Edition: August 21, 2002

THE WORLD SUCCESS OF MONOPOLY
(From the article in the French periodical "Mappemonde" edition 66)

Abstract from "Le succès mondial du Monopoly" in Mappemonde 66 of 2002, written by Marie-Françoise Fleury (Marc Chagall college - Gasny - F) and Hervé Théry (ENS - Paris): 

Monopoly is a board game known all over the world, with many national versions. A geographical analysis of their distribution is an excellent example of the diffusion phenomenon. The choice of the cities in whose streets people play reveal the limits of the areas of influence of some of the major world powers, a real geography of the game.

Collecting Monopoly games is a hobby of relative a few people. They do collect the "authorized" games of Parker Brothers and Waddingtons (since about 1996 all HASBRO) as well as the games of "inland make" and the patent free games, which appeared on the market after 1985 and finally the "related" games like  the States-, Cities- and University games - Medical Monopoly (USA) - Homonopolis (NL) - Petropolis (B.R.D.) etc..
Also the monopoly-like games (sometimes called "knock-offs"), which are often used as business-gifts, have to be mentioned here.

Besides they also gather all relevant collectables, concerning Monopoly, like  place-mats (1988 NL) - prize glasses (USA) and lapel pins (USA) ever issued by MacDonalds - Chrismas tree ornaments (ENESCO Corp. - USA) - ties - butterfly-ties - umbrella - watch - cufflinks of tokens - boxershort - socks -  handkerchief and a number of T-shirts (all items from "Magnificent Mouchoirs"- London) - jigsaw puzzles of the gameboard (USA) - mouse pads (WalMart shops-USA) - milk chocolate sets (in English,German and French) - Collector's cookies tin -  Monopoly logo Pitchers with 6 glasses (USA) - blankets (Owen-USA) - rugs - ball-points - all kinds of fridge magnets - coin sorter tube bank - photo frames - money-boxes (all Giftco, Inc.-USA) and much, much more.

GAME EDITIONS

There are a lot more editions of the Monopoly game than you might imagine. I will try to distinguish them in the order of the luxury of the execution:

1. COLLECTOR's EDITIONS:

Franklin Mint:
This game was issued in 1992. This very luxury set consists of the wood gameboard with goldplated hotels and silverplated houses (US$ 465.-), a wood stand (US$ 400.-) and a glass cover plate (US$ 75.-). Various European countries have their version as well, like England, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and Holland.
The board is made of hardwood with a countersinked midfield with a lush green playing surface. The tokens are crafted in pewter and embellised with 22 carat gold.
The dimensions of the board are: 527 mm wide x 527 mm deep x 76 mm high, including the sliding drawer for the banknotes.

Parker Brothers:
This is the most luxury version Parker Brothers ever issued. The Heirloom Limited Edition is an issue of 1997. The game is in a mahogany colored case of hardwood (in a green outer cardboard box) with a hinged lid and a lift-out tray inside, all felt-lined.

2. 50 years ANNIVERSARY editions 1985.
1985 was the "official" 50 years anniversary of the game Monopoly. Some countries, amongst which the USA and Holland issued for that event the game in a square tin and/or a high blue cardboard box (= the Deluxe edition).
Japan as the sole country issued an exclusive suite case, whereas other countries restricted themselves to putting a sticker or a print on the cover of the standard box.

3. 60 years ANNIVERSARY editions 1995.



So ten years later there was a reason again for a special edition. This time it was a high Gold box, of which the American version is just a bit more luxury than the boxes of for example Holland and Germany. Also this edition was only issued in a restricted number of countries.

4. EUROPEAN editions.
1991 Parker Brothers introduced the European Edition of Monopoly. In this game all 12 countries of the European Community of that time are represented by streets of one city (e.g. Berlin, Paris, London) or streets of various towns (e.g. Holland). 
The currency is Ecu's.
1999 a new edition was launched extended to 15 (+ 7 potential) member states and with the correct currency the Euro. Erroneously this issue shows Genève as the capital city of Switserland, reason why the same game was re-issued in 2001 with Bern as the real capital.

These version are only issued per language (English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, etc.).

5. NOSTALGIC or CLASSIC editions.
This are re-issues of earlier games. Examples:

6. Very STANDARD editions.
This are of course the most frequent occuring sets, although the appearance contineously changes, depending on the period of issue. Especially in the early days many nearly equal but slightly different versions were issued per country. And since they bear no reference numbers it is very hard to distinguish and catalogue them. Nowadays manufacturers are standardizing the dimensions and appearance of their boxes, like the European editions that are manufactured in Ireland from ref.nr.14535 onwards.

7. Editions of INLAND MAKE.
By this we mean those games who bear the name Monopol(y/I) but have nothing to do with Parker Brothers/Waddingtons/Hasbro. This are for example the games of countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Poland and many Arab countries.

8. PATENT FREE editions.
In 1985, so 50 years after Parker Brothers obtained their licence, this patent was expired and since everybody can unhindered copy this game. That was immediately done by countries like Tunisia, Syria, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia (=London).
On their turn Parker Brothers rapidly expanded their assortment with sets for former cummunist countries like Russia, Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, but also Turkey (all games manufactured in Ireland).

9. RELATED games.
    A few examples are:

10. JUNIOR editions.

This game is, like the European editions, not by the country but only by the language. So the German version is for the kids of Germany as well as of Switserland and Austria.
The board of the games issued in the period 1991-1995 are square and look like the "normal" gameboard, but instead of streets the properties are Ticket Booths of an Amusement Park. 
Of the sets issued from 1996 on the boards are oblong and the box is square.

11. POCKET MAGNET editions.
This is the well-known game, but in a awkward small, flat size. The tokens and houses do "stick" on the board, the banknotes and cards however do not. Published in many countries.

12. TRAVEL editions.
This indeed is a more practical game "to travel with". It is housed in a red plastic case, in such a way that the "gameboard" consists of both inner sides. The tokens, hotels and houses can be put into the board, while a holder keeps the money and the cards.

13. DICE games.
A very special way of playing Monopoly:
One has to gain a beforehand determined number of points by playing with 10 dice. A funny pocket edition in which indeed all elements of the Monopoly game board occur.

14. SELF-MADE games:

15. SPECIALTIES:
In this chapter special cases will be described like "stamp of a painting of the middle age Monopoly players, offices with a Monopoly game board floor and "Monopoly in the Park".

16. COMPUTERPROGRAMS.
Already in the era of the home-computers, the seventies and eighties, more or less advanced Monopoly programs appeared in the market , for f.e.  Atari, Commodore, MSX and P2000.
Nowadays of course only the games for the PC and Internet are of interest. Except those programs developped by Parker Brothers/Virgin and Westwood, there are various Monopoly programs made by others as well.