LEGO Originals Iconic WOOD Minifigure – Set 853967
LEGO Iconic Wooden Minifigure Model for creative customization! Ignites nostalgia and celebrates the brand’s heritage: the new LEGO Originals series launches with a 5: 1 scale wooden “Minifigure“. The LEGO group and the design specialists Room in Copenhagen are introducing a new range of products dedicated to fans who have a little bit of LEGO nostalgia and love playful interior design. Created in 1932 by master carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the first LEGO toys were handcrafted from wood.
His craftsmanship and attention to detail has ensured a high level of quality for the products, but when wood supplies are scarce following the Second World War, Ole has started supplementing his production with plastic toys and the rest is History of LEGO. Speaking in 1950, Ole Kirk Kristiansen said: “I have always been committed to making the most beautiful and sturdy items, and just like other carpenters I believe that the best kind of advertising is when the product promotes itself”.
“Our aim is to produce really good, solid and finely crafted work, and to ensure that LEGO products are always known for their exceptional quality“. Respecting the heritage of manufacturers of high-quality handmade wooden toys, this premium model was handcrafted from FSC-certified oak, with adjustable yellow plastic hands just like today’s LEGO Minifigures. Model measures over 7” (20 cm) high, 4” (11 cm) wide and 3” (9 cm) deep. The last LEGO product to combine wood and plastic was the Bedford Fire Truck set 1130, 60 years ago in 1959.
This 5:1 scale version of the classic LEGO minifigure is presented in a premium gift box with a 28-page booklet featuring the history of the minifigures and the story behind the development of this wooden model. Also included are inspiring examples of how LEGO designers have customized their models, as well as inspiration for accessories that fans can build using the included LEGO Bricks.
Since his arrival in 1978, over 8,000different minifigures have been launched, not to mention the many versions the kids have created for themselves. This new edition is no exception. Owners are encouraged to unleash their creativity to decorate and personalize the minifigure in unique ways, proudly display it at home or in the office and share their creations via social media using the hashtag #LEGOOriginals.
“It has been a privilege for us to expand our collaboration with The LEGO Group and contribute to the world premiere of a new series of design classics”, explains Jacob Eberhard, CEO of Room Copenhagen. “Going back to the company’s origins and helping bring back some of the original LEGO toys in creative new ways is an exciting journey to be a part of”.
LEGO also provided the following answers to common questions:
Does it have moving parts?
The only moving parts of the LEGO Originals Wooden Minifigure are the hands. This was a conscious decision made by the product designer after exploring many iterations of the concept. The high tolerances they are able to achieve when making LEGO System mMinifigures are not possible when working with wood, so to avoid deterioration of the wooden minifigure’s joint over time and to ensure that the product adheres to their strict lines toy safety guide, limbs and head were kept static. It was also important to the LEGO Group that the plastic hands work with the LEGO System in play and thus allow for fun building the new accessories shown in the flyer.
Why are there no holes under his feet?
The LEGO Originals Wooden Minifigure was designed as a decorative model for which they had to leave holes out to ensure a stable base.
Why are his hands made of plastic?
Product quality and safety are of the utmost concern to the LEGO Group, and just like with any other LEGO product, it is absolutely critical that the LEGO Originals Wooden Minifigure meets the stringent safety requirements of the toys they operate with. Due to the subtle and therefore weaker points on the hands of the minifigures, only the plastic material used for the hands of the classic minifigures also ensures that children can play safely with this model. Wooden hands would simply break too easily and splinters could fall out, which LEGO does not allow as part of their safety rating. The union of wood and plastic is also seen as a celebration of their heritage, in fact 60 years have passed since the last launch of a product with both of these materials: this was the Bedford Fire Truck set 1130.
Automotive Technology Evolution of LEGO (1977-2022)
There has recently been a lot of discussion comparing today’s complex LEGO Technic sets to the skeletal and simpler ones they used to be. The first of the so-called Supercars was launched in 1977 and since then every car in the series has brought something new. In 1994 LEGO included most of the reasonably possible automotive technology. Note that all 5 basic components of the car are already present from the second set in the list below. (Engine, Steering Wheel, Suspension, Differential and Gearbox).
LEGO Car Chassis set 853 (1977)
LEGO Car Frame set 8860 (1980)
LEGO Technic Test Car set 8865 (1988)
LEGO Technic Super Auto set 8880 (1994)
LEGO Technic Auto Super Street Sensation set 8448 (1999)
The last two sets are considered by many to be the pinnacle of the Supercar line of those years. From a technical point of view, the 1994 LEGO Technic Super Auto set 8880 model is the clear winner thanks to the presence of all-wheel drive. However, if we want to use LEGOs to explain car technology, the LEGO Technic Super Auto set 8880 model is an excess, while the 1999 LEGO Technic Auto Super Street Sensation set 8448 model offers the same components but in a much more transparent way. In addition, the gearbox also features reverse. True, it doesn’t have steering, but that’s not a big deal. Add in a much improved aesthetic and it will come as no surprise that for many the LEGO Technic Auto Super Street Sensation set 8448 is the Queen.
What is actually a Supercar? These sets share the same three traits:
Each set introduces something new;
Each set is at the forefront of LEGO engineering;
Each set showcases the key components of automotive technology.
Basically LEGO has been at the forefront of showing (us) children how cars work for about 20 years.
LEGO Tractor set 8859 (1981)
LEGO Technic Rally Support Truck set 8850 (1990)
LEGO Technic Truck with Claw and Air System set 8868 (1992)
LEGO Technic F1 Race Car Silver Champion set 8458-1 (1994/2000)
LEGO Technic F1 Race Car set 8440 (1995)
LEGO Technic Dune Buggy Desert Ranger set 8408 (1996)
LEGO Technic Future Car set 8437 (1997)
LEGO Technic 4×4 Off-Road Vehicle set 8466 (2001)
So back in 1999, the LEGO Technic Super Auto set 8880 set filled and emptied store shelves in an instant and the LEGO automotive line stands at a crossroads. LEGO tries 2 big shots. Releases a Formula 1 car that has reduced the technological components of cars and recycles the Super Street Sensation set 8448 set into a more captivating package. The LEGO Technic F1 Silver Champion Race Car set 8458 is the first of many “Formula 1” style cars.
The F1 car looked like a success, so in the following years we had many more that were, at least from a chassis point of view, pretty much the same. The 4×4 Off-road vehicle was a different story, and unfortunately many fans were not proud of it, some because of the aesthetics but many because of the inferior functionality compared to previous car models. However, the 2001 LEGO Technic Off-Road 4×4 set 8466 set proves to be the latest LEGO Technic set including the entire quintet of components. (Engine, Steering Wheel, Suspension, Differential and Gearbox).
By this point, most likely, even the LEGO designers and executives have wondered how to evolve their line of Supercars, and they could have recycled the chassis of the 1994 LEGO Technic Super Auto set 8880, but that’s not how LEGO works. From here they were able to shift their point of view and their goals regarding the automotive sector.
