After promising a young fan that they would add Rey to the Star Wars version of Monopoly, Hasbro has reneged on that offer, citing “insufficient interest.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, Hasbro promised to add a Rey playing piece to the Star Wars-branded version of Monopoly over 18 months ago, in response to a young girl’s earnest and well-intentioned letter about why the hell Rey—the main character of Star Wars: The Force Awakens—was not included in the set. The child in question, Annie Rose Goldman, makes a very valid point: “Without her, THERE IS NO FORCE AWAKENS! It awakens in her!”
After receiving this letter in early 2016, Hasbro promised to add Rey to the set. Spokeswoman Julie Duffy said in a statement at the time, ““We love the passion fans have for Rey, and are happy to announce that we will be making a running change to include her in the Monopoly: Star Wars game available later this year.” It seems that the Rey figures were made and distributed to “retailers in several markets around the world,” according to a statement from Duffy, but not in the United States due to “insufficient interest.”
The Star Wars franchise is equally popular with boys as it is with girls and parents have had to deal with this since the beginning of the franchise itself. For all who would like to play as Rey in Star Wars-branded Monopoly, they can call Hasbro’s customer service and request one by mail. Feels pretty rude to me.
DISCUSSION
Right, Rey is like, so boring and not interesting to play as, whereas I have always found myself deeply passionate about, and highly invested in, small metal thimbles and top hats. I mean, have you heard about Thimble’s backstory???