December 5, 2007
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Monopoly on Monopoly Pieces
When we were playing Monopoly this weekend, my wife said she was the car because she was always the Car growing up. I chose the Shoe because I have always liked the Shoe. But once she picked the Car, I kinda wanted to be the car too.I did some research to find what the most popular Monopoly pieces, and in 1998 Hasbro did a survey on exactly that:
Most Popular Monopoly Pieces:Race Car, 18%
Dog, 16%
Cannon, 14%
Top Hat, 10%
Battleship, 9%
Horse and Rider, 8%
Shoe, 8%
Thimble, 7%
Iron, 7%
Wheelbarrow, 3%I don’t see why anyone would want to be the Cannon. Cannons don’t move very easily (although I guess it has wheels?), so it doesn’t make sense for it to be a Monopoly piece. Who is this 14% who wants to be the Cannon – that’s like 1 in 7!! Apparently the Cannon and the Battleship weren’t even made for Monopoly… there was some other war game called Conflict that failed, so they recycled the pieces for Monopoly.
Personally, my family was too big for anyone to be guaranteed any particular piece. I remember many a game moving my Thimble or Wheelbarrow around the board. Although if I had known that 1 in 7 people wanted to be the Cannon, then I would’ve chosen that instead! I guess this is evidence that as much as I try to follow my own path, I am swayed by societal popularity.
Did you have a favorite Monopoly piece growing up?
Comments (109)
Racing car
i’ve been craving to play monopoly for quite a while sometime. i should put it on my wishlist!! hehe. my favorite piece was probably the dog but i’ve used all of the items before. if the dog was taken, i’d take the car or the horse and rider.
we fought over the top hat in our family
My Brother and I fought over the car. But, after some time, I liked the cannon…as I always imagined it to be “real” and to destroy that car of my brothers…and take all the loot.
But, I also liked the top hat.
definitely the top hat and shoe – i wonder if there’s any meaning behind your preferred monopoly piece like “if you’re inclined to use the thimble, you like to sew”
i don’t remember but if i had to choose now, i’d fight over the wheelbarrow or the thimble!
i also liked the top hat. i can’t believe it’s behind the cannon.
thimbles ftw!
cannon…KING OF BATTLE!
and the tip of the branch on your header picture looks like a cow’s head btw
I think I like the car or the thimble. Wow it’s been too long that I don’t remember.
Sadly I just picked up a Monopoly board for myself not realizing they changed the pieces – it’s Monopoly Here & Now and the pieces are like cell phone, pager, McDonald’s FRIES! WTF? Oh well =(
I liked the car, and I liked the shoe, and I liked the top hat, which doesn’t even have wheels and can’t walk by itself, but I guess it can fly on the wind to get around..
I barely ever played monopoly growing up. But I always liked the race car and the cannon.
Car was definitely my favorite though I don’t think I actually used the car because my older cousins had first choice.
I was always the doggie. Runners up were shoe and then car hahaha… but yea, who wants to be a cannon.. i’d take wheelbarrow over cannon ANY DAY.
hahaha I have the Simpsons Monopoly and Juicy Couture Monopoly at home now… no more OG pieces..
I’ve always loved the dog but my second choice was the hat
growing up, everyone always wanted to be the horse and rider, but my favorites were the iron and the thimble. boy, that makes me sound so domesticated…
the horse and rider was my favorite.
I was the dog or the top hat girl…
cannon? battleship?! we didn’t even have those pieces on my monopoly game! (probably in deluxe only or something). My piece was the top hat. If anyone stole my piece, I would’ve had a fit! haha.
Horse and rider was definitely my favorite. Don’t know why – but always has been and always will be when I play.
Horse and Rider
My love of Monopoly is a bit iffy, but I was always the thimble.
Definitely the dog. But sometimes, we forfeited the legit pieces altogether, and I used my Sailor Moon figurines instead. -_-
vroom, vroom. it must be a great life to blog all day and get paid for it.
