Hasbro announced the winner of their new Monopoly token contest today. And the internet popularity of a certain furry house pet may be a contributing factor in the final numbers for the recent online voting. In the end, the winner over the toy robot, diamond ring, guitar and helicopter is... the cat, winning 31% of the vote.
And while there will be a new token coming in, one of the classic tokens is now on the way out. Fans were asked to vote to save their favorites at the same time they were voting for the newcomer. And in a close call at the bottom, the one that will be going away will be the iron.
Eric Hyman, senior vice president and global brand leader for Hasbro Gaming said:
"We know that cat lovers around the world will be happy to welcome the new cat token into the Monopoly game. While we're a bit sad to see the iron go, the cat token is a fantastic choice by the fans and we have no doubt it will become just as iconic as the original tokens."
This is not the first time that a classic token has been retired. The 1950s saw the retirement of three tokens: the purse, the lantern and the rocking horse. These were replaced by the Scottie dog, the man on a horse and the wheelbarrow. The man on the horse has since been retired as well, along with the howitzer (cannon) token. A previous vote for a new token in 1998 resulted in the creation of a sack of money token that lasted in editions from 1999-2007, but is no longer in use.
The cat token will be going into the production lines immediately, meaning from this day forward, the iron will no longer be placed into new Monopoly sets. If you like having iron in your Monopoly diet, then you'll have to get a Monopoly set before mid to late 2013, as that is when the first games featuring the cat token are set to hit store shelves.
Fans that want to bid farewell to the iron token will have the opportunity to do so by visiting Facebook.com/Monopoly. They can also view additional content from the "Save Your Token" campaign.
Comments