A majority of popular properties/franchises usually get a board game. More than 90% of the time, the board game that the franchise gets to be printed on is Monopoly.
Last night while out at the Irvine Spectrum, Brad and I noticed a new store had opened up. The Game Chest sells a variety of games (of the non-video persuasion), and I finally found the Sailor Moon version of Monopoly.
So being a fan, and considering the price, I decided to pick a copy up now rather than later (will explain at the end). But if you’re on the fence about buying another version of the same game that usually everyone gets pissed after playing it for two hours (as Dane Cook once said about it, “Fuck this game!”), here is my full review on this version of the famous board game.
PROS:
Box:
The box is well built and sturdy. As with the picture above, there is lovely commercial art done by artist Marco Albiero. Marco is famous for doing a lot of the most recent retail art for Sailor Moon products and Viz’s Blu-Ray/DVD releases. All of the work you will see in this board game were done by him. You can find most of his work on his twitter account: https://twitter.com/AlbieroMarcoArt Here is a close up of the box art.
The inside of the box is also well organized. It has a place for all the game board, tokens (if you plan not to leave them in the plastic baggie they come in), money, dice, houses and hotel tokens, and chance/community cards.
Tokens:
This version of Sailor Moon Monopoly takes from the third season, Sailor Moon S. So the corresponding pewter tokens are not only Sailor Moon’s brooches and weapons, but the Outer Scouts talismans.
They are painted in a goldish-pink pewter color and are very detailed. They are very accurate from the show. My only issue might be with the color. Because they are painted in this gold pewter color, once exposed numerous times to air, I’m afraid that the paint might turn.
Money:
The money for this version is the same as all the others. Printed on paper, colors corresponding to the amount they represent from the original game.
Marco’s artwork also graces the money and I like how most of the money colors also match the character represented on them. My only issue is they should’ve made Jupiter green and Mars purple (justifying that because Mars’ bows are purple and her hair has shades of it). Maybe they wanted to do it in order of when the inner scouts appeared?
“Railroad” Cards:
In the original board game, Monopoly has deeds not only to streets, but to railroads as well. In this version, the railroads are replaced by items found in the series.
The items include all Outer Scouts staffs/talismans, Sailor Moon’s Heart Moon Rod, and Heart Compact. All cards have instructions and “mortgage” values. The art of Marco is also featured.
Community/Chance Cards:
Like with all variations of Monopoly, Sailor Moon Monopoly has its own versions of Community and Chance cards. If you don’t know what those are, more than likely at one time or another when you’ve played this game; you pulled the chance card “Go Directly to Jail. Do not Pass Go. Do not Collect $200.”
In this version, Community cards are now “Love” cards and Chance cards are “Friendship” cards.
Here is a preview of the “flavor” text on the cards. They’re simple, cute, and very easy to understand.
The cards also correspond to “special rules” for this version of the game.
Cons:
While any fan would love this collectable, it’s not without its flaws. Here are my few problems with this version of Monopoly.
Board:
The problem with the game board (at least in my case), is two fold. First, this board folds differently. It folds four ways instead of in half.
Because it folds this way, the board gets ruined easily. Here is what the middle looked like when I opened it.
When opened, you can see a visible crease as well when the board is completely unfurled.
I have another Monopoly game based on World of Warcraft, and because the board only folds in half, there are no rips or other cracks on it.
So the only crease is in the middle, and of course the crease could get ripped when worn, but I can see this board being more sturdy than the Sailor Moon one.
Also, it might’ve been just my copy, but because of this crack, the print on the board was glued unevenly.
If you look side by side with my other board, you can see the unevenness of the Sailor Moon board.
“Mortgage” Cards:
As with all Monopoly games, this does have cards representing “streets” and the Mortgages associated with them. But this version seems a little off…
When I purchased this version, I assumed I can buy properties such as “Rei’s Temple,” or the “Moon Palace.” Instead you “buy” the characters and purchase mortgages “on” them…
I am sure the “special” rules have something to do with this, but this is just super awkward… The artwork on the cards is amazing, but I still feel unclean just looking at them. To think of the Scouts as “property…” Someone in R&D didn’t think this all the way through.
The house/hotel tokens are rather generic also. With other versions, you get tokens that match the franchise. My Warcraft version has small and big Castle towers. Even the Attack on Titan version had versions with huts and walls. As you see in one of the first pictures, they just used the generic ones you find in Original Monopoly game. It would’ve been more nicer to have something pertaining to the show.
Verdict:
Overall, if your a big Sailor Moon fan, you should pick this version up. The artwork alone is worth having this set.
If you plan to own a copy, you best pick one up soon. It’s already shaping up to be a collectors item. The store I bought it had it priced the lowest at $39.99. The center we bought it at also had a Box Lunch store, and they retail it at $45.99. Unfortunately, Amazon has it on backorder and you can only buy it from third party vendors at the low price of $59.99… I’ve also started seeing it pop on Ebay for around that $60 price tag.
I rate this set a 3.5 out 5 stars.
Good Morning Otaku 