Like you, our family was too big to be guaranteed any one piece every time. I think the car and the dog were the most fought over. I’ve never really gotten into Monopoly, so I just took whatever was left since I was usually the first one out of the game anyway.
I hope you’re feeling better, John!
I liked the dog…….I hated being stuck with something stupid like oh say….the iron
I wasn’t allowed to use the car because I’d get bored and start “driving” it around the game board. I was usually stuck with the hat or iron.
I go with the hat. But it’s been years since I played.
two shoes and one dog.
Question is…what does it all mean…? haha.
I think I liked the race car too..
I’ve never thought of it as “horse and rider” before. I always just considered it a cowboy (and it was always my favorite, by far). Does that make me anthropocentric?
i guess i liked the iron. i never really knew the name of the peice i liked. it had a wheel on it and a stick jutting to the sky. maybe it was the canon…
it looked like a spinning wheel more than a canon though. we always played by our own rules. though. (remembering your other post about monopoly)… we did extra money in free parking and extra spins for getting out of jail too. we also gave out more money at the beginning of the game.
I liked the shoe. I guess women always want more shoes!!!
Dog, then Racing Car.
I was rebellious and would put a ring down on the board, and that would be my piece. It actually turned out to be helpful when we had a lot of people who wanted to play.
We tried playing with our class turtle as a piece once (in high school), but he kept walking off the board.
My younger brother would want the car, so I was happy with the thimble. My sister would always be the dog. Our set (early 80s and one in late 90s) didn’t came with the cannon/battleship.
please! of course i always wanted to be either the car or the doggie!
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Hmm. You know, maybe those two “missing” pieces just ended up with the Risk pieces or something.
Top hat. I just liked being classy.
the horse but it really didn’t matter because we didn’t have all the pieces so you always had to share anyway
my mother always took the thimble, my brother the race car and i refused to play if i couldn’t have the horse!
happy hump day!
thimble and top hat.
I WAS HORSE AND RIDER ALL THE WAY. although one year we got a pokemon version of monopoly for christmas.. from then on i was pikachu
I always either used the iron or the thimble. Interesting, as my grandmother was a seamstress. I may be onto something here…
i liked the wheelbarrow
Cannon or the battleship… ’cause if you can’t win peacefully by legitimate trade, you can always resort to superior firepower…
I like the hat and the thimble. But we have the little kids version, so the yellow peice or red peice.
my battleship is so unpopular!! that’s my love
what do you mean “growing up”?
I still play that! and I am one in seven who choose the canon or the battle ship, because of its robustness. Canon is the most powerful medieval ballistic weapon.
It’s basically saying, “I’m gonna whoop your ass.” Or at least represent that side of me.
I was always the dog. Then, we got the Monopoly “.Com” edition, and I was always the mouse. I think, in any version, I would just pick the animal… Nobody else seemed to mind.
The car for sure. I guess I’m just an average person : (
I’m not sure how I feel about the shoe.
the dog, then the thimble or top hat.
i guess im the 14% that enjoys being the thimble… i think it’s because according to “peter pan” the play, it’s also known as a “kiss.” =)
i really had a thing for the thimble. i just liked the texture, and it was so small and cute. maybe that’s just me.
my sister would fight for the horse and rider, though.
<3
RYC – Haha, no. That’s not how it flies in my house. Usually my mom forgets about it while I add it to my List. My List of Wrongs. My Mental List of Wrongs to be Rectified. Rectified and Forgotten.
I think I always was the shoe. Oh, Monopoly..
the dog. i was ALWAYS the dog. and when i couldnt be, it was the dude on the horse. those were the only two acceptable pieces.
top hat! so definitely the top hat! then the car…
I was always a fan of the dog. Sometimes I’d even stick the dog in the wheelbarrow and make that my piece, ^^
I loved the dog and car but had to fight over it with my cousins.
Never knew you could get different pieces. Must be an American version of the game I guess. Happy Playing!
Top hat. :]
I liked the car. But I also liked the dog.
