I’ve always loved Monopoly, it’s been my favorite board game since childhood. My token was usual the dog, and if could get him, I’d choose to the top hat. Now Monopoly will be returning one of the iconic token and adding a new one, two of which look like they could become my new faces–a cat or a robot. The good news is we get to vote on which classic token they’ll be tossing (I’ll be voting for the wheelbarrow or the iron). You can vote at their Facebook page. And they will be releasing a special edition game with all the current tokens and the entire batch of possible new tokens, including cat, toy robot, guitar, helicopter, and diamond ring. Here are the details:
Token change for ‘Monopoly’ to replace an iconic piece
One of the iconic Monopoly game tokens soon will no longer be passing “GO!” or collecting $200.
Hasbro has launched a “Save Your Token” campaign to retire either the race car, iron, Scottie dog, wheelbarrow, shoe, top hat, thimble or battleship. The company is letting fans vote until Feb. 5 for the one they want to keep via the Monopoly Facebook page. The one with the lowest total goes directly — and permanently — to jail.
Fans also can vote for the replacement token: toy robot, helicopter, cat, guitar or diamond ring.
A limited-run “Golden Token” Monopoly ($17.99) arrives in Target stores exclusively in mid-February, and it will be the last edition to have all of the classic tokens and the only set to have all five of the potential new pieces as well. The first Monopoly game to reflect the new token lineup will be released in late summer…
Monopoly emerged during the Depression, with numerous parties claiming to have contributed key elements to the game that was finally patented by Charles Darrow and sold to Parker Brothers. More than 275 million copies have been produced since the first edition in 1935. (Current owner Hasbro does not provide yearly sales figures.)
Six of the current pieces were in that first set; the Scottie dog and wheelbarrow came along in the early 1950s. In the late 1990s, fans voted for a money bag that was added as a bonus. Soon after, the cannon and horse tokens were removed, shrinking the token total to eight from 10.
I always picked the Scottie – I had a real one as a kid.
I think they should add an EBT card – then 47% more people could play.
LOL! Love the EBT card idea. Maybe we can have a “Monopoly – DB Edition” — The tokens could include EBT card, Obamaphone, Mooch belt, Chevy Volt, clump of arugula, box of Hamburger Helper. And what about a “Monopoly – TAM Edition” — tokens: dog, cat, owl, gun, Ronald Reagan, Constitution, duct tape (You need to be in the chatroom to appreciate the duct tape reference 🙂 )
Totally loved Monopoly as a kid, and spent so many hours with my siblings, playing also Risk and Clue. I always insisted on the battleship token, and no one ever used the iron, so I guess that one can go. The robot looks pretty cute.
You are definitely on to something with the TAM edition, Shifra!
We could also give the traditional shoe token a bit of an upgrade, turn it into the TAM-iconic “Shoe Phone”!
Some other ideas for TAM Tokens:
a bell, your Tam Tam box of cereal, a lightning bolt (representing the TAM Wire), a Mystery Science Theater 3000 token, even a Gina Tam Helper!
Or better yet, maybe we could start a ‘Barbie Doll’ line for ALL of the TAM Helpers? With a Tammy doll too, of course! There could even be Sydney & Snoopy pets for them…
Am I going a bit overboard? I think this diet I’m on isn’t getting enough calories to fuel my brain cells. So I think I’ll stop now & go eat some ice cream. If I go any further, I might come up with some crazy Mattel-related TAM Doll idea…oh, sorry, guess I already went there didn’t I?
Damn diet…
Also, we could just bronze the french fry container from the McDonald’s Happy Meal. We wouldn’t even need to scale it down to token size…has anybody seen that how small that thing is since Mooch got her hands on our kid’s happy meals? Only holds 13 fries for heaven’s sake! And yes…I counted!
Shoephone ? LOL And, what about a teacup?
Don’t retire the Scottie or the race car! The wheelbarrow was always kind of awkward…I don’t think I ever picked it so that would be my vote for retirement. Battleships are long gone except as floating museums, so there is a case for retiring it. Obviously, I would like to see a cat as a new token. Robot? Meh.
Audible hummin’, chin rubbin’ and index finger temple tappin’…Though I naturally like the idea of the Cat, I don’t like the rendering of it, the proportions and pose don’t look quite right to us. The Robot is kuhl, but it’s design is anachronistic.Therefore, I must select the generic acoustic Guitar.
As far as what to retire, for me, it’s a 3 way tie between the Wheelbarrow, Thimble, or Iron.
posted 1/10 825am Texas[Token]Time
Whenever I played, someone always took the iron, so I’d vote to keep the iron and remove the wheelbarrow.
I haven’t looked at the new tokens yet, but my initial thought is either helicopter or diamond ring. I like the idea of diamond ring because it’s a traditional value, but then I think, someone will issue an edict that boys also have to take the diamond ring, it’s not just for girls, and I think, helicopter.