The new LEGO Supercar line will therefore follow these simple two guidelines:
Each set will be at the forefront of LEGO engineering;
Each set will have the WOW factor.
One of the consequences of this decision was the division of fans, who don’t always agree on which sets released since 1999 actually belong to the Supercar range. Below are the sets that appear to be considered supercars, as well as a few other sets that feature a significant number of car tech components. There are some with the “basic triad” (Steering Wheel, Engine, Differential). Current high-end cars such as Porsche, Bugatti and Land Rover were excluded. They feature “the entire quintet” (Engine, Steering Wheel, Suspension, Differential and Gearbox), but all of their technology is carefully hidden from view, and above all their transmission systems are too complicated to serve any educational purpose.
LEGO Technic F1 Williams Team Racing set 8461 (2002)
LEGO Technic Fire Rescue Truck set 8454 (2003)
LEGO Technic Ferrari F1 1:10 scale set 8386 (2004)
LEGO Technic Ferrari Enzo Ferrari 1:10 scale set 8653 (2005)
LEGO Technic Ferrari F1 1: 8 scale set 8674 (2006)
LEGO Technic Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano scale 1:10 set 8145 (2007)
LEGO Technic Electric Super Car set 8070 (2011)
LEGO Technic F1 Grand Prix set 42000 (2013)
LEGO Technic Race Car 24 Hours Le Mans set 42039 (2015)
LEGO Technic Dune Buggy Off-Road Vehicle set 42037 (2015)
LEGO Technic Go Kart Race set 42048 (2016)
LEGO Technic First Aid Fire Brigade Car set 42075 (2018)
LEGO Technic Rally Car set 42077 (2018)
LEGO Technic Porsche 911 RSR set 42096 (2019)
LEGO Technic Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 set 42115 (2020)
What do the images above tell us? That since 2001there hasn’t been a single set that could be used to showcase all the important components of the car, LEGO during this time significantly improved all the crucial parts (clutch gears and guide rings) and also introduced more robust versions of some 8 and 16tooth gears. The reasons why LEGO took a different path in 2001, however, also leave another hypothesis open…
LEGO could simply offer a simpler car that showcases the technology but it would not be considered part of the Premium line. The feeling is that LEGO reacts to the general trend observable in the younger generations who, on average, are less interested in the physical, mechanical world, preferring the virtual world of computers and virtual reality. In fact LEGO now serves these guys well with the Mindstorms line. It would be great if LEGO tried to rekindle interest in mechanical engineering in cars…
…or maybe it has already done so!?
LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron 1:1 Life Size Working
LEGO Technic Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 1:1 Life Size Working
LEGO Braille – Braille Bricks for Blind and Visually Impaired Children!
What is Braille?
Brailleis a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by blind or visually impaired people. Teachers, parents and others who are not visually impaired usually read Braille with their eyes. Braille is not a language. Rather, it is a code whereby many languages, such as English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and dozens of others, can be written and read. Braille is used by thousands of people around the world in their native languages and provides a means of literacy for all. The specific code used in the United States was American Edition English Braille, but since 2016 the primary code for reading the material is Unified English Braille, a code used in seven other English-speaking countries.
What Does Braille Look Like?
Braille symbols are formed within units of space known as Braille Cells. A complete Braille cell is made up of 6 raised dots arranged in 2 parallel rows, each with 3 dots. The positions of the points are identified by numbers from 1 to 6. 64 combinations are possible using one or more of these 6 points. A single cell can be used to represent a letter of the alphabet, a number, a punctuation mark or even an entire word.
How was Braille invented?
Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France on January 4, 1809. He attended the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, France as a student. At the time, books were created using embossing which was laborious to produce, difficult to read and difficult for individuals to write. While attending college, Louis wished he had more books to read. He experimented with ways to create an alphabet that was easy to read with the fingertips. The writing system he invented at the age of 15 evolved from the tactile code “Ecriture Nocturne” (Night Writing), invented by Charles Barbier for sending military messages that could be read on the battlefield at night, without light. All information on the Braille Code can be found in the Online Louis Braille Museum.
LEGO BRAILLE
John Goodwin, CEO of the LEGO Foundation, says: “Blind and visually impaired children have dreams and aspirations for their future just like sighted children, they have the same desire and need to explore the world and socialize through play, but they often face involuntary isolation as a consequence of exclusion from activities“. LEGO Braille is developed by the LEGO Foundation, the LEGO Group and partners from the blind community. Fully compatible with existing LEGO toys, LEGO Braille Bricksare a fun and playful way to learn Braille.
LEGO Braille is a playful tool for teaching Braille to blind and visually impaired children. The toolkit includes adjusted LEGO bricks that match Braille. Each colored brick has a printed letter or symbol that allows the visually impaired and the blind to interact and play in equal conditions. A pedagogical concept that is based on learning through the principles of play and which guarantees an optimal teaching and learning experience. The aim is to inspire blind and visually impaired children to learn Braille and as such support them in achieving their goals and dreams in life.
LEGO Braille is a Passage Door divided into 4 points:
Learning through play: A principle that allows children to become creative, committed and lifelong students. By unleashing the power of play, children can develop the wide range of skills they need to thrive and succeed in the 21st century.
Life skills: Learning Braille is said to be crucial for blind and visually impaired children as it allows them to develop a variety of essential life skills, granting them intellectual freedom, independence and equal access to education, learning and work.
Inclusive learning: The concept presents the innovative and inclusive opportunity to teach blind and visually impaired children side by side, offering them a fun and playful way to engage, interact and learn together.
Enjoyment and fulfillment: Bring joy to learning and social interaction through playful games and innovative teaching methods that pave the way for greater security, creativity, problem solving and communication necessary to support life goals.
The LEGO Braille Story of Aya, Francis and her Blind class!
In a London classroom at the Leonie Masterson Institute, students learn to read by touch. All students are blind or visually impaired, and that day (2019 – LEGO Braille Test) 17-year-old Aya and 18-year-old Francis are helping their classmates learn Braille.
“When I was young, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to write or read,” says Francis.
Braille is not as easy as ABC, it takes time and a dedicated teacher who knows. And this is not common. So, LEGO has taken a giant step with the new Braille Bricks. The studs on these LEGO bricks have been specially rearranged to represent letters, numbers and symbols, the bricks of language.
“It’s a good way to bring blind and visually impaired people together, playing with LEGO,” says Aya.
LEGO hopes the new Braille bricks will bridge the gap so that anyone can use them immediately.
“You are making learning fun,” says Ian Lee.
“I love Braille and I love finding ways to teach it,” says Masterson.
And they’re having so much fun in class as kids that it can lead to success as adults, Blindness Charities say.
“There is a direct link between Braille literacy and the probability of getting a job; It’s that simple. If you are literate, if you can read and write, you are more likely to get a job,” said Steve Tyler, Director of Assistive Technology at the Leonard Cheshire Disability Center in the UK.
The National Federation for the Blind says there is a crisis in America when it comes to Braille literacy. More than a million people in the United States are legally blind, but less than 10% can read Braille. Unemployment among the blind is over 70% and nearly 90%of blind American children are not learning Braille.
