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Online contest
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Pawtucket (Rhode Island), Feb. 6 (AP): The shoe, the wheelbarrow or maybe the iron is expected to be booted from Monopoly in an international vote by fans to choose a more up to date token for the classic board game.
Toy maker Hasbro Inc. is scheduled to announce the new token line-up as ballots from 120 countries are counted to determine which of five proposed pieces will replace the loser.
The tokens identify the players and have changed quite a lot since Parker Brothers bought the game from its designer in 1935.
Hasbro says the wheelbarrow, shoe and iron were neck-and-neck for elimination through the Save Your Token Campaign.
The replacement will be a robot, diamond ring, cat, helicopter or guitar, also chosen by voters from more than 120 countries.
The online contest to change the tokens was sparked by chatter on Facebook, where Monopoly has more than 10 million fans.
Monopoly’s tokens originated when the niece of game creator Charles Darrow suggested using charms from her charm bracelet. The real estate trading game is based on the streets of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The current eight tokens are an iron, racecar, Scottie dog, a shoe, thimble, top hat, wheelbarrow and battleship. Most of the pieces were introduced with the first Parker Brothers version of the game in 1935, and the dog and wheelbarrow were added in the early 1950s.
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