The people have spoken: Monopoly boards will soon welcome a new token — the cat. Hasbro closed its voting Tuesday at midnight on what the newest token would be, as well as which would get the boot. We’re sorry to inform any fans of wrinkle-free clothing that the iron has been slated for retirement. Hope you like cats.

According to the Associated Press, it was neck and neck (and neck?) between the shoe, wheelbarrow and iron for elimination as the vote wound down. As I am an unabashed shoe fan, I will admit to my extreme relief and thank whoever else loves the old thing.

This is the first time Monopoly has opened up the choice of token to the public during the game’s long years on coffee tables and family room floors across the country since Parker Brothers bought the game in 1935.

“We put five new tokens out for our fans to vote on and there were a lot of fans of the many different tokens, but I think there were a lot of cat lovers in the world that reached out and voted for the cat to be the new token for Monopoly,” said Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president for Hasbro gaming marketing. People from 120 countries voted on this all-important issue.

The cat has a lot of competition in its animal brethren, as the Scottie dog got the most votes, 29% overall.  The cat remains nameless and was voted in with a 31% share. Of course this means that the cat and the Scottie dog are going to have to do battle on the game field, as is only fitting, proper and natural.

If you’re feeling a twinge of sadness at the departure of a classic token, you’re not alone.

“I’m sad to see the iron go,” Berkowitz said. “Personally, I’m a big fan of the racecar so I’m very relieved it was saved but it is sad to see the iron go.”

Iron-lovers still have time to play with their favorite token as the new version of Monopoly including the cat token won’t be released until later this year.

Monopoly fans vote to add cat, toss iron tokens [Associated Press]

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