When I was younger, my family loved to play Monopoly. It taught me how to add and subtract better than school ever could. My brother and I, not realizing quite how many versions of Monopoly were out there, wanted to collect them all. We have the plenitude: an astronomy-Monopoly, a millennium edition Monopoly, even a non-authorized, subject to lawsuits, "Anti-Monopoly" (which is actually fairer and more balanced than real Monopoly, but of course no one wants to play that). Naturally we usually just play the standard "Deluxe" edition, which has a nice spinning wheel to hold all of the property deeds. As I'm home for Christmas break, I decided to check out the closets for random junk. I came across a New York Football Giants version of Monopoly. I thought, what the hey, and opened it up. Here is a review, based on the atmosphere and environment, and how much of a NYG experience it exudes compared to the standard fare. The game's copyright is 2003, so it'll provide a cool window into the Giants past, and especially the pre-Coughlin, pre-Manning era.

All of the pictures come from my iPhone, so forgive the unprofessional photog job. They should be high enough quality to work with though.

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When you open up the box, here's what you see. I will show it all in more detail, but you can see that the properties have been replaced with players and important moments in Giants history. The Chance and Community Chest cards have been replaced with a Giants helmet and a football (*insert Tyree Catch joke here*).

The money features the monopoly man doing various football things like being a ref ($1 bill), kicking a football ($5), and doing the Heisman (......) ($50).

House are blue and the Hotels red - fitting colors. *ahem* Excuse me, the instructions inform me that they are instead "Super Suites" and "Stadiums". Unlike the Deluxe edition, they are cheap plastics.

For one of my birthdays, a friend of mine gave me "Make Your Own-Opoly". The game came with a blank board, some game pieces, papers, and a CD rom. On the CD you could make the board however you wanted; one of the examples was to make Boardwalk "My Bedroom," stupid nonsense like that. It was quite honestly a hunk of junk, especially when young me decided I wasn't creative enough to actually come up with anything cool.

I bring that story up because I'm pretty sure for all the versions of Monopoly, that's precisely what Parker Brothers and Hasbro do - change all the boards quickly with a computer, churn them out, and make lots of money.

The reason I think this is the tokens they give to represent each player. In addition to the dog I thought was lost from my main board, there is: a football on a tee, a generic QB and (I think) a linebacker, both with no logo on their helmets, a whistle, and most absurdly, a cheerleader.

The Giants do not and have never had cheerleaders.

However, the helmet piece does have an ny on the side, along with a stripe in the middle. Maybe someone prepared to care along the way.

Moving on, we have the Chance and Community Chest. For the most part, they're just FOOTBALL versions of the normal monopoly cards.

There are the generic ones like "Beat the Eagles," "Sell opening day program," "named #1 fan," and a "stadium tax". Meh.

There were some amusing exceptions including these sets which I thought were clever use of Giants history and lore. There is "Summerall Kicks Game Winning Field Goal" ("You son of a bitch, you know you can't kick it that far! (another good video here), "It's 9 degrees! Pay for a coat", "Play Greatest Game Ever Played," and my favorite: a reference to the Sneakers Game back in 1934.

Some I actually had to look up: "Lose to Cowboys 35-0" is a reference to a 1995 game which is still the worst loss to the Cowboys in Giants history. The other is "Barrow sacks Eagles QB". He was a linebacker for the Jim Fassel era Giants. Giants.com ranked him the 4th best NYG Free Agent Signing in 2013, so sure why not.

There are others that show how much or little the game with the oblong spheroid has changed over time. "Pass Back to Back 3,000 yard seasons" advance you to Simms - the best property on the board. In 10 straight years as the full time starter, Eli has never thrown for less than 3,000 yards.

Also coincidental is a card for Bavaro's single game reception record of 12, which just the other week was tied by OBJ. (and has of course been superseded by Tiki).

So now the most exciting part, the board! I've separated it into 8ths so you can get good looks at it.

If you've never played Monopoly before, property becomes more expensive and worth more the further you go around the board. The first section with purple is worth the least and have the smallest reward. Here Mediterranean Avenue is replaced with "#1 Fan, "The Pizza Man". Is this a real person? Was he some sort of proto-License Plate Guy? I've never heard of this guy and it always puzzled me when I was younger. The other purple is Giants Stadium. Ah the memories.

Also notice that the railroad have been replaced by 1st through 4th down. And Luxury Tax is "Lose to Eagles". Ugh.

Next are the light blues. These are filled with greats from the 50s. We have two Hall of Famers and a legendary broadcaster (Interestingly I think the picture they use was his game winning kick from above). These guys should probably be worth more but I suppose they wanted to cater to the contemporary audience.

The next section shows us the new "utilities". Water works and Electric company have been replaced by the Daily News and MSG channel. ...Sure why not.

The properties themselves are great moments and legendary events in Giants history, including the two Giants Super Bowls at the time. Super Bowl XXV is a still picture right before Norwood's kick went Wide Right and Super Bowl XXI show what I believe to be the goal line stand right before half time. Including the Greatest Game Ever Played is cool, but I mean we lost that game. It shouldn't be the 3rd property, and it shouldn't show Johnny Unitas throwing a pass.

The next sets showcases...

... some 80s greats (Morris, Carson, and McConkey).

... Mark Bavaro, Ike Hilliard, and the only guy I didn't know before hand (Barrows)

... then contemporary greats, Barber, Collins, and Toomer.

... and 2 more Hall of Famers from the Glory Years. ...and Jeremy Shockey. Boo urns. On another note, considering this is coming out of either his rookie or second season, it's pretty amazing he has a place on the board.

Finally we have the best section - this game's Board Walk and Park Place. Interesting how the Luxury Tax is buying a copy of the Giants first Super Bowl program. I guess I would have gone crazy too.

The two best properties are given to Michael Strahan and Phil Simms. Strahan undoubtedly deserves that spot. He only was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Interestingly he's the only "property" with his back to the players - he's sacking a number 11 on the Vikings (any idea who that is?).

The other spot... I'm not so sure. Does Simms really deserve that spot? There's a newer version that has Eli and newer Giants, but keeps Simms there. I know everyone who lived during the 80s loves Simms, and I do too. But I can't get behind him being the greatest Giants player, even 11 years ago.

Overall, the game actually isn't that bad. There's some short cuts and generic parts, but I think they've succeeded in making this game feel like it was made by a Giants fan. I do have to wonder at the complete absence of LT. The greatest player in franchise history and the greatest defensive player in NFL history, absent? That's hard to excuse.

I'd replace the Pizza man guy with LPG, and obviously add the two most recent Super Bowls, or at least the helmet catch. I'd like to see them add coaches like Owens, Parcells, and Coughlin. I'd take out Shockey, Collins, Barrow, and Hilliard, definitely add Eli, and try to add guys from the most recent Super Bowl runs like Bradshaw, Jacobs, Cruz, and Tuck.

For the monopoly loving, Giants family in your life, there were certainly worse NFL paraphernalia to throw away your money on.