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South Africa

Presentation:
version 2000

Presentatie:
versie 2000.

 

  Number of versions: 6

   Edition: December 21, 2008

Map of South Africa.

 

Because of the great influence England has had over a long period in this country it not so strange to discoverd the first Monopoly
edition to be from the English manufacturer Waddington, the Parker Brother's  licencee from the very beginning in 1935. 
From about 1963 the South African company Metrotoy got licence to produce the South African bilingual editions.
Around 1990 production was taken over by Prima Toys, who in 2002 not only started to make the game according to the Parker Brothers/Hasbro design, but also introduced fully new properties.

 

 

The streets and stations are till 2002,  those of the cities Durban (on the east coast) - Bloemfontein (inland central) - Kaapstad (south coast) and Johannesburg (inland north). From Begin on they are:

Durban (the country's 3rd city): Musgraveweg/Musgrave Road - Gillespiestraat/ Gillespie Street - Inkomstebelasting/Income Tax
Durbanstasie/Durban Station

Durban:  Weststraat/ West Street - Smithstraat/Smith Street - Marine Parade/Marine Parade - Tronk/Slegs 'n besoek-Jail/Just visiting

Bloemfontein (the country's 4th city and legislative capital): Monumentweg/Monument Road - Elektisiteit/Electricity -  Aliwalstraat/ Aliwal Street - Maitlandstraat/Maitland Street  Bloemfonteinstasie/Bloemfontein Station

Bloemfontein:  President Brandstraat/President Brand Street - Hoffmannplein/ Hoffmann Square - Voortrekkerweg/Voortrekker Road - Gratis parkeering/Free parking

Cape Town (the country's 2nd city and administrative capital): Groote Schuurstraat/Groote Schuur Street - Stransstraat/Strand Street - Roelandstraat/Roeland Street  
Kaapstadstasie
/Cape Town Station 

Cape Town: Parlementstraat/Parliament Street - Pleinstraat/Plein Street - Waterraad/Waterboard  - Longstraat/Long Street - Tronk toe/Go to Jail

Johannesburg (largest city of the country): Mainstraat/Main Street - Joubertstraat/Joubert Street - Devilliersstraat/Devilliers Street 
Johannesburgstasie
/Johannesburg Station

Johannesburg: Jan Smutslaan/Jan Smuts Avenue - Super Belasting/Super Tax and Eloffstraat/Eloff Street.

 

Since 2002 all properties have been replaced by totally new ones. It are cities, city districts and landmarks from all over the country. From Begin onwards they are:

KwaZulu-Natal: Westville/Westville - Amanzimtoti/ Amanzimtoti - Inkomstebelasting/Income Tax
Durban International Airport  

KwaZulu-Natal:  Umhlanga Rocks/ Umhlanga Rocks - Balito Baai/Balito Bay - La Lucia/La Lucia - Tronk/Slegs 'n besoek-Jail/Just visiting

South-East Cape Region: Port Elizabeth/Port Elizabeth- Elektisiteit/Electricity - Menlyn Park/Menlyn Park - Waterkloof/Waterkloof 
Bloemfontein Airport
 

Garden Route Region:  Wilderness/Wilderness - Knysna/Knysna - Plettenberg Baai/Plettenberg Bay - Gratis parkeering/Free parking

Johannesburg: Hillbrow/Hillbrow - Soweto/Soweto - Boksburg/Boksburg 
Johannesburg International Airport
 

Johannesburg:  Randburg/Randburg - Sandton/Sandton - Waterwese/Water Affairs  - Hyde Park/Hyde Park - Tronk toe/Go to Jail

West Cape Region: Mitchells Plein/Mitchells Plain - Tygervallei/Tygervalley - Bloubergstrand/ Bloubergstrand
Cape Town International Airport

West Cape Region:  Franschhoek/Franschhoek - Kapitaal Wins Belasting/Capital Gains Tax and Clifton/Clifton.

