Limited edition Monopoly Hervey Bay created by WIN Group

Humpbacks, not top hats. Monopoly will release a Hervey Bay-themed version of its famous board game after a property developer convinced the London-based company to feature his hometown.

One of Queensland’s fastest growing cities will be celebrated with its own version of the world’s most famous property trading game.

The mammoth mission to convince Monopoly to make the Hervey Bay edition was led by local property developer and salesman Glen Winney, Managing Director of WIN Group.

The idea started as a gift for clients who purchased property through his firm.

“I’ve always been interested in property, so Monopoly was the perfect game to actually use for a present, anybody buying property off us, as a gift … Monopoly just makes sense.”

Nine months later, after partnering with other Hervey Bay businesses, the game has now come to life and features 22 local landmarks, and notable streets of Hervey Bay and Fraser Island (K’Gari).

Torquay from the air … Drone photos like these will be used as part of the game. PHOTO: Fraser Coast Drone Photography

There’s even a whale token in honour of the majestic humpbacks which frequent Hervey Bay’s waters from July to October.

Mr Winney said the group had to contact the distributor of Monopoly Australia, Winning Moves Australia, who then got in touch with Hasbro – the Monopoly owner in London.

“We contacted them, they said they only do one or two official (versions) a year, so I convinced them that we should be one,” Mr Winney said.

The catch was, they had to put it together themselves.

Managing Director of WIN Group Glen Winney spearheaded the project to make a Hervey Bay Monopoly limited edition game board. One of the drone shots he took was then used by the manufacturers to create the whale token.

An upfront investment of more than $100,000 was needed as they had to purchase a minimum of 3000 games.

After approaching many businesses in town, Mr Winney found five who were happy to partner with him, buy some games and become a reseller.

Along with WIN Group the businesses were the Hervey Bay Boat Club, Beach House Hotel, Kingfisher Bay Resort, Rally for a Cause, and Hervey Bay RSL.

“It’s great to get the support of the other businesses to do this, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to put it together,” Mr Winney said.

The sponsors will also be featured on the Chance and Community Chest squares on the Monopoly board.

For every game sold, $5 will go to local charity Rally for a Cause.

“It’s a local charity, we want to keep everything localised,” Mr Winney said.

Once he got the tick of approval, Mr Winney spent the next few months taking all the photos himself using drones (and process made challenging by ensuring correct times of day and tides) along with writing all the Chance and Community Chest cards with a team member.

They then played around with the layout of the board until they felt it looked right.

“It’s really to promote and sell Hervey Bay.”

As it’s a limited edition, the game won’t be available at major retailers and will instead be sold by the six partnering businesses.

“If it’s successful, which the feedback is pretty positive, we might go and buy another 3000 or so at a later date and have them ready for Christmas,” he said, adding Hervey Bay Monopoly would also be a great way for tourists or newcomers to get to know the area or as a gift for parents to relatives overseas.

Along with the unique Monopoly board game, a Top Trumps Hervey Bay edition is also being created.

The game will be on sale from July 25.