Why the lack of Rey merchandise?

[mshanson3121]

So we were shopping today. We have a 5 year old daughter who is in LOVE with Rey after seeing Star Wars, and I have to say, we've been extremely disappointed in what's available - barely anything in clothes, no bedding, decor, hardly any toys to speak of. Why is this? I mean, it's pretty clear that Disney is excluding quite a market, because I'm sure my daughter isn't the only one in the world, that likes Rey and would love having people buy buy buy Rey merchandise for her.

 

[Eoghann]

Is this still an issue? The excuse prior to movie release was that the true nature of her role needed to be kept secret. There's a similar problem with the female Marvel characters.

If it's not pink and Princess related it's not girl suitable apparently.

 

[mshanson3121]

Is this still an issue? The excuse prior to movie release was that the true nature of her role needed to be kept secret. There's a similar problem with the female Marvel characters.

If it's not pink and Princess related it's not girl suitable apparently.

That's what I figured, basically sexism. But yeah, definitely still an issue. So far we've found 1 Rey action figure (not counting when she's included in say a 6-character pack), 1 Rey t-shirt, 1 Rey costume. That's it.

 

[galaxygirl76]

This reminds me of the merchandise we buy from decopac(cake decorating company for those who do not know). We purchase Avenger cupcake rings from them and there is 6 different ones. Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, and the Avenger logo. It's infuriating that the logo is more important than Black Widow.

 

[GeekByEample]

So we were shopping today. We have a 5 year old daughter who is in LOVE with Rey after seeing Star Wars, and I have to say, we've been extremely disappointed in what's available - barely anything in clothes, no bedding, decor, hardly any toys to speak of. Why is this? I mean, it's pretty clear that Disney is excluding quite a market, because I'm sure my daughter isn't the only one in the world, that likes Rey and would love having people buy buy buy Rey merchandise for her.

It is incredible that corporate Disney can somehow miss this opportunity to sell even more merchandise.

I am in the same boat- was pretty disappointed I couldn't find Rey stuff before Christmas for my daughter, and I am still not seeing much three months later and just short of the BluRay release. Resort fees, tiered pricing, premier parking... but somehow no Rey merch.

 

[leiaorgana]

I read an article last month that was going around from an alleged anonymous “insider” at the original TFA merchandise discussions with Disney that basically said that the companies all went in with lots of ideas for Rey merchandise or stuff that had her front and centre (seeing as, you know, she’s one of main characters of the film) and they said that Disney execs said boys don’t want to play with girls, it’s all about Kylo Ren basically. Now take that with a grain of salt but it sounds about right tbh.

I know off the top of my head she has two funko pops (one with goggles that’s Hot Topic “exclusive” and one without which you can get anywhere), legos, a black series figure, several regular figures including one in her outfit from the end of the film with Luke’s lightsaber and two elite series 6" inch die cast figures (one without the lightsaber that was released before the film and one with the lightsaber after the film) that are Disney Store exclusive. I’ve also seen girls pjs with her on, mugs, bags, mens and womens t shirts with just Rey on here in the UK, she’s in the Disney Infinty game and she’s being added to new Star Wars monopoly rerelease. There's probably more stuff as well but that's all I can think of right now.

Is it enough? Of course not, but hopefully Disney will have realised their mistake and release even more stuff with her on soon like they should have done in the first place.

As for Marvel, I’ve noticed they’re really pushing Natasha merch for Civil War, which is good. I just hope they do the same for Wanda and Sharon too.

 

[mshanson3121]

I read an article last month that was going around from an alleged anonymous “insider” at the original TFA merchandise discussions with Disney that basically said that the companies all went in with lots of ideas for Rey merchandise or stuff that had her front and centre (seeing as, you know, she’s one of main characters of the film) and they said that Disney execs said boys don’t want to play with girls, it’s all about Kylo Ren basically. Now take that with a grain of salt but it sounds about right tbh.

I know off the top of my head she has two funko pops (one with goggles that’s Hot Topic “exclusive” and one without which you can get anywhere), legos, a black series figure, several regular figures including one in her outfit from the end of the film with Luke’s lightsaber and two elite series 6" inch die cast figures (one without the lightsaber that was released before the film and one with the lightsaber after the film) that are Disney Store exclusive. I’ve also seen girls pjs with her on, mugs, bags, mens and womens t shirts with just Rey on here in the UK, she’s in the Disney Infinty game and she’s being added to new Star Wars monopoly rerelease. There's probably more stuff as well but that's all I can think of right now.

Is it enough? Of course not, but hopefully Disney will have realised their mistake and release even more stuff with her on soon like they should have done in the first place.

As for Marvel, I’ve noticed they’re really pushing Natasha merch for Civil War, which is good. I just hope they do the same for Wanda and Sharon too.

For people like us though, that are shopping in stores like Walmart, Toys R Us etc.... none of that exists.

 

[leiaorgana]

Except for the exclusive stuff, places like Walmart, Toys R Us, Target etc will have all that stuff it's just that they probably have limited stock that's immediately bought by collectors. Rey's the one that most collectors are after because of how rare her merch is. They also have the same figures on Amazon but they're much more expensive and I definitely know that all three of those places stock Funko Pops. Now whether they'll have Rey ones in stock is another question.

All the other stuff though I've seen in UK Disney Stores or on the website so I don't know if we have more or different stuff than American ones but I highly doubt that.

There's also a book called Rey's Survival Guide and a junior picture book focusing just on Rey called Star Wars The Force Awakens: Rey's Story and from what I've seen that has absolutely stunning pictures in it. Again both of these are available on Amazon.

I know how frustrating it is not being able to find the stuff you want (there was literally three Padme figures when TPM came out when I was 10 and that was it) but I'm just trying to be helpful and let you know that there is stuff out there for Rey

 

[mshanson3121]

nm

 

[leiaorgana]

I see that you've altered your post but I'd already started to type my reply so I'm going to post it anyway.

I already mentioned a similar article in my original post and yes, at first that was the case because of “spoilers” allegedly but let’s be real, it clearly was because of sexism really. Disney are primarily marketing Star Wars at boys (which sadly has always been the case. As a child I had to buy junior boys t shirts from Endor Vendors because there was nothing for girls at all and quite frankly I was lucky to find one with Leia on and even then she was in her slave outfit) and so that’s why she was originally excluded from the first wave of merchandise because for some messed up reason they think that boys don’t want to play with a female action figure. Nor do they want girls playing with Star Wars toys either, hence another reason for excluding her, they want them buying princess/frozen stuff and that’s just a sad fact. However, more Rey toys are coming out now after all the backlash they've received, just not as fast as they should be.

A simple ebay search can prove to you that it is collectors/people looking to make money buying up her stuff. I know people in America from various Star Wars forums that repeatedly call up those places to find out when the next shipment is coming so that they can be there as soon as it comes in to either buy it for their collection or to bulk buy what little stuff is there to put on ebay to try and make money. I’ve actually seen people open up the boxes that the figures are packed in at the store and take out what they want because the staff were putting them out “too slowly” when I was over there just before Christmas.

Anyway, I was just trying to help you by pointing you in the direction of some of the Rey merch that I know is already available but clearly I’m wasting my breath. The merchandise is out there, you just have to know where to look for it and decide how much you’re willing to pay for it.

In fact, here’s a link to an article about the next wave of Rey merch.