Toy Line: Fistful of Power
Sculpt Name: Chain
Color: Translucent Blue
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!"
"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."
Details: Gamoja were released in 2006 and seen by some to be Moose's replacement for their now finished Fistful of power line. 45 different sculpts were available in total and split equally into 9 different groups, Jungle, Insects, Cyclops, Ocean, Fire Breathers, Three Headed, Cave Dwellers, Flyers and Snow. Each, group had it's own color scheme, an example of each scheme is pictured below:
Each character shows an age in millions of years on the bottom of their foot, this age apparently relates to the character's rarity, the 'older' it is the rarer it is. Each group contains two 'common' figures, two 'rare' figures and one 'ultra rare' figure. The 'ultra rare' figures are skeletal in form and glow in the dark.
All 45 sculpts were available as full color painted figures (good twin) and translucent red figures (evil twin).
The 46th and final figure is 'ultra super rare': Ultimoja. Only 1,000 of this metal figure were made and similar to the Fistful of Power 'Gold Xar' each bears it's individual number of that 1,000 on its foot. The figure could be obtained by finding the special token in packs of Gamoja and sending it to Moose.
The Jungle group were available exclusively in the Starter Pack (4 specific figures and a meteor ball) and the Monster Pouch (containing the final figure to complete the Jungle group). The rest of the figures were available in 5-packs and 2-packs.
A booklet came with each set Gamoja outlining various games that could be played. The first game shown is based loosely around 'Jacks' and explains the function of the meteor ball and the somewhat restrictive yet distinctive 'X' shape of the figures.
Although this line was billed as 'Series 1' within months it had found its way into clearance aisles and bargain bins selling for a fraction of the original price. Series 2 has yet to be seen...
Related Web sites
Gamoja.com