Dedicated to the Collecting and History of Monopoly

Month: August 2022

How to Identify A Counterfeit: Monopoly Simpsons – Treehouse of Horror

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror – Collector’s Edition Monopoly is a very popular and therefore valuable Monopoly. It appears to have had a low print run and therefore genuine editions regularly fetch high prices – over £20 on eBay.

However, due to its value and popularity, it is also a common fake! Many editions were made in China, unofficially. These are often low quality as they are not produced by Hasbro. The following photos are taken from the common counterfeit The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror – Collector’s Edition Monopoly, which was initially purchased from eBay.

Signs of being a fake Monopoly Simpsons – Treehouse of Horror:

Firstly, the board is of low quality. Here, the board folds the wrong way – the inside of the game board should be protected when folded, whereas here the game board is on the outside. Also, the board itself is very thin.

The ‘Fate’ & ‘Trick or Treat’ Cards (Chance & Community Chest replacements) were all printed on sheets of card and ‘popped out’. This can be seen above on this Fate card. The contents of the card is not centred with the text almost overrunning the card.

The box lid is also folded as shown above. The lid is also very glossy instead of the usual feel.

The ’20th Century Fox’ and ‘USAopoly’ logo have not been printed on the reverse of the box. Only the Hasbro logo remains. The rest of the back of the box is normal.

The barcode has ‘MADE IN CHINA’ added, whereas the real Monopoly Simpsons – Treehouse of Horror was not.

An apostrophe is missing from the side of the box – ‘Collector’s Edition’

Overall, the quality is low and it is clear that something is not right with this counterfeit and fake Monopoly Simpsons – Treehouse of Horror. However, these are the easiest signs to identify the difference.

board
contents

The houses and hotels should also be green and red – not blue!

tokens

See other counterfeit Monopoly editions here

Monopoly World Championship – 1977 Monte Carlo

The 1977 Monopoly World Championship occurred on Monday 24th October to Tuesday 25th October 1977. Hosted by the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Monaco; it was the fourth tournament of the series and the first to take place outside of the United States of America. Over 5000 players contested the Championship from around the globe.

The final match lasted two hours and the $5,000 grand prize was ultimately won by Cheng Seng Kwa from Singapore. Cheng ultimately won due to a multi-person trade where he received the Yellow Set Monopoly. Ireland received the Dark Blue Monopoly; United Kingdom received the Green Monopoly and West Germany received the Orange Monopoly. Italy did not received a Monopoly through the trade and soon became bankrupt. The 1975 defending champion, Ireland’s John Mair, narrowly missed out on winning two championships in a row by finishing in second place.

United Kingdom’s Fred Brown came into the final as the reigning British Monopoly Champion – when he won the 1977 British tournament – held on the nuclear pile cap of the Central Electricity Generating Board’s power station at Oldbury-on-Severn (near Bristol). The previous tournament was held in 1975 and was hosted at Fenchurch Street Station.

Full rankings:

  1. Cheng Seng Kwa (Singapore)
  2. John Mair (Ireland)
  3. Klaus Armbruster (West Germany)
  4. Fred Brown (United Kingdom)
  5. Antonio de Lucca (Italy)

See also:

Section from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Oct 27, 1977

The following trophy was originally owned by Fred Brown – the United Kingdom’s representative in the 1977 World Final and 1977 British Monopoly Champion. It is unclear what this was awarded for, but it is speculated that very few were made for the event. The tokens are gold plated. If you have any information on this item – please contact callum@richunclepennybags.co.uk

Championnat du Monde de MONOPOLY Monte Carlo 1977

1977 Monopoly World Championship Trophy Monte Carlo
1977 Monopoly World Championship Trophy Monte Carlo

Application Form

Monopoly – International Cities & Towns

UK Cities: https://richunclepennybags.co.uk/monopoly-cities-towns

USA Cities: https://richunclepennybags.co.uk/monopoly-usa-cities

International Cities: https://richunclepennybags.co.uk/monopoly-international-cities-towns

Universities: https://richunclepennybags.co.uk/university-monopoly

This collection includes:

  • Corse [FR]
  • Köln [DE]
  • Limerick [IE]
  • Normandie [FR]
  • Wien [AU]
  • Zurich [CH]

Corse [FR] (2002) (Traditional)

Köln [DE] (2002) (Traditional)

Limerick [IRE] (2016) (Modern)

Normandie [FR] (2015) (Modern)

Wien [AU] (2000) (Traditional)

Zurich [CH] (2001) (Traditional)