The Verge
Where’s Rey?
Since Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out almost a month ago, everyone has been going crazy for the female lead played by Daisy Ridley. Unfortunately, she’s been left out of quite a bit of Star Wars merchandise, including a six-pack of action figures, a Millennium Falcon play set, and even a Monopoly board game released back in September. Star Wars fans then took to Twitter to voice their thoughts about Rey being left out, including the creation of the hashtag #WheresRey.
Took a stroll past the disney store today, all male Star wars toys in the windows.. where are the Rey Toys #DisneyUxbridge? #WheresRey
— Cameron Mckirdy (@CamMckirdy) January 6, 2016
@cultjer #WheresRey..[read] #Has'bro' is furiously making &approving mini Rey figurine for game re-issue 'later this year'. #Monopoly #oops
— Anne Grauso (@AnneGrauso) January 6, 2016
How can u expect Hasbro to include me in game night? My own family didnt. #WheresRey
— angry rey (@rey_angry) January 6, 2016
Now, Hasbro has heard the fans’ voices and plan on including Rey in the latest edition of Star Wars Monopoly. “We love our fans’ passion for Rey, and are happy to share that we will be including her in the Monopoly: Star Wars game, available later this year,” the company said in a statement released on Facebook and Twitter late Tuesday night.
.@CarrieMGoldman @JillPantozzi @Epbot pic.twitter.com/IQ5TNbOygW
— Hasbro (@Hasbro) January 6, 2016
Hasbro initially stated on Monday Rey was excluded from the game when it was released in September in order to avoid spoilers. “The Star Wars: Monopoly game was released in September, months before the movie’s release, and Rey was not included to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance,” the company said. “Fans will see more Rey product hitting store shelves this month, including 6-inch and 12-inch Rey action figures. We are thrilled with the popularity of this compelling character and will continue to look for ways to showcase Rey across all of our product lines.”
The current version of Star Wars Monopoly includes Finn, Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader as playable character figures. The updated version including Rey will be sold later this year.
Spoiler or no spoiler, don’t exclude a key character from your marketing, especially if it’s a girl.