Scary numbers for LEGO, which has decided to help build a new generation of blind readers. “It was an opportunity for us at LEGO to bring learning through play to children, including children with visual impairments,” said Diana Ringe Krogh, Head of Defense at the LEGO Foundation. “We strongly believe in the power of the game. We believe that children learn best through play”.
The LEGO initiative offers these students not only the ability to construct sentences, but to shape their future. LEGO Braille comes shortly after the publication of a study showing that blind people’s brains are rewired to allow them to track moving objects through sound.
Nathan Sawaya’s LEGO Sculptures – I See the World in Bricks
Nathan Sawaya is the first contemporary artist to bring LEGO, the world’s most popular toy, into the world of art as a means of expression. His works, made obsessively and meticulously, fascinate viewers for their beauty and playfulness. His ability to transform LEGO bricks into interesting figures, his devotion to scale, the perfection of color and the conceptualization of the action of matter allow him to elevate a basic toy to the status of art. Since his first solo exhibition, Sawaya’s works have attracted the attention of art critics and pop culture novices. His works have been exhibited in important art institutes around the world and hosted in the collections of important private and public collectors.
His unique sculptures and the famous traveling exhibit, “THE ART OF THE BRICK“, continue to inspire creativity and break global attendance records. Nathan Sawaya has received numerous awards and honors, recognizing his works of art and his cultural achievements. In 2014, with the belief that “Art is not optional“, Sawaya founded the “Art Revolution Foundation“, with the aim of making art a priority in our schools and homes. He has been a speaker at Google Zeitgeist, TEDx, Yahoo! and the Clinton Library. Sawaya attended New York University and worked as a corporate attorney in New York City before pursuing his dream of being an artist and working exclusively with LEGO.
Sawaya lives and works between her two studios in New York City and Los Angeles. Nathan Sawaya has conquered a prominent position in the world of contemporary art and created a new dimension by blending Pop Art and Surrealism in impressive and revolutionary ways. His art consists of playing with material, color, movement, light and perspective. Nathan Sawaya was born in Colville, Washington and grew up in Veneta, Oregon. He attended New York University. Since his first solo exhibition, Sawaya’s works of art have attracted the attention of art critics and pop culture enthusiasts.
Nathan stunned his colleagues when he quit his lawyer job to play LEGO full-time. Now everyone from Lady Gaga to Barack Obama is a fan of him. Nathan Sawaya describes his favorite LEGO brick, with bright eyes and a smile at the thought. But he is not a child who proudly displays a beloved toy. He is a 43-year-old former corporate attorney and is over 6 feet tall. The brick he is evangelizing on is a small 1 × 2 socket plate with a pin in the center of its top. He calls it a “Jumper“. “Do you know LEGO jargon?” He asks, looking like he is in a breakdown when I shake my head.
“He has only one pivot instead of two and allows you to do even more details. But in general, I focus on rectangular pieces“. Sawaya is 1 of 40 (2020) LEGO Master Model Builders in the World, having quit his job at a New York law firm when he was 32 to pursue full-time LEGO construction. His most striking works include a bust of a man tearing his chest with overturning bricks, called Yellow, a life-size T-Rex skeleton, a 2-meter-long model of the Brooklyn Bridge, and various replicas of famous paintings, including which the Mona Lisa, and Edvard Munch’s Scream.
His latest builds consist of a series of DC Comics superheroes, including expressionless Supermen flying, realistically ruffling capes, and a life-sized Batmobile with shimmering batwings. Aside from his boyish enthusiasm, Sawaya himself resembles a comic book villain, a massive figure dressed in black from top to toe, with a long black overcoat, piercing eyes, and thick dark hair. At the age of thirty, when he was a lawyer, he returned home after a hard day’s work and did something creative: drawing, painting, sculpting with clay and thread. He soon began experimenting with LEGO, building models from sets he had around the house.
His son, now 17, has never been particularly interested in playing it alone. “Eventually I made the choice to leave the law firm behind and become a full-time artist who plays with toys”, he says beaming. His family was supportive, his colleagues jealous and his bosses confused, but it wasn’t long before Sawaya found success as a LEGO Artist. He has held exhibitions of his work on every continent except Antarctica and has won over some high profile fans. When he was president of the United States, Barack Obama posed for one of his installations of him, life-size monochrome men sitting on benches in Washington, and Bill Clinton has a sculpture in his office, as does Lady Gaga in a music video.
“This is the magic of LEGO“, he says of its popularity. “In a sense it has become a universal language“. Sawaya’s Master Builder status means that he can buy all of his bricks directly from LEGO in bulk, which is impossible for us LEGO civilians. At first he bought sets in toy stores and on eBay, now he can send e-mails asking for 500,000 red 2 × 4 bricks, let’s say, and LEGOships them to him on wooden pallets. He has 6 million bricks on hand in his Los Angeles studio. “Millions of all colors, shapes and sizes“, he says. “And they are all organized by shape and color“. He works for hours at a time in his study, with his dogs obediently at his feet, in what he describes as a “trance“.
He creates designs on special “brick paper” such as graph paper, but sometimes builds freely from his imagination. “I often see the world in rectangles“, he says, and sometimes he even dreams in bricks. Just like kids do with LEGO sets, he just pops the bricks together, even as he dabs glue between the bricks, which triples the time it takes. He describes it as “therapeutic“, but he says that making a mistake can be “heartbreaking“, he can lose days and weeks of work at a time. “Sometimes I can start questioning my choices in life”, he smiles. Sawaya faced the snobbishness of the art world when he started approaching galleries as a LEGO artist. “Oh, are they cars, trucks and little castles?”, was the answer.
He feels that it is now a more accepted medium. “It makes art accessible“, he says. And in doing so, he democratizes the world of art a little. It allows people to relate to art. Everyone popped a couple of bricks together at one point, every kid played a little bit with LEGO. “As an artist, my role is to inspire. And what better way to do it than through a medium that everyone knows? If someone sees a marble statue, he can appreciate it, but very few people have marble at home, and it can crumble”. The first LEGO creation Sawaya remembers making was a playhouse when he was first given the toy at the age of 5. He then created a city that has grown to 10square meters.
When he was 10, he was desperate for a dog. His parents refused, so he destroyed all of his buildings and made his own life-sized dog out of LEGO. “Of course it was very colorful and very nice”, he says. “But that was when I realized I didn’t have to build what I saw in the front of the box. It can be what I want“.
Solid Brix, a.k.a. David Hall, recently posted this video to his YouTube channel. The video features a time-lapse look at Hall as he assembles the monster LEGO diorama, which aims to capture the essence of Daro from Star Wars: The Bad Batch. A 100,000 piece LEGO Star Wars diorama build in only 30 days. Although the 6-minute time-lapse feels brief, it’s easy to imagine how difficult the task was for Hall. The massive diorama measures 6 feet / 1,8 meters in length and looks like it’s almost nearly as wide. It’s hard to know where to begin in describing Hall’s Bad Batch MOC as every facet of it is essentially impeccable. Dozens of trees with bark, roots, branches, and leaves abound, and the greebling on the rock faces is simply chef’s kiss. Really though, imagine the sense of satisfaction one gets from making such “realistic” geological features. Along with the natural features, Hall’s MOC also has a hidden, underground Stormtrooper lair. And not only does it contrast with the nature scene above it in a perfectly Star Wars kind of way, but it also lights up in the dark. Along with the ships that hang above the huge diorama.
