A few days ago, we introduced you to the Diadora x Hasbro Classic Board Game Collection. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the four releases for the individual games. This one is the N9000 Monopoly—or, as the Italian collaboration partner writes: “Monopoli.”
Of all the board games used as color inspiration in this collection, we’d say Monopoly is the most famous game worldwide. And that’s most likely not because of the 1984 Klaus Lage song of the same name (yes, I had to mention it—it’s linked below :)).
Monopoly, a “real estate board game” for two to eight players, is all about staying solvent while driving your opponents into bankruptcy by buying and developing properties.
Each side of the square game board is divided into 10 small rectangles representing specific properties, railroad lines, utility companies, a jail, and various other locations and events.
At the start of the game, each player receives a fixed amount of play money; players then move around the board according to the roll of a pair of dice.
Any player who lands on a property they do not own may purchase it. However, if they land on a property owned by another player, they must pay rent to that player. On certain non-property spaces, the player who lands on them must draw a card, which may be favorable or unfavorable.
If a player acquires a monopoly—that is, all the properties in a particular group—they can purchase improvements for those properties; improvements significantly increase the rent for a property.
A player continues to move around the game board until he or she goes bankrupt. Bankruptcy results in elimination from the game. The last player remaining on the game board is the winner.
Monopoly, the best-selling board game in history, became popular in the United States during the Great Depression when Charles B. Darrow, an unemployed heating engineer, sold the concept to Parker Brothers in 1935.
Prior to that, homemade versions of a similar game had been circulating in many parts of the United States. Most were based on “The Landlord’s Game,” a board game invented in 1904 by Lizzie G. Magie.
Monopoly has also been released in various editions. In addition to various localized versions (each country has its own high- and low-priced streets), the world’s most famous board game is available in editions featuring Stranger Things, Pokémon, The Godfather, Asterix, Super Mario, Fortnite, The Avengers, Zelda, Friends, Game of Thrones, Ghostbusters, Halo, Back to the Future, and, of course, Metallica editions.
Like the Trivial Pursuit N9000, the N9000 Monopoly has also adopted the colors of the colored panels on the top surface of the current game board for its upper material.
The base color is gray. The beautiful pistachio green appears on the lacing panel. The mudguard and heel feature the blue shade of the “most expensive streets”: Park Avenue and Castle Avenue.
The Diadora side stripe is in the red of the Monopoly logo, which is also featured on the heel of the right sneaker. The second shade of green on the side comes from the “second-most expensive” residential areas: City Hall Square, Main Street, and Station Street.
The yellow on the heel tip and the accent on the midsole can be traced back to either Goethestraße, etc., or the lightbulb from the power plant.
Like all sneakers from the Diadora x Hasbro Gaming Collection, the Monopoly N9000 also features a well-known symbol from the game on the heel of the left sneaker: the “Go” logo plus arrow is a perfect fit for this shoe.
This refers to the starting space for the game pieces, which is called “Los” in the German version of the board game. It’s also known from the dreaded Chance card: “Go directly to jail; do not pass Go; do not collect 4,000 euros.”
The color orange hasn’t been left out either. It appears in the top eyelet of the laces and in the Diadora “Made in Italy” logo embroidery on the tongue. In the game itself, this color can be found on a street, the jail space, and the event cards.
The N9000 is a classic Diadora running shoe from the 1990s featuring a multi-layered upper. This premium version of the N9000 was manufactured in Italy. The upper of the Monopoly N9000 is made entirely of nubuck leather.
Like the other three models from the Diadora x Hasbro Collection, the N9000 “Monopoly” was also manufactured in Italy.
The collection was created in collaboration with LC23. The brand’s name is composed of the initials of its founder (Leo Colacicco) and his favorite and lucky number, 23.
Just like Diadora’s high-end sneaker line, LC23’s apparel is also manufactured entirely in Italy.
The Diadora x Hasbro sneaker collection is available in Germany exclusively at AFEW-Store, Fortytree, Glückstreter, HHV, Jumpnshoez, and SUPPA.