 

 

South African Mini-Box with London board-1953.Edition: “Mini box- red - with separate board of London
               
Trade Mark - 711981
(for the board)
               Trade Mark - 3173/50 (for the box)
Publisher: John Waddington Ltd./The Swan Press Limited, Johannesburg - ±1953                   
Dimensions of the box: 16.1 x 19.2 x 2.6 cm
                  of the board: 49 x 49 cm
The game:
This edition was discovered by Martin Hazelbower - Vancouver - CDN.
"Manufactured in South Africa-1953".

It is interesting to see that this early Monopoly edition on the South African market is 
composed of parts made by two manufactures instead it was imported as a 
complete game:

 

The gameboard, with the streets of London and the "engines illustration" in its midst,  was manufactured by 
Waddington in the UK
and is exactly the same board as used on the English market, what is shown by the Trade Mark number. 
N.B. The mention "Trade Mark" is applied by Waddington for decades, from about 1950 onwards.

At least the box and the game's Rules are "Printed by: The Swan Press Limited, Johannesburg" and it seems reasonably to assume the special tokens and maybe the wooden houses and hotels were only put in the box, but delivered by Waddington. The Swan Press Trade Mark 3173/50 is mentioned on lid as well as the Rules.

Tokens of 1953.Other features of this edition are:

The rent of the unimproved Piccadilly is the same as of both other streets,  only £ 22.- instead of £ 24. (This error erose 
already in the original, American version in 1935 and has been copied in all countries, until the early 1980s.) 

The Chance cards are yellow through, the Community Chest cards are pink through. Both cards have rounded corners.

The 7 banknotes only show the word "Monopoly"and nothing else. They are printed in black on colored paper in  
denominations of :  1 - 5 -10 - 20 - 50 - 100 and 500.  

The tokens are flat metal figures on feet. The figures are: buldozer - tank - car - motor with rider  - electric engine and galleon (gold).

The houses and hotels are of  dull wood.  

 The set has one red and one blue die of 12 mm.


South African Special Ed. ref. NWG 117.Edition: Monopoly - Special Edition, ref. NWG117
              Trade Mark/Handelsmerk 63/0822
Publisher: John Waddington LTD./MetroToy/Manhattan Agencies (PTY) LTD. - S.A. - ±1973
Dimensions of the box: 25.8 x 49 cm
The game:
Of course all South African sets are bilingual: English and Afrikaans. Funny is their own word for start Begin (being the same in both languages). 
The design is according to Waddington's, the features of which are:

The engines are green and face to the right. 

The color of the game board's playside is yellow green. 

The Community Chest fields do not show the blue treasure chest, but only a < in a black circle.

On the Super Tax field is no ring.

The mahogany colored lid shows the game board in silver in 2 from one another shifted squares. Next to it is the word Monopoly in white characters between 2 silver lines. In the upper right corner is a square showing, also in silver, Uncle Pennybags in a frame between 2 engines, with there under a large R (from Rand).
In a comparison of this box with the also mahogany colored Deluxe editions of England and other European countries like The Netherlands, Germany and France of 1972/73 it is striking that:

This "Special Edition" is printed in silver, whereas the "Deluxe Editions" are printed in gold.

 In both cases the word Monopoly in white is prominent.

The English version of course uses the £-sign and so the South African version an R.

The South African sets have the Waddington design in this era, so with a green  engine on the stations and without a blue treasure chest, whereas the game board of
 the other Deluxe sets are according to Parker Brothers/Hasbro design, so with black engines, blue treasure chest and a gold ring on  the Super Tax field.

On the solid cardboard game board it says under the word Monopoly in open characters and parallel to the 1st side "Trade mark/Handelsmerk - 63/0822". This number is almost certain a date, but considering the corresponding European versions, it cannot be the date of issue but rather the date of grant of the Trademark. The back is dark blue and both parts of the board are kept together by a 65 mm  wide ribbon.
The soft inner box contains a soft insert of white plastic with 5 holes for the attributes. Because of the fact that the title deeds are both in English and Afrikaans they are strikingly long (60x102 mm). The text on the back side of these white cards is printed in red. The yellow through Kans/Chance and purple through Gemeenskapskas/Community Chest cards (52x82 mm) are only one-sided printed.
The 7 Monopoly banknotes are of following denominations: R1 - R5 - R10 (white) - R20 - R50 - R100 and R500. There are 6 silver colored tokens of plastic, viz. hat - iron - shoe - racingcar - boat and dog. The green houses and red hotels are made of plastic. They both have overhanging roofs but no chimney. 
There is 1 green and 1 red die both having white dots.

