Transformers Monopoly Retro Edition
RRP = $65
Note that numerous threads already exist for other versions of Transformers Monopoly which can be found here:
Collector's Edition
Collector's Edition
Collector's Edition
Chocolate TF Monopoly
Limited Edition
Anyway, this is a comparative review between the Collector's Edition and Retro Edition.
THE BOX
https://i.ibb.co/GJ07N2W/monopoly02.jpg
As you can see, the cover for the Collector's Edition (CE) uses what I call "Neo-G1" artwork, whereas the Retro Edition (RE) uses G1 box art. The CE cover uses a more classic looking Monopoly logo and Monopoly Man mascot. The RE box uses a more contemporary looking logo with a CG Monopoly Man.
https://i.ibb.co/wCTMFs7/monopoly03.jpg
The CE box is a more traditional design with the money tray and a rectangular box. The RE box is shorter with a new design (or at least new to me - I've never seen it before).
https://i.ibb.co/SyQGYB8/monopoly04.jpg
BOARDS
The RE board is custom faded. Many parts of the board are deliberately designed to look faded and worn, except for the four classic corner squares which have remained fairly unchanged, although they do use the early G1 TF font.
https://i.ibb.co/qnZnZZ6/monopoly05.jpg
The streets are actual Transformers characters, which is really odd. So... you're buying and selling Transformers? Are the players Quintessons trading Cybertronians as slaves? How does this work? :confused: And except for the two leaders on the blue streets before GO, I don't know how these characters have been grouped together. Soundwave is in the same group as Ravage, but not with Laserbeak... but he's lumped with Topspin? Bumblebee is lumped with Insecticons and Starscream is lumped with Cliffjumper and Ratchet? I... I don't get it. :confused: The railway stations have been replaced with terrains; roads, sky, sea and space. And the utilities are the planets Cybertron and Earth. Not sure how they're utilities. The Tax squares are now Human Casualties and Battle Damage. I dunno... this design and choice of squares doesn't seem to make much sense from an in-universe POV. It feels like they just slapped random G1 characters as "streets" because... reasons? :confused:
https://i.ibb.co/4gqSndp/monopoly06.jpg
In contrast the CE board makes way more sense. The Streets are actual locations - Iacon, Decagon, Maccaddam's Old Oil House, Autobot City, Dinobot Island, Autobase etc. The Railway Stations are called Transports, which are the Ark, the Nemesis, the Space Bridge and Transwarp Drive. The utilities are the super computers Teletraan-1 and Vector Sigma. This makes sense to me as part of putting the players into the world of the Transformers. The CE isn't just a TF themed Monopoly game, it feels more like you're playing a game of Transformers that happens to be Monopoly.
ACCESSORIES
https://i.ibb.co/mJGKLjp/monopoly07.jpg
Community Chest are Autobot cards and Chance are Decepticon cards. In the RE set they have little stories with deliberately faded images. Some stories are in-universe while others take you out of the universe and imagine that you're a toy... umm... a person with toys (I hesitate in using the word "collector," because as if a collector would have a G1 collection in their attic and not know about it... and then proceed to sell it for $100 :p)
On the plus side, the cards are much easier to immediately read than the cards in the CE set... although I'm finding that the stories aren't quite as interesting. The houses are called Bases, and hotels are Repair Centres (misspelt as "Centers" on the cards but correctly spelt as "Centres" on the instruction booklet)
The die-cast metal tokens are Optimus Prime, Jazz, Grimlock, Megatron, Starscream and Ravage. OP, Jazz, Megatron and Starscream are the same sculpt as those from the CE set, only larger and shiny. For some reason, Grimlock's the only one in his alt mode. There's also a Speed Die which will be explained later (see Set Up - Speed Play).
https://i.ibb.co/RjPLWC6/monopoly08.jpg
Oddly enough, it's the CE set that has a more retro gimmick with the cards -- they require a Tech Specs Decoder to read them! :D Houses are called Energon Cubes and hotels are Anti-Matter. I must admit that Bases and Repair Centres makes more sense than erecting Energon Cubes and Anti-Matter. Although I prefer the sculpting on these houses and hotels with little windows and doors. And I like how the Energon Cubes are coloured an Energon purple. I also prefer the look of the dice - clear red and purple. This is especially cool when you're fighting over properties and one player is an Autobot and the other is a Decepticon. ;) The metal tokens are pewter and smaller than the RE tokens.
https://i.ibb.co/k6gwh38/monopoly09.jpg
See what I mean about the CE game being more in-universe? Every card has some in-universe explanation for what's happening. Dinobots break you out of gaol as opposed to a generic Get Out of Gaol card with Megatron's face on it. Morphobots, Insecticons, Corrostop etc. - the CE cards reference a variety of G1 stories throughout the game.
https://i.ibb.co/xz1SMH5/monopoly10.jpg
I also prefer the look of the card backs with images of Autobots and Decepticons in the background. The RE set is designed to make the game look vintage, but that's not nearly as interesting as making a game that draws you into the world of the Transformers. I guess because for me Transformers doesn't feel retro. I think things feel more nostalgic or retro if you've been apart from it for a long time, but when you've never stopped something then everything still feels current.
https://i.ibb.co/wN2jCr7/monopoly11.jpg
Now here's something I really love about the RE set - the new box design! It's designed to hold everything during game play. Different slots for each set of properties, each denomination of notes and houses. That's cool! Keeping the cards and notes upright also makes them far easier to sort through and take out. It just makes the job of the banker so much easier.
https://i.ibb.co/N3bp8mC/monopoly12.jpg
The CE set uses the more traditional design which just has this rectangular box, which a lot of people flip upside down to hold all the extra cards and other accessories during play. The way that the notes are horizontally placed like a cash register works fine, but the upright notes in the RE set works so much better.
