Monopoly's Iron to be Replaced with a Cat

[Bungle73]

The game of Monopoly has a new player token chosen by its fans - and given that it was chosen on the internet no one should be at all surprised that it’s a cat.

The board game’s maker, Hasbro, announced today that the iron token - symbol of 20th century female subjugation - is to be relegated to history after losing out in a contest held on Facebook.

The property game has been around since 1935 and Hasbro launched the competition to try to reconnect with younger fans and get some free publicity.

Hasbro said that people from more than 120 countries voted in the contest, which ended last night. The cat was up against a diamond ring, guitar, toy robot and a helicopter and was the clear winner with 31 per cent of the vote.

The iron was neck and neck with the wheelbarrow and boot but managed to capture just 8 per cent of the vote and will be discontinued. The Scottie dog was the most popular of the classic tokens, ahead of the racing car, thimble, top hat and battleship.

The American firm will begin to replace the iron with the cat token on production lines immediately, with the updated game expected in stores later this year.

“We know that cat lovers around the world will be happy to welcome the new cat token into the Monopoly game,” Eric Nyman, Hasbro senior vice president, said.

“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.”

Meow! I love cats!

 

[Harbon 1]

They'll have to get rid of the hat too. Thats stereotypical of 20th century men

 

[LE Greys]

And surely the car needs modernisation, but to what?

Oddly enough, my mum learnt ironing from her father, who was in the RAF and had to learn how to look after a dress uniform.

 

[Clip]

And surely the car needs modernisation, but to what?

Oddly enough, my mum learnt ironing from her father, who was in the RAF and had to learn how to look after a dress uniform.

Not as odd as me thinking that sentence would end up as your mam learnt ironing from playing monopoly.


I like the cat - looks pretty cool

 

[SS4]

It's annoying, everyone knows iron is the most stable

Kudos to whoever gets the physics reference, Fe-56 being the most stable isotope due to the highest binding energy per nucleon

 

[gazzak]

It's annoying, everyone knows iron is the most stable

Exactly. One knock and the cat will be over, which is ironic as cats always land on their feet.

 

[Oswyntail]

But cats are also lucky, so every player will want it.
And, as for modernisation, how long is it since the Dreadnought style of battleship was last in service?
Supplementary: Can you buy replacements, or does everyone use broken matchsticks and draughts pieces?

 

[ainsworth74]

And, as for modernisation, how long is it since the Dreadnought style of battleship was last in service?

Last battleship left active service in 1992.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Last time I played Monopoly there was a car, a galleon, a motorbike, a train (an A4 I think), a tank and a bull dozer......

 

[Lampshade]

Prefer the thimble myself, glad they're retaining it... but who uses thimbles anymore?

 

[Oswyntail]

Last battleship left active service in 1992.

Gosh, that recently? But I was specifically meaning the type shown in the piece
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Last time I played Monopoly there was a car, a galleon, a motorbike, a train (an A4 I think), a tank and a bull dozer......

Was that a special edition? Or a random collection of objects to play with?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

It was my dad's set, so it was probably quite old.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

.... but who uses thimbles anymore?

Presumably the same people who have always used them......

 

[GatwickDepress]

Last time I played Monopoly there was a car, a galleon, a motorbike, a train (an A4 I think), a tank and a bull dozer......

The set I owned had a nineteenth century-style paddle steamer. Hasbro have more different classes of ship than the Royal Navy by the sound of it.

 

[Ivo]

I can see the cat token being banned should my mother ever buy an updated set - everyone loves the cat Our copy is nearly 20 years old now and falling to pieces, so it will probably happen sooner rather than later.

I always use the car, or when my brother is playing - because he's a stubborn git who always "has" to have the car (:roll - the battleship.

 

[district]

Exactly. One knock and the cat will be over, which is ironic as cats always land on their feet.

I don't think that is the sort of stable SS4 meant!

 

[ainsworth74]

Gosh, that recently?

Blame Reagan and his military build up in the 1980s. The US Navy brought the four it had in storage out of mothballs for about ten years before sending them back, permanently, to the reserves by 1992.