The price amounted to R 21.- (US$ 9.- ) July 1989.

 

 

Small box with bar code 001144.Edition: Small box, bar code nr. 001144
Publisher: John Waddington LTD./Metrotoy (PTY) LTD.- Johannesburg - S.A. - 1973?
Dimensions of the box: 25.6 x 25.6 cm
The game:
Of course this Bordspel vir eiendomshandel is bilingual again.
The lid of this square box is in the so typical Waddingtons colors red - white - red. The upper red bar shows Uncle Pennybags between 2 white locomotives (without £- or R-sign). 
The back of the double folded gameboard is white, the playside is yellowis green. In the gameboard's centre is Monopoly in open characters, without frame, parallel to side one.

The innerbox contains an insert of white plastic with 5 trays for the equipment. As well the property cards, as the Chance- and Community Chest cards, the banknotes, and hotels as well as the Mannetjies are all exactly the same as those of the Special Edition.
Both dice are green  with white pips.

 

 

 

Long box from 1982.Edition: Standard, long box, bar code nr. 001106 
             Trade Mark/Handelsmerk 63/0822
Publisher: John Waddington LTD./Metrotoy/Manhattan - Johannesburg - 1982
Dimensions of the box: 25.8 x 49 cm
The game:
I was pointed to this edition by Rob van Linden - NL.

The licence mention on the box.

Early eighties Parker Brothers' influence began, world wide, strongly to dominate that of John Waddington. 
Although the licence remains that of John Waddington the design of the picture on the lid is now according that of Parker. 


For the rest everything is precisely the same as of the 1973 edition with ref. NWG117, in which therefore is especially notable:

the back driving, green engines.

the word Monopoly, in open characters, parallel to the 1st side.

Like in other countries a new presentation has been introduced with this version. The colorfull, but soft, lid shows  Begin and a small part of Musgraveweg/Musgrave Road (however without hotel), the Eloffstraat/Eloff Street (unbuilt, but with racing car) and Jan Smutslaan/Jan Smuts Avenue (unbuilt, while the corresponding version of other countries often show 1 house). It is striking that the white dice with black pips show a 2 and 6, while the European editions show red dice with a 2 and 5.
The innerbox contains a white plastic insert with 5 holes for the attributes. The bottom side is unprinted. As well the Property deeds, as the Chance- and Community Chest cards, the banknotes, the hollow houses and hotels with overhanging roofs are all equal to those of the earlier mentioned editions. 
The 6 Mannetjies are resp.: dog - shoe - racing car - iron - boat and hat. Except for the boat they are all, as usual in the South African editions, of silvery colored plastic. The boat will most probably not be original.
One of the dice is blue green, the other one red; both have white pips.

The original Rules are of course in South African and English.

 

 

Standard box from 1994.Edition: Standard, bar code nr. 545808
Publisher: Waddington Games LTD./Tonka Corp./Hasbro - South Africa/Prima Toys - Eppindust -S.A. - 1994
Dimensions of the box: 25.6 x 49 cm
The game:
The lid of this box is again in the colors red - white - red of Waddingtons. The upper red bar now shows the word Monopoly in open characters with Uncle Pennybags in the middle O. In the lower red bar is now the "collection of attributes", i.e. 2 tokens, stack of banknotes, 2 stacks of title deed cards, 2 dice, 2 houses and 3 hotels as they appear on the European sets manufactured in Ireland since 1992. Since the title deed cards and the houses and hotels are obviously not of this set, it is likely that a generally used picture of Waddingtons is used by the South African manufacturer.