Darowas a forested rocky planet situated in the Outer Rim Territories. Though data claimed that the planet contained no settlements or installations, the Galactic Empire maintained a secret military base within a mountain on Daro in the time shortly after the regime’s formation, where troopers were recruited as part of Project War-Mantle. One of the clone trooper instructors, Gregor, attempted to desert from the facility on Daro and was captured, but not before sending a distress signal to fellow clone deserter Rex, who dispatched the unit of former clone commandos known as the Bad Batch to rescue him. The Bad Batch managed to break Gregor out of imprisonment, but the leader of the unit, Hunter, failed to escape the base and was taken prisoner. Darowas a terrestrial planet in the Outer Rim Territories. It had a forested landscape dotted with roughly cylindrical mountains of varying size.
Its atmosphere was breathable to humans, and fauna included carrier butterflies. Daro’s plant life included trees, as well as grass and ferns. Although Darowas officially uninhabited, the Galactic Empire had a secret training facility located inside one of the planet’s mountains shortly after its formation. The base was highly defensible and difficult to escape, with only 2 ways in or out, only one of which was accessible on foot. The Imperial Base on Daro was a secret Galactic Empire training building hidden inside of a mountain, the base was situated around a large central ring, with turbolifts that connected to each level. It had several hangars, and its muster report included 50 Clone Imperial Commandos and 1,000 TK Troopers. Shortly after the Empire’s formation, the rogue clone commandos known as the Bad Batch entered the base to rescue Gregor, a commando who had attempted to desert from the facility.
Star Wars: The Bad Batchis an American animated series created by Dave Filoni for the streaming service Disney+. It is part of the Star Wars franchise, acting as both a sequel to, and spin-off from, the series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Clone Force 99, also known as the Bad Batch, a group of elite clone troopers with genetic mutations that were first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, take on daring mercenary missions in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. The first season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiered on May 4, 2021, and ran for 16 episodes until August 13. A second season is set to premiere in 2022.
LEGO Walls – Dante Dentoni’s LEGO Walls – LEGO Art
There are few universal truths. One of them is that everyone loves LEGO constructions. There is something about the colored bricks that makes adults become children again. It rekindles the imagination and knows no language barriers. A video of intricate LEGO installations in a Miami club owner’s home went viral. The work features a stripper dancing on a pole, a series of bathroom booths and a unique version of the cover of a N.W.A.
Dante Dentoni‘s pop-art works also draw inspiration from cultural artifacts from the past. His Instagram bio of him offers a little insight into his work, “I create art in difficult places“, he says, which is exactly what he does. The pieces are often housed in broken walls and fill in cracks as if the house itself is decaying and revealing its foundation of colorful LEGO bricks. Seeing his installations emerge from the walls is like being brought back to our childhood by a time machine.
The small narrative plots are like a vision of past, future and parallel lives to ours. LEGO minifigures seem to exist in their ideal world with their own dynamics, following their daily lives behind the facades we have built. We imagine rats, mice and spiders, but when we see them in the form of LEGO minifigures, our existence seems to become much safer. Our childhood moves with us. Something that resonates in all of his creations of him is the positivity that Dante expresses in what he does.
It is fun, uplifting and transformative, both for the artist and for us viewers. Dentoni clearly loves what he does and this echoes in his installations himself which at the same time draw a substantial part of our fascination to them. By making themselves observed, they offer us a strange and incredible sensation of beauty and elegance. A former carpenter applied his skills to his new medium of expression (LEGO), giving him the upper hand in perspectives and thus enabling him to beautify homes with his work.
Being a bit classically trained in working with his own hands, he employs the discipline of a construction worker and an incredible attention to the details of his artistic tendencies. To allow his ideas to manifest themselves, he must have an understanding of the structural nuances of the buildings he works on. It is a relatively complex process that requires exact measurements and the ability to work within the physical boundaries set by each specific wall.
Dante has thus allowed his whole life to sharpen up to a certain point, the point is exactly that (2019). His childhood in Argentina drastically shaped what he did later in life. That LEGO excitement clearly never went away. It’s something so profound in his life that he took it upon himself to share it with others. As his pieces become more and more ambitious, he pushes himself and his clients to try more new things.
Part of the power of his works lies in the fact that the pieces are collaborative with each other and also that, as anyone who has ever played with LEGO will know, there is no limit to what we can do, as long as there are enough bricks to do it. New challenges arise from new opportunities. The artist has a constantly evolving and so unique style, giving us excellent clues as to where he is going: we are invited together on his journey. For now, I can’t wait to see what will come after Dante Dentoni.
There is something extravagant about these bricks, their colors and the way they can make almost anything happen!
How LEGO Improves Concentration for Children with ADHD?
ADHD, hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit, is an evolutionary neurobiological disorder that involves the mechanisms of regulation of motor activity and attention control and causes an inadequate response to environmental stimuli. The Symptoms of ADHD are inattention, impulsive behaviors and motor hyperactivity.
Anonymous Tale: How do small plastic bricks help the brain to focus?!
“At school I struggled, a lot. Until I found a way to blend my education with the same visualization, planning and scaling techniques that I had successfully and enthusiastically applied in my LEGO creations. Today, in my personal life and professional, I continue to use this formula for better focus and problem solving. ADHD can grind you. I grew frustrated with the challenges I faced in class, especially in middle school.”
“Despite the efforts of many well-meaning teachers, I learned to do it largely on my own using an unconventional tool: a plastic LEGO brick. I remember English teachers explaining how to write a pattern, but I never understood it. . The math class was even worse; keeping track of multiple variables at once was a nightmare for me. The story, however, was a different and better experience because it gave me the opportunity to use my imagination.”
How I took refuge in LEGOs:
“After school, I liked to decompress by building LEGO models of the things we talked about in history class: a medieval castle, a WWII fighter plane, a space shuttle. Most LEGO sets include instructions that clearly explain how to complete each project. These clear steps helped me focus and seeing the project take shape kept me busy. During the hours of building LEGO, I never got distracted and frustrated, as I always felt in the classroom.”
“Building a LEGO project showed me that I could be successful by following manageable steps, one step at a time. Completing each project made me feel proud of myself. Then comes Star Wars and changes the way I can use LEGO. The excitement on the screen inspired me to replicate scenes from the film. With my huge collection of colorful plastic bricks, I built the X-Wing Fighter, Luke’s ship from the movie and other interstellar spaceships. I had so much fun looking for parts and building my own version of each ship that I stayed focused until I finished what I thought was a pretty similar replica. And I did it all by myself, without the instructions.”
