-flyers)
 Dunkin Shockys - From Poland
 Star Wars - Made by Dracco
 Karma Kidz
 Urbanzees
 BlockHeadz
 Disney Wikkeez

References

External links

 Official activities site
 Official European website
 Website for Classic Crazy Bones

Category:Multiplayer games
Category:1990s fads and trends
Category:1990s toys
Category:Collectible-based games
Category:Toy figurines