The strong board has a yellowis green playing side and a mahogany colored back. Monopoly is in the centre of the gameboard in open characters and in a rectangular frame , parallel to the first side. Also here Uncle Pennybags arises from the central O.

In fact there is no "innerbox" with this set: the cover is over a "tray of polystyrene foam" containg a total of 6 holes. The Mannetjies, houses and hotels are exactly equal to those of the previous sets. The long title deed cards however have a red back with white text, whereas the yellow Chance- and pink Community Chest cards are more dull of color. The back side of these cards are printed.
The Monopoly banknotes have more text: under the wordt Monopoly is written Registered Trade Mark and underneath the figure ©1994 Tonka Corporation. All rights reserved. The colors of the banknotes however are the same as those of the earlier issues. Both dice are white with black pips.

The price of this set amounted to about US$ 10.- April 1999.

 

New S.A.2002/2003 edition.Edition: Standard, like ref.00009, bar code nr. 545822
Publisher: Waddingtons/Hasbro Int.Inc./Prima Toys - 2002
Dimensions of the box: 5.0 x 27.2 x 41.0 cm
The game:
This is doubtless the first and only one Monopoly game of Waddington/Parker/Hasbro that has ever been so drastically changed. It is known the licencer to be very reserved over meanwhile 67 years to change anything in an original version. 
This new edition was introduced in an article in the South African Sunday Times of March 16, 2003, written by Gillian Anstey

Pay a fortune. Do not pass go.
New Monopoly dumps traditional SA property for more exclusive real estate, introduces a capital gains tax and increases starting salaries.

The South African version of the property board game, Monopoly, has been given a makeover.
Eloff and Joubert streets in Johannesburg , West and Smith streets in Durban and Long and Strand streets in Cape Town - most of which have lost their lustre since the game was introduced in South Africa 30 to 40 years ago - have been replaced by the posh suburbs and towns of Sandton, Hyde Park, Plettenberg Bay and Franschhoek. The most expensive real estate on the board is Clifton - going for R40 000 - which is now home to the ultra-wealthy from South Africa and around the world. In the old Monopoly, Eloff Street was the most expensive real estate at R400.
But it is not only the mink-and-manure belts that rate a mention.
The middle-class suburb of Boksburg and the mainly working-class townships of Soweto and Mitchells Plain also feature in the new game, in which the stations have been replaced by airports.
And it is not just the property that has gone upmarket - the game's Chance and Community Chest cards have also been changed to reflect today's realities.
The starting salary has been increased from R200 to R20 000, and a capital gains tax ( on the profit or loss made on selling an asset) of R10 000 introduced. In the old game, the Super Tax was R100.
The rising costs of medical aid and schooling have also been taken into account, with the doctor's bill now set at R5 000, income tax levied at R20 000 and school fees costing R15 000. There is also a speeding fine of R1 500 and a "drunk in charge" fine of R2 000, while a bank error in your favour will net you R20 000.
The product director of Prima Toys, Darryl le Cok - who helped develop the new version over nine months, said that the game had been updated to reflect South Africa today.
"Nobody wants to buy in Eloff Street - it's not desirable real estate, " he said.
Johannesburg-based property valuer Graham Ewing agreed that Eloff Street had lost its lustre.
"Eloff Street was a very desirable trading area, but it doesn't have the same investor value as it did 20 to 30 years ago. In 2003 you wouldn't invest there. The property selling prices are so low, but you cannot generate income out of a no-demand situation."
Ewing said that 1972 - the year the Carlton Centre was completed and about the time Sandton City shopping centre opened - marked the beginning of the move out of the Johannesburg CBD.
One beneficiary of the changes, however, is Euan Wildeman, Mayor of Plettenberg Bay, who was ecstatic about the honour bestowed on the town.
"It's a very good thing for Plett and we feel very excited about it. I think Plett is a prime spot in the world, not just in South Africa.
"In the last three years, there are probably more foreigners buying property in Plett than South Africans - especially in the new developments," he said.
Wildeman added laughingly that the value of Plett property in the board game - R20 000 - was way too low.
"That's cheap. Maybe you should put a couple of 'mills' behind it," he said.
Cheap was also how Pat Sidley, spokesman for the Council for Medical Schemes, described the doctor's bill of R5 000 and hospital costs of R10 000 levied in the updated game.
"If all the bills one got looked like those off the Monopoly board, you'd have no need for a medical scheme. Unfortunately, bills are much higher than those, " said Sidley.
But the Education Department believes that Monopoly's school-fees bill of R15 000 is spot-on.
Molatwane Likhethe, spokesman for the department, said exorbitant school fees were a problem it was addressing.
"How many people can afford that? All these high fees are a concern to the department," he said.

