Fistful of Power

Name of Toy Line: Fistful of Power
Production Company: Moose Enterprise Ltd
Distributor: Spinmaster, Character Options, Giochi Preziosi
Years of Production: 2004-2005
Countries/Regions Available: Australia, USA, UK, Europe
Size/Scale: 1.5"
Figure Trade Markings: MOOSE
Approximate # of Figures: Hundreds

Details:

"In a dark age, in a forgotten time, there is a world called Scar. Here, fighters
are forced to do battle for the amusement of an evil warlord named Xar. Only a
Fistful of Power can destroy him. It's up to you to build an army and throw down the challenge, before all is lost."

Series 1 'The Beginning' was the most widely available Series in this line. Various games could be played relying on how the figures landed when thrown down and the point value displayed on the underside of each figures foot. As is now common with Moose mini-figs, characters were grouped by rarity with some playset exclusives thrown in too.







15 'common', 12 'uncomon', 6 'rare' and three 'ultra rare' sculpts were all available in three different styles,

Shadow: Dark Grey, semi-translucent
Hyper: Fully Painted
Crystal: Clear figure with painted detail



On top of that, 6 Warlords were exclusively available with the playsets.





One figure was even rarer...Xar, 'The Ultimate Gold Fighter!'. Only 1000 made (per country of release) and hand numbered, this figure had a character sculpted on each side.


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.

Each country's Xar is distinguishable by the color of the dots on his wings.

Silver Dot: USA
Red Dot: Canadian
Blue Dot: Australian
Red & Blue Dot: UK
Pink Dot: French


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.


Series One Mini Poster

Click to enlarge

Series One Combat Booklet

Click to enlarge

As if trying to find the elusive Gold Xar wasn't difficult enough, in April 2005 members of the now defunct official website got the following message:

"You are among the first IN THE WORLD to find out about the secret characters in the Fistful of Power collection.

The secret mercenaries are Shriek, Cutter and Savage. Why are these characters secret? Deep inside Xar's Battle Arena lies a network of dungeons and secret chambers that few have ever seen. Within these mysterious walls hides a band of mercenaries that Xar has finally decided to unleash. They promise to wreak havoc and spell further doom for the world of Scar. But beware; these mercenaries share no loyalty to any warlord - no matter how powerful.

How many are made? For each of the 3 secret rare fighters there are 1000 per country (500 shadow, 300 hyper, 200 crystal). Each is individually numbered on the underneath of the left foot. (1/500, 2/500, 3/500, etc)

What is so good about them? They are limited edition fighters produced and they are high point value fighters so very valuable.

Are they worth more/less? They are high point value fighters - on average they are worth more than the Ultra Rare Fighters. Only the Warlords and Xar are worth more.

Top Secret Gossip? If these Mercenaries combine forces they may form a new region of Scar. Could this be the only army of fighters capable of defeating the evil warlord Xar???

Where can you find them? Only in 2 packs and 5 packs!"

Here's some examples of Cutter, Shriek and Savage:


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.

So rare figures, ultra-rare figures and even secret figures that were even harder to come by! Just when you thought collecting a full set was hard enough it emerges that a few of the figures were only released in second wave of series 1. Not all stores or indeed countries got wave 2.

Unsuprisingly, Australia (the home of Moose) seemed to get the widest selection. Even some exclusive repaints and Blue Shadows were available as promotional items!


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.



Much of the packaging had banners stating "Series 2: 'The Prophecy' Coming Soon". Unfortunately for collectors, Series 2 did not see such a wide release as the first.

It followed the same format as Series 1:



Again Shadows, Hypers and Crystals were available in varying rarities:




But Xar was replaced as The Ultimate Fighter by Seer!


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.

Series 2 even had its own secret figures, check out this fine example:


Image courtesy TheGodBeast of the LRG forums.

Emblazoned across the packaging was "Series 3 'The Uprising' - coming soon". Sadly this was not to be. Craig Bruyn, the designer of the entire line for Moose tells on his webpage of how he was just as disappointed as collectors:

"This range of miniature figurines that were part of a battling game were the first toy product I designed for Toy manufacturer Moose Enterprise.This product went for two series and saw worldwide distribution; everywhere from Australia, United States and Europe. It made for an interesting baptism of fire into the toy industry and taught me a lot about modeling constraints and the manufacturing process. I designed and specced all the characters in the range, designed the logo as well as doing all the illustration for packaging, television, web and any point of sale material. It was an enjoyable experience to be involved right from the incept all the way thru the development and creation of a new brand. Eighty plus characters eventually saw the light of day. I believe I actually designed and specced some 160 characters but unfortunately as is common in the toy industry, not everything saw their way to the retail shelf. Disappointing as I always thought that some of the newer designs were infinitely better than the earlier characters."