“Even though I wasn’t aware of it at the time, that exercise taught me how to visualize a goal and think through the steps required to complete it. As the ship began to take shape, I remained busy, imagining the fun I would feel once I pretend to fly it down the Death Star trench. Turning that messy pile of plastic into a creation I was proud of was a truly thrilling experience.”
Learning Life Skills Through Play:
“Over time, I have learned that walking aimlessly in an activity, without first visualizing the goal, well, it never ends well. I could make some progress, but the moment I start thinking about the next steps I get distracted and everything falls apart. For example, once shopping was a difficult task because I entered the shop without a “plan“. If the refrigerator was empty they would send me to do the shopping, but I arrived at the store without planning what I would eat, without a list of ingredients. Wandering around the shop was frustrating. I would make selections impulsively and leave the shop 20 minutes later, overwhelmed and forgetting the ingredients I was supposed to buy. Then the Idea came on. What if I appliedmy LEGO-inspiredvisualization skills to routine real-world activities? Maybe visualizing a goal, breaking it down into small steps, and focusing on completing one step at a time would work in other areas of my life?”
LEGO lessons I’ve held for a lifetime:
“At home, I applied the LEGO strategy to the kitchen. Making pasta for dinner just got easier when I visualized the meal, broken down the ingredients, and made it all into manageable little chunks. I found a box of rigatoni, located the salt and took a pot. Then, I filled the pot with water and added some salt. Then I brought the water to a boil, added the pasta, set the timer… You understand. Now I work in retail, where I often deal with building displays that draw attention to various products. By viewing the display first, I can more easily break down the steps to get there. And instead of tackling it all at once and being overwhelmed, I focus on building the bases first, and slowly progress from there… Just like I did with the LEGO X-Wing. Only that this time, instead of using plastic bricks, I’m working with wooden shelves and boxes.”
There are many tools to help people live better with ADHD, but this boy has had excellent results using a fun toy that wasn’t even designed for this particular purpose. But as any 9 year old will tell you about LEGOs, it’s still a Great Game!
Do you want to know how many bricks are produced every minute? How many bricks have been produced since LEGO has existed? What is the best-selling set ever? What was the worst? Do they recycle? How did they survive the crisis that almost knocked them down? How successful is LEGO Mindstorms? What are the actual names of each of the pieces? Why are there no blondes in LEGO sets? Why are there sometimes extra pieces? Here is the ultimate mega-reference, straight from LEGO. The questions are divided into groups: curiosities, the company, the environment, design and planning, some strange facts and the future.
CURIOSITIES
Why is there a hole in the minifigure heads now?
This hole has been added in the upper part of the head in case some child has a head stuck in the throat. In this way he would be able to continue breathing until the piece is extracted.
Why are there pieces left when the set is finished? Do they do it just to play with the kids?
For two reasons: first, because some pieces are so small that they weigh too little to be measured by their scale, during packaging. Second, because it is better to have too many of those pieces rather than missing a few. By statistically knowing which pieces could be lost, they include some extras.
Why are there no blonde minifigures in regular LEGO sets?
Because they look bad with yellow heads. There are blondes, however, in the licensed lines, such as Star Wars or Harry Potter.
Why are LEGO figures never sold separately from sets?
The minifigures can be purchased separately on a limited basis. Some of the LEGO stores sell the minifigures separately. You can also purchase minifigure pieces via LEGO.com in the Pick-a-Brick wall. Additionally, there is a set called Community Workers that features nothing but classic minifigures. However, look at the shelves next year, we will never know what we might find!
What are the different pieces called internally? Any other names besides bricks, like “house” for flat pieces or something like that?
They refer to the standard pieces like bricks, bricks. The flat pieces are either flat (these have studs and are 1/3 the height of a LEGO brick) or tiles (these are flat pieces without studs). Everything is indicated by its number of prisoners, so a classic LEGO brick is referred to as 2 × 4. Check and you will see that there are 1 × 2 and 2 × 3 and 1 × 8 and so on…
Why did they change the color palette?
The color palette changes as the Themes change. However, the basic colors of the brick, red, yellow, blue, green, white and black, will always remain as basic points in the assortment.
Why don’t DUPLO blocks integrate with QUATRO blocks like regular LEGO bricks integrate with DUPLOs?
DUPLO bricks are compatible with QUATRO bricks, just as LEGO bricks are compatible with DUPLO bricks. LEGO provides the collector with the only compatible construction system since his birth!
The definitive plural answer for LEGO bricks is simply LEGO or, as some insist, is LEGOs?
“LEGO” is an adjective and is not meant to be a standalone noun. They should always be LEGO bricks, LEGO building, LEGO products, etc.
Why are there no black minifigures?
When the minifigure was first introduced 30 years ago, it was given the iconic yellow skin tone to reflect the unspecific and transcendental quality of a child’s imagination. In 2002, as more licensed properties were added to the assortment, the decision was made to introduce ethnic and skin tones more in line with the real characters and personalities being replicated. This included the introduction of black minifigures. However, these ethnic minifigures are only used in our licensed sets, all LEGO games continue to use the generic yellow face.
COMPANY
How many LEGO bricks are produced each year?
About 19 billion LEGO elements are produced per year. 2.16 million are printed every hour, 36,000 every minute.
Approximately how many bricks have they ever made since LEGO started making them?
More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1958. There are approximately 62 LEGO bricks per person of the earth’s population. (as of 2019)
How many LEGO sets do they produce each year?
The number of sets varies according to the period of the year and the characteristics of the year itself. In the United States, they launch an average of 130 new sets per year. About 7 LEGO sets are sold every second around the world.
How much money do they make per piece?
Because they have so many specialized pieces, the average cost per piece is hard to name. For example, a 2 × 4 LEGO brick does not require the complexity to be produced as a LEGO minifigure or LEGO fence pieces. The molds they use to create LEGO elements are very expensive to design and manufacture.
So can we buy ANY LEGO elements on shop.LEGO.com? (and maybe get suggestions for recommended replacements if there are no more available?) Why don’t they have all the parts available for single or bulk ordering on their website?
They always work to improve the assortment of parts available through the Pick a Brick service. They currently have over 900 items available. Unlike the traditional toy retail trade, it is more difficult for them to imagine what individual pieces or items will be in demand over a given period of time. For example, they know that children like LEGO on wheels. So if a new set has wheels, they historically look at other sets that have had wheels to predict demand. But for individual brick requests, they have no way of knowing when someone will decide to build a six-foot orange monster, thus requiring a huge amount of orange bricks. As a result, they currently limit the number of bricks available so that we can maintain a healthy inventory and prevent our frustration, but also test to see what people want most on a piece basis.
Why are LEGOs so expensive?
Quality and safety are the main concerns for the LEGO Group. To ensure the best and safest products, LEGO bricks are made of the highest quality materials, which takes cost into account. The use of high quality materials ensures that the product is not only safe, but that it is durable enough to be passed down from generation to generation. Their tests show that no bricks have ever decomposed or released chemicals.
Because they break streaks faster now than in the past. Once you could count on a series for several years, now for just 12 months and then “they are no longer produced”. Is this marketing? Logistics? Or are the trends really changing so fast in the market?
