Gogo's Crazy Bones (Stylized as gogo's CRAZY BONES, also referred to as Crazy Bones or Gogo's) are colorful plastic figurines that can be used to play many different games, similar to marbles and jacks. There were many series throughout their production. Each piece is a different character with a name and personality. They became a popular fad during the late 1990s. Crazy Bones were produced by PPI Worldwide and distributed by Spanish company Magic Box, Int. from 1996 to 2019.
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' 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 fads in the toy industry. . Fromm conceived of a musical band based on Crazy Bones in 2000, called . 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%.
Gogo's Crazy Bones in America
United States Peter Gantner, a purveyor of POGS, is responsible for bringing Crazy Bones to the United States after learning about their success in Barcelona, Spain. In 1997, Gantner cut a $50,000 deal with Spanish company Magic Box International, Inc for the product and distribution rights for Crazy Bones in the United States. Crazy Bones were first sold in the United States in February 1998 by Gantner's Cleveland based toy company Toy Craze, Inc.
The original series, called "Gogo's", were small plastic figurines made with faces. Each gogo had a different name and personality. Crazy Bones were most often sold in foil packs for about 2 dollars and came with four pieces, four stickers, and a game card. In an attempt to make Crazy Bones more valuable collectibles, Gantner "buried" the original 60 characters by stopping their production May 1999.
Toy Craze racked up 3.5 million dollars of sales in 1998 from Crazy Bones. Toy stores that carried Crazy Bones include: Zany Brainy, Learningsmith, and FAO Schwarz. Zany Brainy even partnered with Toy Craze and came out with their own original gogo's "Zany-Ack" and "Brainy-Ack".
In March 1999, Toy Craze came out with a brand new series released in United States called "Sports"; the series included 40 Crazy Bones characters with a soccer theme. The pieces were numbered 1-40, separate from the original gogo's series.
The "Things" series launched May 1999 and included 60 Crazy Bones shaped like various everyday objects such as: a TV, a couch, and a book. "Things" were numbered 61-120 and also known as series 2, a continuation of the original 60 gogo's.
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.http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/crazybones_2092_530678 Some seem to be variations of the originals, or mutant original, but they are all meant as new characters to the series.
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 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 to 2000, 31.5 million packages were sold. Over 23 million figurines were sold in the UK and Spain in a relaunch between March and December 2008.
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.
United Kingdom
Sets The following sets have been released:
Gogo's Crazy Bones (series 1) - 80 bones, each available in five colours, plus five 'Most Wanted' and 15 'Wanted' rare bones with different paint schemes Gogo's Crazy Bones Evolution (series 2) - 80 bones, each available in five colours, approximately half are translucent with embedded glitter Gogo's Crazy Bones Explorer (series 3) - 80 bones, each available in four normal colours and a fifth 'laser' metallic colour Gogo's Crazy Bones Advance - 10 bones, each available in five colours. Only available in tin boxes Gogo's Crazy Bones Power (series 4) - 80 bones, each available in two normal and two 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 two bones and two cards (often one normal figure, one metallic figure, one normal game card and one 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 five '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 two colours, plus four 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 two bones, two stickers and one 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 six cards (including one 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 three 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 three figurines and three stickers A collectables special bag sold with three 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
Different sets were released all over the world, making it very hard for collectors to get every figure.