Nobody wanted to play with me after awhile because I was a vicious landlord,always picked the car to go fast around the board. Drop the thimble, Granny doesnt need to play,shes too slow.
Midget, one of my older brothers was soooo bossy during Monopoly games. He went bonkers if I dared count out each square. “Look, kid,” he’d say, “there are ten squares each between corners, so do NOT count. If you get a “12,” and you are at a corner, you go like this,” and he would grab my token and zip from corner to corner. I was only allowed to count “1-2” after zipping from corner to corner. He would also scream “RENT!” if we dared land on his property.
When our kids were old enough to understand the game, we played Monopoly as a family. At first, I was taken aback by husband’s approach to the game; he would say the word “rent” very softly, and wouldn’t charge “rent” if the kids landed on his property and couldn’t pay, and he had no problem with anyone counting out each square. He also let everyone else pick their fav tokens, and he would take whatever was left. Then I had an epiphany: I had married the exact opposite of bossy-control-freak brother. So, Monopoly not only teaches kids about Capitalism; sometimes, it can uncover deep psychological truths 🙂
Shifra-your brother and I would have killed each other.I’m glad your husband has more sense.
Oh Shifra you beat me to it!
I was just thinking the little old mustachioed white guy in the top-hat capitalist symbol now might seem a little dated and racist, and it occurred to me that Parker Brothers might be missing out on a real marketing opportunity by not seizing on the government and media’s push to separate and categorize the populace by race and ethnic background. And I not only refer to possible black, asian and hispanic stereotyped Monopolys among the most prominent (statuettes of MLK and Cesar Chavez, teeth with grills, low-rider cars, tacos, blunts, sombreros, a figure climbing over a fence, college graduation hats, ninjas — make your own list, and include various properties on streets like Olvera St and Florence and Normandy, etc.), but perhaps southern whites too, with one-room trailers, rebel flags, old pickup trucks, robed Klansmen and other assorted symbols society has come to know and love.
What? Is that racist? No, it’s good business!
Bring back the cannon.
My favorite is the iron, in part because it won’t fall over. For a new token I like the cat, even though it will probably spend a lot of time on its side (like in real life).
I always got the top hat, love the simplicity. If I had to choose i’d say the thimble would be the one to go. It’s a good thing Monopoly didn’t get any of the stimulus money or we’d be choosing between an Obama “O” piece and a mural of the DB. I think I would purposely land in jail 😉
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You guys are so creative! Love the comments and the idea of a TAM edition. Brings back memories of playing monopoly for hours with my siblings and cousins. I was always the banker and didn’t really care which token I got.
Of the new ones being considered, I think the kitty looks like an Egyptian cat in the face, and the robot reminds me of Mr. French from the TV show Family Affair with the mustache and hat. Doesn’t it, or is it just me? 🙂
Since we’re on the subject, Monopoly was more than just a board game during WWII – it helped allied POWs escape.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/01/how-monopoly-games-helped-allied-pows-escape-during-world-war-ii/266996/
Confession: I too was a ruthless Monopoly player. Woe unto him who fell into my Monopoly trap BWAHAHA! Without discretion, the first strategy to winning is to buy anything & everything, agreed? (no pun intended 🙂 Buy now, think later. Monopoly is a great life lesson: the rent must be paid, period. Got it, all you libtards everywhere? Shut the whining & pay the frickin’ rent. In fact if you’d shut your whining, you’d realize that YOU TOO can be a landlord! GET WITH THE PROGRAM.
I voted for the guitar, for we must have music. I voted out the boot, cuz for some reason, it always bothered me. Seems I was not “always” one or another token, but different ones for different games (CONFUSE THE ENEMY!). I figure we need the iron & the thimble cuz we need to explain to our kids what they are and what they were used for. We need the wheelbarrow for when Urkel is gonna have us living in forests, foraging for our food. The new cat is so un-cuddly! Not what is best about cats, that’s for sure; looks a little …. sinister. Let’s see, what else, love the battleship, the top hat, and we simply can’t betray Scottie, he’s stood stoically by us all these years. Race car’s gotta stay, just cuz.
Surely there’s going to an SEIU version with a gangsta token, a “get into Planned Parenthood free” card, a community organizer token, alternate money called “assistance,” and the purchase of each property would come with a list of taxes due. The whole thing would be set in Chicago, and of course, there would be NO GUNS. There’s MUCH more to this story, you know it…. 🙂
Geezee, maybe we’ll need the wheelbarrow when the U.S. dollar is worthless, and we’ll need a wheelbarrowful of dollars to buy a loaf of bread 🙁
http://www.jewishhistory.org/weimar-republic/
(see paragraph #5)
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