https://i.ibb.co/BNmwwvk/monopoly13.jpg
Comparing money... visually I looove the G1 box art on the RE notes. Toy accuracy is always the best since the toys came first and everything else is a deviation of that, damnit! Love it!
https://i.ibb.co/vxBV46B/monopoly14.jpg
But stylistically and objectively (i.e. when I remove my G1 fanboy goggles), I have to say that the CE designs are nicer in that they show each character in both modes and they include their mottoes. Also the numerals are printed in a much larger font size. There's also no currency symbol, so these could be in Shanix or some other form of Cybertronian currencty for all we know. Having the Dollar sign on the RE notes kinda takes the player out of the Transformers universe. Okay, officially the currency in the CE is dollars too, but at least with the symbols not present on the notes you can imagine that they're some other kind of Cybertronian currency. ;) Botcoins. :p
SET UP
https://i.ibb.co/d2kcCDY/monopoly15.jpg
In the RE set each player starts with $1500 divided as:
x2 $500s; x4 $100s; x1 $50; x1 $20; x2 $10s; x1 $5; x5 $1s
https://i.ibb.co/98x9vMF/monopoly16.jpg
Speed Play - in the RE set the way that they encourage faster play is done in only 2 ways: each player starts off with a bonus $1000 and you can use the Speed Die after you pass GO for the first time. The Speed Die can add extra numbers to your roll, or you can land it on the Monopoly Man or the Bus. The Monopoly Man means that you move the number on the white dice and then proceed immediately advance to the next unowned property. If you land on the bus then you have the option of moving the number shown on either die or the total of both. So if you roll a 2 and a 5, then you can move either 2 spaces, 5 spaces or 7 spaces.
https://i.ibb.co/wLz7742/monopoly17.jpg
In the CE set each player starts with $1500 divided as:
x2 $500s; x2 $100s; x2 $50; x6 $20s; x2 $10s; x2 $5s; x2 $1s
I personally prefer the cash distribution in the CE game, but they're really both the same as either way you're starting with $1500.
https://i.ibb.co/d7zDM6w/monopoly18.jpg
Speed Play - there are a few ways in which the CE game encourages faster play with the optional speed rules. This includes:
* Each player begins with 3 random property cards
* You only need to build 3 Energon Cubes (houses) before you can build an Anti-Matter (hotel)
* Rolling doubles has special rules as follows...
+ Double 1s = Perfect Transwarp Drive technology and warp to any space.
+ Double 2s = Create a new Transformer and collect $200
+ Double 3s = Remove an Energon Cube (house) from a player of an enemy faction. The Cube is returned to the bank and no refund is issued to the former owner (they just lose it!)
+ Double 4s = Draw a card from your faction
+ Double 5s = Collect $50 from each player of an enemy faction
+ Double 6s = Attack another player's property. Each player rolls a die and the player with the higher roll owns that property. You cannot attack a property of the player owns the whole colour group.
I personally prefer the speed rules from the CE set. Aside from delving you more into the Transformers universe, it actually makes the game move much faster than the speed rules on the RE set. It also creates an element of excitement as there are opportunities to actually battle opposing players.
OVERALL
Collector's Edition is the superior set. The mechanics of its speed rules works better than that of the Retro Edition and overall I love how the game places you into the Transformers fantasy, whereas the Retro Edition doesn't seem to know if you're meant to be in the TF universe or the Monopoly universe or just the real world. Choose a reality! I do like the physical design of the Retro Edition's box and the way that it holds the cards and notes. The lack of needing a tech specs decoder does make the cards easier to immediately read, but also less fun without that gimmick. My 9 year old much prefers the gimmick. And the stories on each card of the CE is more imaginative. I've played the CE so many times that I skip each story and read the part about what the card does, but my daughter still loves each tale on every card. If I pick up a card and just say that I get to collect $50, my daughter will always ask me why, or she'll grab my card and tech specs decoder to read it herself. She loves knowing what the canonical reasons are. And I really like how the CE tickles the player's (and especially the child's) imagination like that. Yeah, the RE cards have reasons too, but they don't seem to go into as much canonical depth as the CE cards. And my daughter is recognising some of the place names from Transformers cartoons that she's seen.
e.g. She knows what the Planet of Junk is.
I road tested the RE game with my daughter and 2 of her friends - age range was 8-10. None of them knew who Ransack was. And even if you do, why is Ransack a street? Why am I paying rent to be with Ransack? :confused: Paying rent to stay at the lovely Smelting Pools (and listen to the melodious cries of executed Autobots) makes sense. But Ransack? Don't get me wrong, I like Ransack as much as any other Insecticon... but why am I paying rent? Or why am I build houses (Bases) on top of Ironhide? :confused: I... what? Building houses at Autobot City is believable.
The Retro Edition seems more like a coffee table version of Monopoly for people with a very casual interest in Gee Wun. People who are happy enough to just play a standard game of Monopoly dressed as Transformers. The Collectors Edition is more geared towards the fans. People who know and understand G1 canon. Although you don't have to be a fan of Transformers to enjoy the Collectors Edition -- my daughter prefers the CE set and it's often through this game that she was introduced to various elements of the Transformers. I guess the Retro Edition is more for playing with friends who don't really know much about Transformers and don't care for being delved into the world of the Transformers. But for those who enjoy the fantasy, the I would say the CE is better. Oh, and also if you want a faster game, go with the Speed Rules on the CE (which you could apply to the RE set as your own house rules :)). But for fans of Transformers, the Collector's Edition is hands down superior.
