Fellow cat people and farm girls, rejoice! Hasbro‘s month-long “Save Your Token” contest concluded at midnight last night and it’s official: Monopoly will replace the classic iron with a new token of the feline variety.

While we’re sorry to see the iron go, we’re more than a little relieved to know that our favorite token is safe – well done, #TeamWheelbarrow! May you continue to transport your dreams of financial conquest across the board via manual labor for decades to come.

For those of you who weren’t following this bit of interactive marketing genius, beginning in early January, Monopoly fans could vote to save their favorite token (and nominate a replacement for whichever classic playing piece would be retired) by visiting Monopoly’s Facebook page. According to vice president of marketing for Hasbro Jonathan Berkowitz, fans from 120 countries, including Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Guam and Liechtenstein, voiced their preferences. Even businesses got involved; Zappos created campaigns for the shoe, while Ames True Temper made a series of videos to help save the wheelbarrow (yes!).

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If your games of Monopoly are anything like ours, the first heated arguments come long before anyone goes bankrupt after landing on Park Place. Try taking someone’s go-to token and you’re just asking for trouble.

It’s true: We’ve seen full-grown adults absolutely refuse to settle for the thimble instead of the battleship, or the shoe instead of the wheelbarrow.

Now, our irrational loyalty to these tokens is about to be tested; Hasbro has decided to replace one of the eight classic playing pieces with a new one “that’s more representative of today’s Monopoly players”. Possible newcomers include a diamond ring, a guitar, a toy robot, a cat and a helicopter. Which new piece will take its place among board game royalty and which familiar trinket is destined for the Island of Misfit Toys?

Well that’s up to you.

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During the holiday season, people expect toy giant Hasbro to make headlines. But this usually happens when the company releases a new game or a limited special edition product — not because children are calling out the brand for sexism in familiar toys like the Easy-Bake Oven and Guess Who?

A few months ago, a 6-year-old girl wrote a letter to Hasbro, arguing that Guess Who? is sexist because only five of the 24 characters in the game are female. This inequality makes the choice of a female character less than desireable for kids because it increases their chances of losing the game. The moment a child’s opponent asks, “Is it a girl?” and the answer is “yes”, 19 cards are automatically eliminated and the game is pretty much over.

The little girl, her mother, and their supporters were less than impressed by Hasbro’s response (which basically amounted to “we’ll keep your suggestions in mind for the future.”) So when a second party lobbed a similar complaint against the toy company, they decided to take tangible action.

We’ll explain, but first you need to watch this clip of an adorable young boy/aspiring chef who tells the world once and for all that “boys like to cook too!”

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Virtual games based on classic real-world board games have taken the social media world by storm; bored office workers and easily distracted students everywhere play Draw Something (aka Pictionary-on-the-go) and Words With Friends (Scrabble for the attention-span-challenged) obsessively on cell phones and tablets.

Toymaker Hasbro naturally decided to get in on the action by producing tangible, real-world board games based on everyone’s favorite online distractions–which were based on board games in the first place. Confused? So are we.

Anyone notice the right-before-the-holidays release date? The company has even chosen to market these shameless ripoffs as “more social” than their digital versions, since fans can play them at parties with other actual humanoids. But no one seems to be falling for it. Some related Tweets:

Just saw a commercial for the Words With Friends board game. Also known as Scrabble for you oldies out there. I don’t understand…

— Nathan Kress (@NathanKress) October 24, 2012

Words with friends is now a board game. What’s next, are they going to turn the Harry Potter movies into books?! #scrabbleorWWF?

— Alli Christensen (@5ft2_andluvinit) October 16, 2012

Did you hear they’re making a Words With Friends board-game?Did you hear that, makers of Scrabble?

— Regan Adcock (@Regan562) October 16, 2012

Here’s the kicker: the makers of Words with Friends the Board Game are the makers of Scrabble!

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