Gogo's Crazy Bones

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.[1] This ancient pastime is also known as Tabas.[2][3] Games played are reminiscent of marbles and jacks.[4] 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' 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,[1][5] which had sold over 350 million packs from its inception in 1996 to 1997.[6] 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.[1] Some sources indicate Bill Flaherty, who became President of Toy Craze, also founded the company.[7] Gogos agreed to provide him with inventory with no upfront costs in return for 50% of all profits.[5] This deal was later renegotiated, and the manufacturer was later paid a royalty of sales.[5]

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.[5] 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.[8] These Crazy Bones were significantly larger than the normal toys, possibly to reduce risk of choking among young children.[8]

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%.[5]

Different sets were released all over the world, making it very hard for collectors to get every figure.

While Series 1 was already released in North America, 15 new figures were promoted as upcoming characters to be released and inserted into Series 1 packs starting in September 2009. These 15 "Wanted Gogo's" were only available in the US and Canada. North America has also gotten many exclusive characters since JDNA's take over of distribution. Characters such as Miro K, Mr. Peako, Q-Mack, and the 20 Diamond Series characters have only been released in North America.

South American Countries received a whole different line of characters. Characters did not always have paint. The Turma Da Monica series has only been released in Brazil. The Avengers: Endgame series was released in 2019, once again exclusive to Brazil.

The Mega Metropolis line of figures was exclusively released in the UK during 2010. While 20 of the figures were rereleased in other countries later on, 60 of the 80 figures remain exclusive. The UK also received the England 2010 set, 22 special figures based on the country's football team, as well as two exclusive figures that could only be obtained via the Daily Mirror newspaper, and special mini and laser variants of Mosh that could only be obtained during special events.

Israel also received an odd line of sets. (Series 1, Series 2, Foot, Cool, Olympics) Israel's line of Gogo's began with the Gogo's series, but when the Evolution series was brought over, exclusive rare metallic versions of a handful of figures were added to the collection. While Explorer was speculated to be the next release, PPI released the Foot series instead. This was the only release of the set where all figures were painted. Israel received very rare figurines based on famous football players from the country, known as the "Supergol" set. It was also the first country that the Cool Gogo's (music) series was released in, and was the only country that the very rare 2012 Olympics set was sold in.

Spain received a special series of Danonino Gogo's that were only found in newstands, as well as Mega Nuclos figures that were useable as storage cases.

The Netherlands received the European Magic Box sets to purchase in stores, but have gotten many exclusive characters thanks to C-1000 supermarkets. The first set was a special version of the Megatrip series, with many characters receiving changes that vary from small to large. The second being Foot (with exclusive variants of existing characters and Jarum, an all new figure exclusive to the C-1000 version of the set), the 3rd being Cool (renamed to Groovy), and 4th being the X-Gogo's series, which was only released in C-1000 stores.

Panasonic teamed up with PPI to release two exclusive figures included with batteries in Germany in 2012. These two figures reused the sculpts from the Daily Mirror Gogo's.

The Philippines received gold versions of the original five most wanted Gogo's, laser versions of Megatrip figures, and special tins with special metallic versions of Urban Toys, Cool, and Megatrip characters.

India received a very limited and very rare tin with 10 Urban Toys figures with extra details added onto them.

Two sets of Disney Gogo's were released in 2016, exclusive to South America.

Other than the collectable nature of Crazy Bones there are multiple games that can be played with the figurines including:[24]

