1999-2008

In 1999 Rich Uncle Pennybags was no more. He had an official name change to Mr. Monopoly. This name change is seen on the back of the #9. This was the only change on the #9 in 1999. 2000 saw the moneybag removed from the upper right corner and a 65th anniversary logo added. In 2001 the Moneybag was put back on the front of the box. In 2005 there was another change to #9. The graphics on the front of the box were changed for the first time in 20 years. Mr. Monopoly is seen running down the fourth side of the board (now from "GO" to "Community Chest"). There are buildings behind him, and the Monopoly logo is in a cloudy blue sky. The next change was the addition of a speed die (licensed from Winning Moves Games) in 2007.

The new Millennium saw many new Monopoly games. The first 2 were 2 Millennium Editions. The first was housed in a silver tin. It had a mirror finished holographic board, translucent money, the strangest looking dice I’ve ever seen, and 8 new tokens; the computer, video cell phone (with picture of Mr. Monopoly), in-line skate, globe, plane, futuristic car, futuristic bicycle with frictionless rim drive, and a yellow Labrador retriever. The houses and hotels were made of clear red and green plastic and were stackable. The 2nd version was an Avon exclusive. While it had the same dice and tokens, the board was much more plain and had entirely different properties on it. The houses and hotels were the regular style, but the houses were yellow and the hotels black. The money did have the Millennium Edition logo but was printed on regular paper. Overall, not nearly as nice a set.

2000 also saw the beginning and end of hasbrocollectors.com. Two editions were released through this web site; the collectors edition #1 Library edition, and the #57681 Monopoly Mover. The Library edition was a bookshelf edition bound in blue, it had a hex fold board with a parchment finish (along with all the cards), wooden houses and hotels, and 11 gold tone tokens including the moneybag. This was a short run item and sells for $250 or more on ebay now. The Monopoly Mover was an 18 wheeler whose trailer converted into a monopoly board. The top and sides folded out to form a miniature board, but with the exception of the Title Deeds everything else was standard size. It included 11 standard tokens. Not a practical set to play on, but a nice conversation piece. These sets go for $150 or more on ebay.

The Heirloom Edition made a come back in 2000. This game appears to be identical to the 1997 Toys 'R Us edition except for the addition of a 65th anniversary sticker to the shrink wrap. This seems to be unsold stock from 1997 and was sold through Sam's Club. (Thanks cap)

2 special editions were released in 2001; the #40753 Nostalgia edition and the #41503 car tin. The nostalgia series game was in a wooden box with a sliding top and reprised the graphics of the 1957 train box. The black bound board had an antiqued look to the face. It had antiqued Title Deeds, standard Chance and Community Chest cards, small money, wooden houses and hotels, and 6 antique brass tokens; race car, train, shoe, Scottie dog, top hat, and thimble. Even the rules were reminiscent of the ‘30s and '40s.The car tin was made to look like the race car token.. Open it up and the baker’s tray and Title Deed carousel looks like a dashboard. The black bound board lies underneath and has a blue-gray face. Wooden houses and Grand hotels come next along with 7 antiqued tokens; race car, ship, shoe, thimble, horse and rider, top hat, Scottie dog, and iron.

In 2002 Target hooked up with Michael Graves and Hasbro to produce the Michael Graves design Monopoly game. This game is housed in a 16 by 8 inch cherry-stained wooden box with a fold out 3/4 size board in the top and a drawer to hold the downsized components (money, Title Deeds, and Chance/Community Chest cards). The houses are blue-gray and the hotels red, have a distinct Michaels Graves design, and are made of matte finished hard plastic.There are six redesined tokens in this set: cup and saucer, tea pot, clock, telephone, blender, and toaster.

Next to come down the tracks was the #41577 train tin in 2003. This set had the same components as the car tin with the exception of the banker’s tray and Title Deed holders. This set had a banker’s tray in the shape of a train and the Title Deed holder looked like railroad tracks.

Next up was the vintage series #42749 in 2005. This set was in a wooden box with a slide off cover. Mr. Monopoly with a fist full of cash adorned the cover.. The face of the board has this same graphic, otherwise it’s identical to the Nostalgia series set from 2001.

2005 was also Monopoly’s 70th anniversary with Parker Brothers and 2 special anniversary editions were released. The first, was the #42377 70th Anniversary tin. This set came with a foil wrapped board, 8 each of 4 different style houses, 12 different hotels and 12 large, chrome plated, re-designed tokens; Scottie dog, thimble, wheelbarrow, satchel of cash, iron, train, cannon, motor boat, high heel shoe, top hat, horse and rider, and classic speedster.. The oversized rule booklet still doesn’t have the history right. It seems even more incorrect than the 50th anniversary set was.

The 2nd 70th was a Sam’s Club exclusive. This set has a full size wooden board with a tin game track. This set has chromed metal houses and hotels, a gold money rack and Title Deed carousel, and the same tokens as the tin. The components are stored in drawers under the game board. This is an extremely nice set.

2006 brought about a change 71 years in the making; the Here and Now edition. Prices are increased by a power of 10,000 , and there are properties from across the country. The 8 tokens include; a laptop, cup of Starbucks coffee, a Toyota Prius, McDonald’s fries, a Labradoodle, a Motorola RAZR, a jet plane, and a New Balance running shoe.

Michael Graves got together with Target again in 2006 and put out one of the ugliest games I've seen. The game is in an oval cylindrical plastic box that is crammed into a white rubber sleeve that you can't get the game out of. After spending the requisite 15 minutes getting the box out of the sleeve you'll actually find a fairly nice looking game. The board is a 15 1/2 inch hex-fold with a holographic center field and a blue-green track. The problem with board is that Boardwalk is misspelled as "Broadwalk"(The boards were corrected and replaced at the store level -- how many error boards survived?). The Title Deeds and Chance/Community Chest cards are full size, but the money is downsized. The tokens in this set include: toaster, blender, tea pot, clock, lamp, and suitcase. The houses are gray, the hotels red, have the same design as the earlier Graves edition and are made of rubber.

There were two new editions in 2007: the Bookself game and the Onyx edition. Paul Edgecomb brought these to my attention (along with a couple new games on the notables page).

The first of these was the Bookshelf game. The game box is designed to look like a book and it has magnetic closures to keep it closed. Inside is a 6-fold board with the classic design. It has 8 tokens (top hat, thimble, iron, race car, Scottie dog, ship, horse and rider, and shoe), wooden buildings, standard sized deeds and C/CC cards, and smaller money. It is a very nice, colorful set.

The 2nd was the Onyx edition. The gameboard on this edition is smaller (16x16), does not fold, and is made of black wood and brushed silver tin. The contents include: all 11 classic tokens with an antiqued silver finish; miniature deeds, C/CC cards and money; a black Title Deed carousel; a silver bank in the same style as the 70th anniversary edition; 2 huge black dice; and miniature translucent plastic houses and hotels each in a black velvet bag. This is a very nice game and is a Barnes and Noble exclusive.

2007 has also brought about a new Here and Now edition, the Electronic banking version. This game is the same as the 2006 edition except it no longer has money in it. Instead it has an electronic banking unit and credit cards for each player. My wife fell in love with this game because she likes Monopoly but hates keeping up with the money.