Prima Toys' managing director, Joey Diamond, said that Xhosa and Zulu versions of the game were also being considered.

When we look at this issue it immediately shows that it is very similar to the European versions with ref. number 00009 of this period. This appears to be rather clear because Hasbro meanwhile has worldwide standardized all his games on the sizes 5.0 x 26.8 x 40.0 cm as well as a uniform presentation.  

De similarities of this issue with those of Hasbro with ref.nr. 00009 of this period are:

The white also have mahogany colored borders along the lid, however .... there is a white line through the borders of this variant.

The lid shows under the red-bar-with-Mr.Monopoly (as Uncle Pennybags is called since 2000) the last part of the 4th side of the game board. On this are the tokenscar and hat, a house, a hotel and both dice showing 4 and 3 on top.

The board is also folded twice but not splitted.

There are however, also striking differences, viz:

The dimensions slightly differ: The box is 10 mm longer and 4 mm wider.

Despite the great resemblance this edition does not have the ref.nr. 00009.

There is the clear red/white Waddingtons logo on all sides of the lid on the spots where normally is the Parker swirl. The Hasbro logo is entirely absent. 

The bottom side of the box is entirely open in contrast to that of the versions with ref.nr.00009, which show a color picture of the game board with all its attributes, next to some text.

Both the lid and the innerbox are made of softer cardboard.

The midfield shows the red bar with Mr.Monopoly sloping over the board again, but now turned 90º so sloping from Begin to Free Parking. Because of that the space for the Chance cards is next to Go to Jail now and that of Community Chest next to Jail. This is very disturbing.

The plastic insert of the innerbox is black and has but 9 holes instead of the many slots as in the red "banker's tray".

The green houses and red hotels are also of  plastic and have a chimney on the roof as well.

The  differences and similarities between this totally new South African design and those of earlier years:

The presentation became that of  Parker Brothers now, i.a. :

No red-white-red lid anymore but a white one with Monopoly-bar and a part of the last side of the board.

The yellow green Waddingtons board has been replaced by the blue green Parker board.

The green Waddingtons engines haven't even been replaced by the black Parker engines but by a black/white plane for all 4 airports.

The game is as "pliable" as before and its back is black.

The silver colored tokens are of plastic again.

The yellow Chance- and pink Community Chest cards' back sides have both English and Afrikaans question mark, resp. treasure chest. 

The prices of the properties - and so your salary over Begin - have been multiplied by 100.

The banknotes are according to the new design, i.e. the upper side of the circle has the black banner showing Mr. Monopoly, a large figure in the centre and under that the mention "© 2002 Hasbro International Inc. All rights reserved". The 7 notes are one-sided printed in black on colored paper. The denominations are resp.:  100 - 500 - 1000 (on white) - 2000 - 5 000 -10 000 and 50 000.

Both dice are white with black pips.

A very special issue that positively needs to be present in everyone's collection.

 

Your comments and/or additional informations will be highly appreciated! Only then this catalogue remains interesting! So please do send a message to:
Uw opmerkingen en/of aanvullingen worden zeer op prijs gesteld! Zo blijft deze catalogus actueel! Neemt u dan ook gaarne contact op met:

albert c. veldhuis
Zoetermeer - The Netherlands
e-mail: worldofmonopoly@gmail.com
(Nederlands,,Deutsch,Français,Magyar)