In an effort to keep Rey's identity as the new Star Wars trilogy's protagonist a secret, Hasbro's licensed Monopoly tie-in with The Force Awakens included Finn and Kylo Ren as the playable figurines from the new film, plus original leads Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader to round out the selection. Once Episode VII debuted, Rey's exclusion from the set perturbed many Star Wars fans, exacerbated by the fact that the game's four playable characters didn't contain a single female. Public outcry even culminated in a running social media hashtag #WheresRey, forcing Hasbro to release a statement that Daisy Ridley's Jedi would be added to the game at some point in 2016.
The issue appeared to have been settled, but 19 months later, fans are still finding the lack of Rey frustrating. Following an interview with Monopoly's overseers, the reasoning behind her absence has now been revealed.
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"In early 2016, Hasbro updated the 2015 Star Wars: Monopoly game to add a Rey token," Hasbro spokeswoman Julie Duffy said in an interview with the Associated Press. "This product was sold to retailers in several markets around the world but is not available for sale in the U.S. due to insufficient interest." Duffy later added that Hasbro had reached out to U.S. retailers offering them updated sets, however, the "retailers had ample inventory so they did not choose to sell the new version."
In order to obtain one of the Rey figures, people who had purchased the game can elect to call in to Hasbro's customer service line to request one, with presently only 99 such requests for the Rey token noted in the U.S. and 10 in Canada. Duffy also pointed out that sets including the Rey piece were made openly available in five markets (including the United Kingdom and France) but when the AP caught up with one family that recently bought the game in the U.K., no Rey was included.
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Carrie Goldman, the mother of Annie Rose Goldman (whose open letter to Hasbro initially got the ball rolling for the #WheresRey campaign), stated that while she was happy that her daughter will be receiving the figure courtesy of Hasbro, the company's solution was misleading.
"I would still like to see it where any girl or boy or person who goes to buy the game, Rey is in there," Goldman said.
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Daisy Ridley's Rey can be spotted for sure when Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters December 15, 2017.