• Base to Base! - Three upturned plastic plant pots or cardboard boxes (etc.) are set up with at least 30 centimetres between each of them. Players take it in turns to try to flick each Gogo from one pot or box to the next, landing on the top. The smaller the pot or box is, the more difficult the target landing spot will be. Players receive two points for each Gogo that makes it to the second base, and an additional three points for each Gogo that makes it to the third base.
• Bungee Elastic! - One end of a metre length of elastic is attached to the first Gogo. Holding onto the other end of the elastic, drop the Gogo to see how high it bounces back up. The Gogo that springs up the highest is the winner and the player receives five points. The runner-up receives three points and the third one point. The remaining players (if applicable) do not receive any points.
• Chuck 'n Catch! - Taking it in turns, players put three Gogos on the back of their hand, chuck them up into the air and try to catch them as they come back down. Players receive three points for each Gogo that they catch.
• Diving Contest - Gogos are lined up along the edge of a wall and players take it in turns to flick each one off. The player is awarded one point for each somersault that the Gogo performs before it lands. If a Gogo lands standing upright, five extra points are awarded to the player. Optionally, a bucket of water can be placed at the bottom of the wall and the Gogo that makes the smallest splash is awarded an extra five points. The winner is the player with the most points once all the Gogos have been flicked off.
• Fingers and Fours - Taking it in turns, players turn their hands palm up and balance a Gogo on each finger. They then throw them up into the air (at least 30 centimetres high) and try to catch as many as they can. Players receive two points for each Gogo that they catch.
• Football Madness! - Using chalk, mark out a football pitch on the ground with one set of goalposts at either end. Scrunch up some paper into a ball and place it in the centre of the pitch. Each player chooses five Gogos and places one in their goal before flipping a coin to see who starts. Players then have ten minutes to try and score as many goals against the other as possible. At the end of the game, the team with the most goals is awarded one point for each Gogo.
• Going the Distance - Players line up their Gogos along a starting line. They then take it in turns to flick them along the ground. The player that flicks their Gogo the furthest (with just one flick) is the winner and receives two points.
• Knock 'Em Out - One Gogo is placed on the floor as the target for the game. A chalk circle may be drawn around it to indicate its position if it gets knocked over or moved by other Gogos. Players stand about two meters away from the target and take it in turns to throw each of their Gogos as close to the target as possible. Players are allowed to knock other players' Gogos out of the way in order to be closer than them. Once all the Gogos have been thrown, the winner is the player that threw the Gogo that is left closest to the target. In a tournament, the winner is awarded three points, the runner-up is awarded one point, and the furthest away from the target is deducted one point.
• Pushover! - Gogos are put in pairs next to each other. Players take it in turns to choose a pair and flick one of the Gogos into the other. The three Gogos that manage to flick the others the furthest earn ten points for the player that flicked them (for a maximum total of 30 points to one player).
• 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.
• The Drop - Players take it in turns to drop each Gogo to the floor and mark on the wall with chalk how high the Gogo bounced on its first bounce. The winner receives one point.

Photograph of an official Crazy Bones lunchbox.

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.[25]

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.

There were originally plans for a CGI action-comedy TV series based on the collectible figurines of the same name. It was animated in Peru by Arronax Animation, and would have potentially aired in the United States via children's TV network Kabillion. The CGI animation used was very reminiscent of series such as The Numtums or Dinopaws from CBeebies. For numerous years, the intro was the only widely available footage of the show. However, the pilot was found in late 2021.

• Gogo's (Feb. 1998)
• Sports (Mar. 1999)
• Things (May 1999)
• Aliens (Nov. 1999)
• Buddies (Nov 1999)
• Mutants (Nov. 1999)
• Mega Bones (1999)
• New Generation-Ghosts & Monsters (2005)
• 2012 Olympics
• Advanced
• Bombers (Skips)
• C1000
• Cap'n Crunch
• Daily Mirror
• Danone Dino Gogo's
• Disney
• Dragonball Z[26]
• Edge
• England 2010
• Evolution
• Explorer
• Foot
• Fusion
• Genios Universe
• Glowies
• Gogo's 1998[9]
• Gogo's Crazy Bones 2007
• Groovy (Cool)
• Hielocos
• Hubba Bubba Gogo's
• Israel Collection
• Kellogg's
• Magnetic Series (Mags)
• Marvel Heroes
• Medabots
• Mega Bones[27]
• Mega Foot (Brazil)
• Mega Foot (Israel)
• Mega Groovy
• Mega Metropolis
• Mega Mutants
• Megatrip
• Megatrip Mega
• Monica's Gang
• Monica's Gang Mega
• Monster Bones (McDonald's)[28]
• New Generation (Ghosts)[29]
• Panasonic
• Pokémon (Unreleased)
• Power
• Q Mack & J Box
• Rockers
• Shin Chan
• Skinny Bombers (Mega Crazy Bones)
• Sports Series 2
• Supergoal
• Supserstars
• Sweet Box (Macro)
• The Diamond Tins
• Third Series[30]
• Tiny Gogo's (Eggy Key Chain)
• Tiny Gogo's (Mega Metropolis)
• Toronto Blue Jays
• Toy Story 2[31]
• Urban Toys
• X-Gogo's
• Zany Brainy

During the mid 1990s, Coca-Cola released a similar brand of toys named "Hielocos" in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica and "Geloucos" and "Gelo-Cósmicos" in Brazil (The first two translated to 'Crazy Ice Cubes').[32] [33]

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

• Media related to Gogo's Crazy Bones at Wikimedia Commons
• Official activities site
• Official European website