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Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism University of Southern California
Nation/World

Monopoly Gets a New Token

Say goodbye to the hard iron and hello to the cuddly cat.

Monopoly's newest token has nine lives.  (Monopoly Facebook Page)
Monopoly's newest token has nine lives. (Monopoly Facebook Page)
Toy maker Hasbro, Inc. announced Wednesday morning that their popular board game Monopoly has once again changed one of its famous game tokens.

After an online Facebook poll of more than 10 million users in 120 different countries, "the fast-dealing property trading game" has a new member to its game staff.

The Cat, which has no name, received enough votes to move ahead of the proposed robot, diamond ring, helicopter, and guitar pieces that will have to wait until the next time the game maker decides to make a change.

The Iron was the unlucky piece that will no longer be an option for players to choose.

The board game has gone through many different lineups since its first publication in 1935 by Parker Brothers.

Over 20 different tokens have appeared in the game. Originally, players were supposed to use household items such as buttons, coins, and markers.

In 1937, the toy company decided to create more era appropriate metal tokens in the shapes of a car, iron, shoe, thimble, top hat, lantern, rocking horse, and purse.

In the early 1940's, Monopoly changed its tokens to wood due to the metal shortage caused by the World War II efforts.

Around 1950, the game went back to the metal pieces and included the dog, horse and rider, wheelbarrow, thimble, tophat, iron, and the shoe.  Along with the more than 20 original pieces, there have been over 1,100 specialty pieces throughout the game's 78-year history.

Monopoly Vice President of Hasbro Marketing Jonathan Bercowitz said Wednesday morning, "Tokens are always a key part of the Monopoly game... and our fans are very passionate about their tokens, about which tokens they use while they play."

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