But I was specifically meaning the type shown in the piece

Hmm tougher question. I'm going to hazard a guess that it's (loosely) based on a WW1 era battleship in which case end of the 1940s into the early 1950s would be a reasonable estimate of when such ships were last in active service.

 

[LE Greys]

Blame Reagan and his military build up in the 1980s. The US Navy brought the four it had in storage out of mothballs for about ten years before sending them back, permanently, to the reserves by 1992.

Hmm tougher question. I'm going to hazard a guess that it's (loosely) based on a WW1 era battleship in which case end of the 1940s into the early 1950s would be a reasonable estimate of when such ships were last in active service.

Makes a good multiple-choice question.

When did a battleship last fire her guns in action?
A - 1945
B - 1953
C - 1973
D - 1991

I bet that would catch a few people out.

 

[IanXC]

Makes a good multiple-choice question.

When did the a battleship last fire her guns in action?
A - 1945
B - 1953
C - 1973
D - 1991

I bet that would catch a few people out.

Choose me sir! I know I know I know!

 

[Heinz57]

Watch it something will be replaced with a mouse soon, then we'll have all three on there.

We don't actualy have the original Monopoly, we have The Simpsons version (we're talking the proper original one here, not that remake with cards, ATMs and what not). We have the Nottingham version hidden away somewhere too.

Actualy, whilst we're on the subject; who here has actualy finished a game of Monopoly, and still had relationships with the other players in-tact by the end?

I've done neither

 

[Tomonthetrain]

I have, mainly because I bribed them

 

[ainsworth74]

Choose me sir! I know I know I know!

No! No! Me me me!

Ahem, anyway, I agree that it probably would be quite a good question!

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Looking photos of the Monopoly piece, its based on a pre-dreadnought battleship - twin funnels, only two gun turrets, fore and aft, and a ram bow.

The last pre-dreadnoughts in service were AFAIK the Schleisen and Schleswig-Holstein, which Germany was permitted to retain as coast defence/training vessels after WW1 and which were used in the Baltic in WW2.

I think the only surviving pre-dreadnought is the Japanese Mikasa, which was their flagship at the Battle of Tsu-Shima in 1904, and was subsequently preserved as a museum or memorial.

 

[bnm]

I always played using the top hat.

Upside down to annoy my borderline OCD brother!

 

[deltic1989]

I have several monopoly sets ( i'm sort of a collector) the oldest being my Grandfathers dated around 1942 I think (going to have to get it out of the loft and check now).
I'm going to be sad to see the Iron go, but I suppose times change. I tend to use the Battleship or the Howitzer anyway (Mrs D usually gets the Iron ).
I have one 'here and Now' set with the cards and an Identical set with cash and the cash version sees more use than the card.
I also have Yorkshire Edition, Star Wars, The Simpsons, Nottingham, Man United, and a Junior set from when I was a kid, and even better, all my sets are complete, not one missing piece.

 

[Roverman]

The cynic in me thinks its a publicity stunt to sell more boxes!

 

[Mike395]

The cynic in me thinks its a publicity stunt to sell more boxes!

No need to be a cynic - I think, by the nature of it being openly advertised on Facebook and getting mass media coverage, it is designed to be a publicity stunt and they aren't trying to hide that!

 

[Oswyntail]

The cynic in me thinks its a publicity stunt to sell more boxes!

Just a competent firm using modern marketing techniques. I think they're allowed to do that!

 

[Ivo]

Actualy, whilst we're on the subject; who here has actualy finished a game of Monopoly, and still had relationships with the other players in-tact by the end?

I have, and not just once either, primarily because I get ganged up on and/or unlucky (except for when my sister plays, because she "loves" jail ) and I then get revenge in various ways - or vice-versa when it's genuine as was true last time when my brother basically displaced Boris Johnson! Although it doesn't help that my cousin (who was roughly 18 at the time; now 21) once wrote the following on the box after a heavy defeat:

Scott has no friends

You guys are my friends aren't you?

 

[Clip]

The tokens in Motownopoly are great

 

[Roverman]

Bearing in mind Motown is Detroit, should there not be a rusty old Lincoln in there too?