The toy industry has become a frenetic and competitive world, almost imitating the fashion industry as things come and go quickly. The life of a typical LEGO play subject line can range from one to three years. However, there are some themes, like Space and Castle, that consider evergreen themes, and those are rotated in and out over the course of a few years. When a theme is a classic, they often keep the theme, but rotate the new models over a shorter period of time to maintain the novelty and interest of the market.
Will LEGO sell bulk bricks again?
The LEGO Group has never stopped selling loose bricks. Creative Building buckets and tubs are available at all major specialty retailers. New brick boxes are also available. Also, if you are in the area of ??a LEGO store, you can stop by a Pick-a-Brick wall or visit the Pick-a-Brick section of LEGO.com.
Did Mindstorm’s investment pay off?
The Mindstorms product line has been a very successful undertaking for the company. Mindstorms RIS 2.0 is the best-selling product in the company’s history and over 1 million RCX bricks have been sold. Mindstorms NXT, the next generation of the original robotic toolset, was also very successful.
Which country buys the most LEGO sets per person?
Germany is the first LEGO market, in fact LEGO is the first toy company in Germany. The best-selling lines in Germany are LEGO TECHNIC and LEGO CITY. The United States is the second largest market, with the best-selling BIONICLE and LEGO Star Wars lines.
How did they relaunch the company when it was almost bankrupt?
As a company they say, they have been very lucky to survive their crisis. They’ve had very tough years, but it was the LEGO fans themselves who put them back on track. They were trying to do too many things and deviated from what they did best: the classic brick. To regain their position, they went back to basics and focused on brick and on those fundamental themes on which the company was built, such as the City and the Castle. They also ditched things that weren’t related to the toy business, licensed LEGO video game development to top partners, and sold the theme parks. Fans have been patient acknowledging this, and have welcomed them again with open arms. Fortunately, no matter how markets and children’s tastes change, there will always be room for classic LEGO play.
What is the best-selling LEGO set ever made?
The LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System set is the best-selling LEGO set ever. Over 1 million of these have been sold worldwide since their launch. (data 2019)
What was the least-selling theme they ever made?
A few years ago, they strayed too far from the main product line when they joined an action figure line called Galidor. With no traditional LEGO building elements, it proved unfamiliar to LEGO fans who expect a certain type of play experience from the LEGO brand.
Which theme is the best seller, excluding the core sets and the city?
Each country has a different best-seller, and when different themes rotate in and out, they rise to the top. Over the past 50 years they have seen that City, Space, Castle and Pirates are the evergreen themes that always seem to have a place in the hearts of LEGO fans. At the moment, LEGO CITY is the number one theme worldwide and other global best-sellers include LEGO Star Wars, BIONICLE and LEGO Indiana Jones.
Why doesn’t the LEGO online store ship LEGO to Hong Kong?
They always try to extend the reach of LEGO products and where they are sold and shipped. Currently, LEGO products are sold in physical stores in Hong Kong.
ENVIRONMENT
What happens to all the discarded pieces? Is there a LEGO paradise? Do they recycle them?
Thanks to the precision of the brick molding machines, there are very few pieces discarded: only 18 elements out of every Million produced do not meet the high standards of the company. Extra pieces from other sets that are caught on the line and identified as missing pieces or with slightly damaged parts are used for donations that are distributed to disadvantaged children’s organizations around the world.
Why is there no recycling program for all the plastics they produce?
LEGO bricks are recyclable, but not in the way most people think of recycling. LEGO bricks are one of those things that never break and most people pass them down from generation to generation, thus keeping them alive. In addition, during production they recycle all the residual plastic used. In molding machines, they break up all the defective elements and put the granulate back into the mold. The plastic they can no longer use is sold to industries that can use them.
Is the plastic currently used to form LEGO the same as it was 20 years ago?
Plastic is almost the exact same plastic used 20 years ago. There were slight changes in the mix, but the quality remained the same.
DESIGN AND PLANNING
How much do the tools and the use of the tools cost? Who produces them?
The price of a single mold is very high. Most are made in Germany.
How much do adult fans consider LEGO and how much children fans when designing the sets?
When designing sets, they take both children and adults into consideration. Children are the main audience, especially when it comes to the main themes of the game; however, much of what kids like about LEGO sets today has a strong appeal among adult fans as well. With LEGO Star Wars, adults are equally considered. When designing any set, it’s about the balance between the building experience and the gaming experience. They also leverage their direct-to-consumer channels to provide the best collectible sets, exclusive specials, sculptures and models designed with experienced builders and adult fans in mind. Sometimes they even invite adult fans to help them design new sets. Mindstorms NXT is a great example of how we worked together with adult fans to determine what the set would include, with an emphasis on ensuring the end result was as compelling for a child as it was for an adult user. They continually look to their community of children and adults to make sure they meet and exceed “our” expectations.
Why did they change the founders’ rule of never making gun-like elements?
The company still has a no-gun policy when it comes to realistic or military game scenarios. However, in order to remain true to the strong licensed properties they incorporate into the LEGO portfolio, they must remain true to those properties and sometimes this includes the inclusion of weapons. In game themes, some elements of conflict, good versus bad, are generally considered to be role-playing opportunities. In these cases, the environment is clearly a fantasy world.
Why are they using so many specialized pieces in their sets now, instead of using more “base” bricks that allow for more building outside of the set itself? Why have some LEGO sets for some recent generations been phased out?
This is an impression that many people have but, in fact, the number of pieces has been drastically reduced and there is a return to origins in LEGO, not only for creativity but to save money. LEGO has gone from 12,000 different pieces to 6,800 in recent years, a number that includes color variations.
Why do they use so many “cheating” bricks? … That is, instead of stacking 4 1 × 2 bricks they produced a 1x2x4 brick, or those huge chunks used for the castle walls. It certainly speeds up construction, but reduces creativity and playability…
Sometimes larger bricks are used to help children build easily and help them complete the model faster so they can enjoy the play experience. They have learned that there are many different types of builders out here, some look at the build experience, but others look at the play experience. They try to balance the portfolio to appeal to both groups.
Did the decision to make faces other than the usual face cause problems in any market?
The modification of the faces of the minifigures took place for the first time in 1989 with the introduction of the Pirates line. Since that time, they have received very few questions from consumers. For those LEGO purists out here, they left the original face in the assortment so that a familiar face is always there.
I would like to know what happened in the good old days of really complex and realistic models? I still have some of the old classics like the Semi Truck with the pneumatic crane on the back, the JCB excavator, the independent wheel sports car, the Ferrari Esque with the 4-speed gearbox … Where did the models like these go?
LEGO still has great LEGO TECHNIC sets and models that bring extreme levels of detail and functionality. They are not always available in mass retail channels, so you often need to search for them on LEGO.com or other specialist retailers.
How long does it take to develop a theme, or a set?
In recent years they have been able to dramatically reduce the time it takes to develop and produce a new set. The average development period is now about 12 months from start to finish, down from the previous 2-3 years.
