Well, congratulations folks, we made it four full days before our first instance of social media outrage over something as trivial as board game token.
For those out of the loop, let me first set the scene. Star Wars: The Force Awakens fans have been crying over the lack of toys for Daisy Ridley's character Rey. That outrage poured over into the board game world when someone finally noticed Hasbro's Star Wars Monopoly, which has been available since September 2015, also omitted the strong female character. In her place were four game pieces for the following characters: John Boyega’s Finn, Mark Hamill’s Luke, Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, and Darth Vader. Of those four, only Darth Vader doesn't appear in The Force Awakens, which shouldn't matter anyway because no where on the box does this actually say it's a Force Awakens-specific version. But even then, some people seem more upset that Finn, the film's black male hero, is included in the game instead of Rey. The argument is that Rey draws parallels with the other characters (Luke, Kylo Ren, and Darth Vader).
As I mentioned though, Star Wars Monopoly came out in September, well before the release of The Force Awakens and long before any of us knew (for certain) that Rey ***SPOILERS*** was Force sensitive and would go on to kick Kylo Ren's ass in the snow. Which brings me to Hasbro's official response to the criticism over not included Rey in the game.
"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. Rey is featured in the following Star Wars games: Hands Down, Guess Who and Chess as well as our 6” Black Series figures, 3 3/4” Figures and Vehicles, Black Series Titanium and Micromachines. Additionally, fans will see more Rey product hitting store shelves this month, including 6" and 12" 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 argument to that official statement is that Hasbro still could've included Rey with her bo-staff, which to fans' credit actually makes sense. But even then, given all of the speculation and rumors swirling around the internet before the films' release, I'm sure there would've been a group of fans upset over the potential "spoilers" including Rey would've alluded to. It's easy to forget how hypersensitive the internet was to anything regarding possible spoilers for what was the most anticipated film of the year.
Unfortunately, what people don't realize is that toys are released in waves. With the first few waves, Disney obviously wanted to keep as much about Rey a mystery as possible. Now that the movie is out and Rey has become a star, I'm sure we'll see plenty of merchandise and toys for her character.
