Monopoly is one of the most well known board games out there and now the game, at more than 100 years old, is getting a “face lift” in terms of new pieces and is asking its fans for some help.
Everyone young and old has played the game of Monopoly. We have all fought to be the banker, went bankrupt paying taxes, and rushed to be the first person to buy all four railroads, the water company, and the electricity company. We also all have our favorite piece to play. For me, I liked to trade off between the ship and the car. I used to play with my cousins, who liked the dog and the shoe respectively. (Did anyone out there like being the thimble or the iron????) But when it came to playing, we all made a mad dash to our favorite piece because in our minds, if we got the piece we wanted, it would give us that little bit of luck we needed to buy Park Place and never wind up in jail.
But now, numerous decades after the game was first put out, Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly are looking to update their classic pieces and add something new.
The company has recently announced new plans to upgrade the classic game, which includes replacing one of the iconic pieces with something new and updated. But Hasbro is not going to be the ones to decide on which pieces stay and which one go – it will be up to the general public. Until February 5, 2013,Monopoly fans can vote on which piece to save and which one to go. The least popular one will get the boot (no pun intended if that piece happens to be the shoe!), and a new piece will take its place on the Monopoly board.
This is not something new to the game. In the 1950s, a number of original pieces – the rocking horse, lantern, and purse, were replaced. And in other editions of the game, there are different tokens, including a bag of money and a train.
According to Eric Nyman, the senior vice president and global brand leader for Hasbro, “The [pieces] are one of the most iconic parts of the Monopoly game and we know that people are emotionally tied to their favorite one. When we decided to replace one of the tokens in the game, we knew we had to involve our fans in the process. We can’t wait to see which iconic piece will ‘go to jail’ and which new [piece] the fans will choose to become part of one of the world’s most popular games.”
So, what are the options for replacement? They are a robot, a diamond ring, a guitar, a cat, and a helicopter. You are able to place your vote on the official Monopoly Facebook Page.
As expected, there is a bit of backlash from “Monopoly traditionalists.” Hasbro has said that a “Golden Token Edition” will be out later in the year to include all the classic pieces we know plus all five new ones.
The games with the new pieces will be on shelves toward the end of 2013.
What piece would you get rid of and which one would you add?
For more Monopoly related posts, check out the Godfather edition of Monopoly or Klingon Monopoly.