How come we can’t do exponents…this is definitely stupidity cubed
when i was younger i wanted to be a race car driver so always picked the CAR, but my second choice is SHOE, obsessed with them =P.
Growing up, I always played the top hat. My sister and I would fight over it, but I would always win!
The hat or the thimble… no one ever seemed to want those, so I made them my top selections!
I seldom played Monopoly… but I like the shoe now.
Always pick dog =] haha
I like to be the shirt button. It isn’t an official piece but if you have a large family or you lose the rest of them you can be a quarter or a button from a shirt.
If you ever get into merchandise (can I help do that, please?) check out lateforthesky.com. They will make up monopoly boards for you on any subject you like with your own pics. I’m doing one for the island. Lots of virgins.
I was always the wheelbarrow.
I’m actually really surprised only 3% choose it!!
Car ALL the way.
I’m probably weird (okay I am but don’t tell anyone, it’ll be our little secret), but I always liked taking one of the bombers from my father’s Axis and Allies game and using it in Monopoly. It seemed a much more worthwhile piece.
top hat!
the dog, or the horse and rider
finally loaded
loaded again
posted a while – ie6
So that piece was a dog? I always thought it was a cow or something! LOL! Thanks for the enlightment! LOL!
And I always chose horse + rider (too much ancient movies or stories, lol)
That’s cool that you shared the poll with us though.
Oh yeah, do you have a different edition than this? Just wondering. My sis & I got into a craze and we collected the Lord Of The Rings version. That’s it so far.
Good day!
not sure but I think thimble or top hat. who can remember that far back?
there was a dog @@?
it’s all about the train (i think it was in the somethingeth anniversary edition or something). i don’t think i ever lost with the train!
i ALWAYS wanted to be the thimble!!!! don’t hate
The people I know who prefer the cannon do so because they like to pretend to blow things up – like the other players.
gfffffdddddddddddddddddddddd
I think I was the dog
come on, john, post!
oh, and i liked the dog. i dunno why.
top hat
I liked the dog and top hat. The dog was cute, and I’m artistic so the top hat reminded me of myself, I guess. But I always had the same problem that someone else mentioned: that the top hat can’t walk or move on it’s own yet it’s simply a hat as a piece! I think that’s part of what draws me to it.
What I could never understand is how anyone could want to be a THIMBLE! It’s so plain, just like a cup or something. I think the only reason the wheelbarrow falls behind the thimble is because people associate the wheelbarrow with pain-staking work and don’t think it’s a fun piece. But heck, it has more to it than a thimble, and if I had to ever choose between the two I’d be the wheelbarrow hands down!
Hey, just so you know…the Cannon is one of the favorite Monopoly pieces in my family. We all try to get it first.
But then,….it is also our last name.
My second favorite was the shoe.
Loved getting the shoe! Sometimes the car or thimble! I remember the old Monopoly game that had real wood houses and hotels!
cannon all the way man!! you gotta blast you’re way through the other players!
I was all about the car
ryc on resolc’s blog: i’d like to read that post!
I always wanted the Battleship but the shoe was my second choice
horse and rider. oh my god i’m such a girl.
i never liked monopoly much growing up as a kid. took too long, for one thing. plus, i never was much of a capitalist…i liked trivial pursuit (1981 original version, thank you very much), rummikub, and the Game of Life.
Now I’m just a scrabble addict, with a bit of cribbage thrown in.
the condom. we were into safe sex at an early age.
thimble or iron. lol.
Howdy John,
Wish you the best during the holidays, drop by my post and tell me what you think. You of all should know not to bow down before the man, so I take it this post I made’s for you.
Rock on!
Dr. E
top hat
thanks for swinging by. LOL I usually went for the horse. It must be a chic thing.
I have not played Monopoly for ages
ry(pulse)c: yeah maybe. iabxhtkmvn looks like the name of a computer virus i got in high school . . .
I love the monopoly dirty shoe!
battleship for the wiN!
-”what? no! you did not sink my battleship!”
p/s.: great entry.
my friends and i use erasers cause we’re weird.
My mother always wanted to be the thimble…