What’s up with all the stickers recently? Do they no longer preprint anything? And if you need to remove the stickers to take apart the sets, why not have replacement sheets available at Shop-at-home?
Some elements are still pre-printed; however, they find that the stickers allow even more detail and more realism to each set. It can be frustrating at times as anyone with questions can contact their customer service.
STRANGE FACTS
Does LEGO have any plans to sell life-size LEGO bricks? I want to build a real house.
They currently have no plans to sell life-size LEGO pieces. You will only have to build your house with normal materials for the time being friend.
Why does LEGO look so delicious but taste so bad?
As your parents probably told you when you were young, there are some things that shouldn’t be eaten. LEGO bricks are one of them. Please keep them away from your mouth.
Bricks are available in truly astounding quantities, but for artists like me who wish to explore the possibilities of LEGO as a medium for large-scale sculpture?
LEGO always encourages creativity and loves their LEGO artists. Unfortunately, there is currently no system in place for the sale of staggering quantities. Pick-A-Brick and Buckets and Tubs are the best solution for those looking for large quantities of classic bricks.
Where can I buy a legit golf shirt with the LEGO logo embroidered on it?
LEGO shirts tend to go in and out of the assortment. At the moment, there is no golf shirt in the assortment, but keep checking!
When will LEGO produce a beer stein kit complete with tap?
We love your creativity, but the LEGO Group probably won’t be producing a beer stein kit in the near or far future; however, if you are so inclined, you can design your own at LEGOFactory.com.
FUTURE
Does LEGO have any plans to upgrade old sets like Blacktron or the Monorail?
They constantly look back to the past to help shape the sets of the future. As of now, there are no plans to update those sets, but what’s to come is always a mystery.
Would you include Mindstorm technology in regular LEGO sets?
In 2007, the LEGO Power Function system was introduced, which allows models to come to life using motors and sensors without Mindstorms’ programming function. For those who wish to combine LEGO constructions with Mindstorms technology, everything is compatible.
Why don’t you use LEDs?
Currently, LEDs are not used, but their designers are always coming up with new and exciting ways to improve the building experience.
Have you ever considered roller coasters in LEGO?
In deciding which products will go on the market, there are numerous factors that are considered. As a global company, they try to choose products that have global appeal. They also look for models that have the best building and play experience. LEGO modelers always come up with new and cool ideas, roller coasters can be included in this, it’s just a matter of making sure it works in the current assortment.
Would you consider making LEGO sets based on famous story scenes for education?
Everything is possible with the LEGO system. They have created models of famous landmarks, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower, and have an Education division that always comes up with new ideas. But if you don’t want to wait for this to happen, there is always LEGO Factory where you can design and build your own historical scenes.
I really wish they weren’t discontinuing their 9V electrified rail train sets. My question is: why?
As a company, they are very focused on the fundamental building blocks and development of the “game system”. With the recent development of the LEGO Power System, they are able to replace several applications that are not compatible with a single electrical system. Unfortunately, this means that they are moving from two train systems to one coherent system.
Will LEGO continue to reach a more adult audience with more intricate and larger sets?
The adult audience is very important to LEGO and they will continue to produce the largest and most intricate sets, which are typically found in direct-to-consumer channels and other specialty retailers. The latest introduction is the LEGO Star Wars Death Star.
Where are the clear LEGOs? The ones that glow in the dark? Rubber?
New products and elements are always in development. In recent years they have introduced luminescent parts in different sets in addition to light bricks in select sets. They use rubber to make LEGO tires: “did you know that we are the largest manufacturer of vehicle tires in the world”?
When will the 9v train tracks and engines return to the factory?
Unfortunately, the 9v train tracks are gradually being phased out and are moving towards a more coherent system that uses the LEGO power system.
Does LEGO have plans for Wi-Fi connections for Mindstorm?
Mindstorms NXT includes Bluetooth capabilities for wireless communications and downloads.
Will LEGO produce Trike and old bikes again?
They have a very strong licensing department that always works with leading manufacturers to identify new categories and products that can carry the LEGO brand, but as of now there are no plans to produce Trikes and old bikes.
Why don’t you re-expose the theme of space forever?
The space theme is an evergreen theme. They currently feature LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Mars Mission themes to meet consumer demand for space-themed buildings.
Are there any chances that LEGO will start producing LEGO sets of modern warfare, with tanks and helicopters?
LEGO has a strict policy regarding military models, and therefore they do not manufacture tanks, helicopters, etc. While they always support the men and women who serve their country, they prefer to keep the play experiences they provide for children, belonging to the realm of fantasy.
Are they planning to make another set of Mindstorms for Star Wars robots?
As of now, there are no plans to release a new Star Wars robot kit; however, all fans are encouraged to create their own designs.
I am a huge fan of Star Wars LEGO, I have the Death Star on my coffee table and I was wondering if they would ever make models based on the Expanded Universe?
With the Star Wars franchise, anything is possible! Eyes open for interesting new things…
When will they release an advanced model of the Batman Roadworthy Batmobile (Batman Begins)?
They made it: LEGO DC Batman Batmobile Tumbler 76240.
Keep in mind that some of the licensing questions were not included because LEGO is (rightfully so) as confidential about its future products as Apple is.
These speak as they eat, and in fact they eat very badly, they are convinced that a tutorial is enough to build a Spaceship, and they pretend not to see, and they pretend to know that it is Men, Women and Men … Here they are men, women and men, and while their hearts overflow with love they just tell us to start building and telling the world in new words, begging those who come from the sea to draw the boundary between good and bad, if there really is still a line between good and evil… The name “LEGO” is an abbreviation of the two Danish words “leg godt“, which means “play well“. It is their name and it is their ideal. The LEGO group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The company has passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, grandson of the founder.
It all began way back in 1932…
Ole Kirk Kristiansen, master carpenter, sets up his business in the village of Billund, Denmark. His company produces wooden ladders, ironing boards, stools and toys. His son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, began working in the company at the age of 12.
1934
The company and its products adopt the LEGO name, formed from the Danish words “LEg GOdt” (Play Well). Later, they will understand that in Latin the word means “I have put together”. The company has 6-7 employees.
1935
The company produces its first wooden LEGO duck and markets “Kirk’s sand play” its first construction toy, a LEGO duck and a clothes hanger designed by Dagny Holm.
1936
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen (GKC) cuts out Ole Kirk’s motto “Only the best is good enough” and hangs it up in the workshop. Numskull Jack on the goat is also born.
1937
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen starts making models. He is 17 years old.
1939
The LEGO factory has 10 employees.
1940
Denmark is occupied by the Germans. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen does not travel to Germany to study as planned. Instead, he becomes manager at LEGO.
1942
The LEGO factory burns, but the production of wooden toys quickly resumes.
1943
The company has about 40 employees.
1946
The LEGO group is the first in Denmark to purchase a plastic injection molding machine for the production of toys. The car costs 30,000 Danish Kroner. By comparison, the company’s revenue that year was 450,000 Danish crowns. This year the first wooden bricks with decorations such as letters and figures were born.
