Logistics Keeps Hasbros Secrets

Transportation and delivery of the latest edition of the popular board game Monopoly took an added twist because toy maker Hasbro Inc. wanted to keep the results of a vote on which landmarks should make up the spaces on the board a secret until the games were in stores. FedEx Ground began positioning the 164,000 games in its network on Friday September 8th so they’d be ready to “Pass Go” for final delivery to 7,200 retailers on Wednesday September 13th.

The original Parker Brothers version of Monopoly featured properties named after locations in or near Atlantic City, New Jersey. Over the years, a number of different board versions have been created, including a London, U.K. board and various regional versions. In 2005, Hasbro launched the U.K. version of the Here and Now Limited Edition, updating the properties and prices to reflect present-day London properties. In the Spring of 2006, the company launched a poll of fans to determine what landmarks would be used when the U.S. Here and Now Edition premiered. Those results remained a guarded secret in the run up to the edition’s launch.