THE SURVEY SEZ: Monopoly Reigns at Christmas

eBay poll shows classic board game is still tops

When it comes to popularity, it's all about Boardwalk & Park Place. When eBay surveyed consumers earlier this Fall on their favorite holiday toys, the classic real estate board game topped the list.

A national sample of 3,272 adults 18 years of age and older ranked a great many toys in various categories, from action figures (where G.I. Joe is still "the man") and classic toys (Etch-a-Sketch rules) to video games (it is all about Nintendo's Wii) and fictional characters (Pooh Bear is king).

A quarter of all respondents claimed that Barbie is their favorite doll while the LeapFrog Tag Reading System ranked at the top of the educational toys category.

See the entire list at AuctionBytes.

UPDATE: Since posting this story, we have become aware that film-maker Ridley Scott has just signed on to direct the movie version of Monopoly. According to the web site Killer Movies, the movie "Monopoly" is being made by Universal Pictures, which has a first-look deal with game-maker Hasbro to make movies based on its line of toys. The site claims "Ouija" is already in production and Battleship is next.

ATR hears that the plot to "Monopoly" revolves around citizens lending the big bank roughly $700 million, which goes into the community chest, so the banks have enough cash on hand to float real estate loans, so.....(sigh)

Perhaps, if this is board game-to-big screen collaboration works out, they can flip it around and turn some of Scott's films into games. Imagine the "Gladiator" game? How about the "American Gangster" game?