World of Monopoly.com

Parker/Hasbro started in 2005 to introduce "Here & Now" editions worldwide, in which the properties were choosen from generally known, contemporary buildings and landmarks of the concerning country. In addition, the price level had drastically been increased from " 200 on Start" to " 2 million on Start". In 2006 the Americans ("America Has Voted!") and Canadians, are the only two countries that had the opportunity to vote for the properties to be used on the board of their edition. Apparently this was the start to say goodbye from now on to the standard editions with the original streets that had been on the board for exactly 70 years.

The new country editions began to appear from early 2008 in a number of European countries, like France, Switzerland, the Scandinavian countries and Finland, in a square box, still with Mr. Monopoly (with a red bow tie) in his red car with license plate number Mr.70, but with the country's flag on the background. For the properties in these editions it always was "the people to vote". It was thought that many countries will follow in getting this new version as their standard edition, but that has not happened (U.K. and U.S.A. confirmed).

Then Hasbro decided to do an umbrella variant to cover the world voted by the people, the Here & Now: The World Edition.

In February and March 2008, Monopoly fans could express their preference for cities to be choosen from a list composed by Hasbro of 68 towns from all over the world during a hectic 6 weeks. The best voted for 20 cities were granted a square on the game board. On top there were wild cards for the first two streets after Start. Everyone over the whole world could nominate any city for these spaces.... and that is how Gdynia (Poland) and Taipei (Taiwan) got their place on the board!

For some unclear reason Hasbro decided to launch two versions of this World Edition at the introduction around August 26, 2008.

Ref. Nr. 01611: a game with an additional "Deal Button" and banknotes.

Ref. Nr. 01612: a more sophisticated game with an "Electronic Banking Unit" and credit cards instead of banknotes. In this unit the "Deal Button" is incorporated as well.

Soon followed by two special editions:

Ref.Nr. 01613: a "Collectors Edition" with all 24 standard tokens + 6 exclusive ones.

Ref.Nr. 01693: a "Travel Edition" in a red plastic carry case.

Over 5.6 million votes were registered, with the results shown in the graphic.

It is interesting that Riga, the capital of Latvia, a country where Hasbro has only sold its games since 2001, succeeded in coming so high on the board.

It is a little disappointing that the "station spaces" haven't been utilized a more interesting way, e.g. referring to the first locomotive, aircraft, ship and space capsule.

Hasbro pay attention nevertheless to the 48 cities that did not come on the board with a gallery of pictures of those cities which has been put on top of the property spaces. On an extra sheet going with the set, a comment is given on these pictures and those on the properties. The same sheet also gives information on the pictures shown on the globe.

The editions of some countries not represented on the game board were supplied with one or more stickers of the cities nominated by the country from the election. These can be put on any property wanted. Holland supplied such stickers for Amsterdam and Volendam, but Germany apparently didn't feel the need to add stickers for their nominated cities Frankfurt, München or Berlin.

In this new presentation Mr. Monopoly looks different as well. With his "change of name" around 2000 he started to wear a red bow tie, but only 8 years later he is bearing a substantial silvery "M" bow tie. In addition he has a green band around his top hat.

Up until now, Rich Uncle Pennybag's cane had a pleasant round grip but now he has a new image the top of his cane, a sharp "M".

The banknotes of the edition with Ref. Nr. 01611 are printed in black on colored paper in the nominations: 10k, 50k, 100k, 200k, 500k, 1M and 5M (Monopoly dollars, symbol: M with 2 horizontal lines). Instead of 2x a house the notes now show 2x a globe. This became the global currency of Monopoly.

The Banker's tray is a blue insert of soft plastic in the under section of the box. It has 5 trays, of which one is for the property deeds and one for the banknotes.

New in this version is the "Deal Button". With this little instrument the banker has to reduce the dealing time of an auction of a property. This time is randomly between 13 and 50 seconds.

The instructions on the Chance and Community Chest cards can hardly be recognized. Except for substantial modifications in a number of cards, most of them are completely new and provided with a Did you know?

Tokens - See the Tokens Page.

Much attention was also paid to the houses and hotels of this version. This means there are 6 different models of houses and hotels all going with each edition:

North America
• House: Inspired by New England houses. New England is famous for its colourful autumn leaves, which draw visitors from all around the world.
• Hotel: Inspired by the American skyscrapers in New York and Chicago.

South America
• House: Inspired by Cuban housing, with their stone walls to combat the effects of the humid climate and inner patios to offer shade from the sun.
• Hotel: Traditionally, Aztec sacrificial temples were never destryed, but had new ones built around them, resulting in layered temples, each layer becoming bigger and more extravagant.

Europe
• House: Now known as winter ski residences, Swiss chalets were originally used only in summer, when cattle herders would bring their herds to graze in mountain pastures.
• Hotel: European skyscrapers, such as those found in London's Canary Wharf, inspired this hotel.

Africa
• House: In rural African tradition, before marrying, the bridegroom is expected to build the marital home using locally gathered materials.
• Hotel: The oldest of Egyptian pyramids was built in 2630 BC - more than 4600 years ago.

Asia
• House: In Asia, pagodas are multi-storey buildings often built near Buddhist temples as places of worship.
• Hotel: Inspired by Asian skyscrapers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan.

Australia
• House: Tin roofs, often tained by rust, are common in the Australian outback.
• Hotel: Inspired by Australian skyscrapers and notable buildings, such as the Sydney Opera House.

The dice going with this edition are white with black pips.

Hasbro reports that this World Edition to be available in more than 50 countries and in 37 different languages.

Notes:
• Hasbro reports this edition to be available in 50 countries and 37 languages.
• It turns out not all countries which did not appear on the game board haven't had the opportunity to put a sticker of a city of their own country on a space. The Belgian version, for instance, goes with an extra sticker for Brussels, but, although the Germans could vote for German cities none of them came on the board of the German edition with the card reader and there were no extra stickers supplied neither.