We predict a decrease in the amount of fights when it comes to choosing Monopoly tokens: The game has now replaced the classic boot, wheelbarrow and thimble pieces with a penguin, a rubber ducky... and a Tyrannosaurus rex.
"While I'm sad to see the iconic thimble, boot and wheelbarrow tokens go, it will be fun to have some new, fan-sourced tokens in the mix," said Jonathan Berkowitz, the senior vice president of marketing at Hasbro, the board game's parent company. "Personally, I've always especially liked the boot token, but I'm excited to move onto the T. rex."
Back in January, Hasbro held an online vote on VoteMonopoly.com asking players whether the traditional game pieces should be replaced with more culturally relevant ones (think an emoji or a hashtag)—the first time that the future of the 82-year-old game was placed in the hands of the public. Fans selected their favorite eight tokens from 64 options (eight of which were the classics and 56 of which were entirely new ones). Over 4.3 million votes later, the rubber ducky, the penguin and the T-Rex became official parts of the Monopoly family.
"While we can't say why these exact tokens were chosen or who exactly chose them, we know they represent the voices of our fans—young and old—from around the world," said Berkowitz.
Expect the next version of the game with the new pieces to be available for purchase this upcoming fall.
Word to the wise: If you're in possession of the classic tokens, we suggest you hold onto them... You never know what they'll be worth some day.