After a month of voting on Facebook, the cat will be the next Monopoly game token to ‘Pass GO!’ and collect $200.
An overwhelming response from fans and organizations from 185 countries around the world voted for the cat which will become the newest addition to the classic game.
Hasbro held the Monopoly “Save Your Token” campaign on Facebook, which ran from January 9 through February 5, 2013 allowing fans to vote which token would replace the iconic iron token piece.
The cat scratched past the toy robot, guitar, helicopter, and diamond ring by receiving 31 percent of the fan vote. The cat now joins the wheelbarrow, shoe (or boot), race car, top hat, thimble, Scottie dog and battleship.
The iron is not the first token to be retired. Previous tokens that took an early leave from the board include the lantern, purse and rocking horse. The man on horseback no longer appears in the classic version of the game, nor does the cannon or Howitzer.
"We put five new tokens out for our fans to vote on and there were a lot of fans of the many different tokens, but I think there were a lot of cat lovers in the world that reached out and voted for the cat to be the new token for Monopoly," Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president for Hasbro gaming marketing told NY Daily News.
"Tokens are always a key part of the Monopoly game ... and our fans are very passionate about their tokens, about which token they use while they play.”
Hasbro will begin to replace the iron with the new cat token on the Monopoly production lines immediately so those who want to continue to play with the iron and the seven other classic tokens have a limited time to pick up the existing version of the game.
The new Monopoly game featuring the cat token will arrive on store shelves in mid to late 2013.
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