Monopoly - The Ultimate James Bond Collectors Edition
The Ultimate James Bond Collector’s Edition of the popular Monopoly game was first introduced in July, 2006. The game is produced by USAOPOLY under a licensing agreement with Hasbro, Inc. A second edition of the game was issued in 2008 to coincide with the release of the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.
The game board and pieces to play the first edition of the James Bond version of Monopoly are customized with James Bond movie references. The familiar properties that are bought and sold have been replaced with the names of the first twenty-one James Bond movies. The new playing pieces are iconic symbols of the Bond movies, including the Acrostar plane, the 007 logo, Odd Job’s hat, the Lotus submarine car, Rosa Klebb’s shoe, and an Aston Martin DBS. Houses and hotels were changed to Safe Houses and Headquarters. The Chance cards are Bond Girls, and the Community Chest cards are Bond Villains. The only parts of the game board that remained the same are the four corners.
The object of the game is to own all twenty-one of the James Bond films. The rules for the Bond edition of Monopoly are exactly the same as the original board game. An additional set of rules for a speed game designed to last for sixty minutes are included.
The second edition of the Bond Monopoly game was completely changed from the first edition, and it includes references to Quantum of Solace in addition to the first twenty-one movies. The six new playing pieces are Zorin’s Airship, a Casino Royale chip, the Moonraker Shuttle, the Q-Boat, the Moon Buggy and an octopus. The Community Chest cards are now Bond Allies, and the Chance cards are Bond Enemies. These new cards can only be read by using the Secret Card Decoder included with the game. Each denomination of the paper money has a different picture of James Bond.
The biggest difference in the second edition is that the game board can be customized by the players each time the game is played. A sheet of 51 stickers depicting different locations from all 22 James Bond movies is included with the game. The property spaces on the board are blank, and players choose 22 of the stickers to adhere to the property spaces on the board. The stickers are removable, and can be changed for each game. The railroad spaces from the original Monopoly game are modified to the trains that were featured in different Bond movies: the Orient Express, Octopussy’s circus train, the Janus armored train, and the Pendolino train.
The object of the game is to own all twenty-two of the Bond movie locations selected by the players. The rules for the second edition of the game are unchanged from the original Monopoly game.
Collectors of James Bond memorabilia and fans of the James Bond movies will want to own both editions. Both editions of the game are recommended for two to six players that are age eight and up. They are available from several online retailers, with prices starting at $29.99.