1947
The Windsor SH plastic molding machine arrives at the port of Esbjerg. As a test, six series of wooden toy animals are exported to India. They then produce a plastic ball for babies and the educational board game on traffic “Monypoli”.
1948
LEGO has 50 employees and produces the Tiddlywinks game.
1949
The company produces about 200 different plastic and wooden toys, including Automatic Binding Bricks with four and eight studs, the forerunners of today’s LEGO bricks, but sold exclusively in Denmark. The first pack with four colors, the first plastic fish and the first plastic sailor is presented.
1950
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, son of founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, is named Junior Vice President the day he turns 30. Three sets containing plastic bricks aimed at nursery schools are born.
1951
The first ever LEGO movie was shot. The photographer is Christian Lund and the film is in black and white with no sound. Plastic toys represent half of the company’s production and the base of the building comes out with 10 × 20 studs and the plastic tractor (Ferguson), both as a construction set and as a finished model.
1952
Ole Kirk intends to expand and another plant is built at a cost of 350,000 DKK to build large plastic and wooden machines. The company now has its first canteen.
1953
The automatic binding bricks take a new name: “LEGO Mursten” (LEGO bricks). The LEGO name is printed on the inside of all the bricks and the trademark is registered for the first time and the registration in Denmark is accepted on 10 May 1954. “Gift boxes” are produced containing a Chevrolet plastic construction car and Plastic ambulances.
1954
The word LEGO is officially registered in Denmark on May 1st. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen travels to England and meets a buying agent on a ferry. They talk about toys. The agent thinks that toys have no possibility of developing Ideas and a “System”. This generates the idea of ??the LEGO SYSTEM in the mind of Godtfred Kirk Christiansen. Beam brick, LEGO windows and doors come to life.
1955
After developing the LEGO bricks, the company launches the revolutionary “LEGO System of Play”, creating a new play platform. The first real export of LEGO begins. The first country is Sweden, then Godtfred Kirk Christiansen presents the new product at a toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany and the reactions are not positive. The LEGO System consists of 28 sets and 8 vehicles plus various additional elements.
1956
The first foreign sales company is founded in Hohenwestedt, Germany, under the name of LEGO Spielwaren GmbH. The company buys its first truck and produces small plastic figures of cyclists and motorcyclists. There is only one road in Hohenwestedt in those days and the cyclists were probably already in the middle of it! …of the journey of our life !!
1957
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen is appointed Chief Executive Officer. LEGO Schweiz is founded. The LEGO group celebrates its 25th anniversary and invents international and Danish flags and a LEGO brick with light inside.
1958
The current LEGO stud-tube attachment system is patented. The new coupling principle makes the models much more stable. – Ole Kirk Kristiansen dies – The first Telex machine (TELeprinter EXchange – telecommunication system) and the photocopier in Billund, which now houses 140 employees, are purchased. They produce the new sloping tile bricks and bricks to make up the letters.
1959
Futura, the product development department, now has five staff members, a market analysis department and a photography department are established. LEGO France, LEGO England, LEGO Belgium and LEGO Sweden are born. The machines in production are now so autonomous that one operator can manage two machines at a time. LEGO offers the municipality of Billund about 20 acres of land at a cost of 50,000 Danish crowns to build a sports field for young people. Bilo-fix comes out in wood and plastic.
1960
The warehouse of wooden toys is destroyed by a fire. The wood production is completely stopped while in Billund there are about 450 employees… LEGO Finland and LEGO Netherlands are founded and toys developed the Numero bricks and a new plan of the cardboard.
1961
The LEGO range includes 50 sets, 15 vehicles and various bulk items, sales started in the US and Canada through a licensing agreement with Samsonite Corp. It is LEGO’s first-ever big hit. LEGO Italy is founded. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen buys a small Piper Apache plane (space for two pilots and three passengers) in association with Sonderjyllands Flyselskab (which will later become Cimber Air). A landing field is just outside Billund. The main sets bring big cities to life and are produced for kindergarten, Terapi 1, 2 and 3. LEGO products finally arrive in the United States.
1962
LEGO is launched after being worked in 1958 and sales begin in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Morocco and Japan. The first personnel manager was hired and the evaluation line was created, which was then launched in Denmark the following year.
1963
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen presents the company with 10 guidelines for future LEGO products:
Unlimited play;
For girls and boys;
Fun for all ages;
I play it all year round;
Healthy and quiet play;
Long hours of play;
Development of imagination and creativity;
The more LEGO, the higher the value;
Tax extra availability;
Quality in every detail;
The LEGO elements are now molded in ABS, a plastic that improves the power of the clutch, there are large and small wheels and rotating tables. LEGO Austria is founded and the purchasing department is created. INTERLEGO AG is registered in Switzerland. Opening the airport in Billund and the first international corporate film is produced, “Mr. Johnson from Australia “.
1964
Model sets, complete with building instructions, launch as a natural addition to existing base sets and supplements. The first sales arrive from the Middle East (Lebanon). LEGO bricks are exhibited worldwide in the Danish pavilion at the New York Fair. The LEGO Werkzeugbau GmbH production plant in Hohenwehenstedt, Germany opens. This year, LEGO models of cars and Jumbo bricks were created, the latter produced by Samsonite in the United States.
1965
First sales in Spain and Billund has more than 600 employees, tiles and some doll furniture sets are produced.
1966
The product range includes 57 sets and 25 vehicles including the new battery-powered LEGO train, and comes a light brick with wire and light. During that year, 706 million LEGO elements were produced, sold in 42 countries around the world.
1967
The musical band at LEGOLAND is established. There are now 218 different LEGO elements (not counting color variations) and between 18 and 19 million LEGO sets are sold throughout the year. The small wheel for small cars is invented, launched in 1970, the Biplane and the set of a motorized truck.
1968
In Billund LEGOLAND opens its doors on 7 June and attracts 625,000 visitors in its first season, 3,000 on opening day. The first computer in the LEGO group arrives, an NCR 390 for payroll administration. The car costs 85,000 Danish Kroner. First sales in Latin America come the first directional exchange for trains and a new Jeep project by Kjeld Kirk Kristen himself.
1969
DUPLO series for minors was launched internationally, there are 843 employees in Billund. The first LEGOLAND movie and DUPLO bricks are released, the 12 volt motor joins the Train sets and the tires for the LEGO cars are now made of PVC.
1970
There are 1000 employees at LEGO in Billund. The first prototype of an adding machine arrives, a colored electromechanical calculator, the first cogwheels and LEGO Impulse boxes for cars appear.
1971
First sales in the Far East while the new molding plant in Højmarksvej in Billund is inaugurated. Dollhouse elements are introduced including furniture and the “Let’s Play With LEGO” inspirational book.
1972
The licensing agreement with Samsonite ends in the United States. The Information and Public Relations Department is established. 1.8 billion LEGO bricks and other items will be produced that year. First sales in the Czech Republic. Some new cars at LEGOLAND and the relaunched 4.5V Train appeared.
1973
A single new LEGO logo replaces the various logos that have been used until now. The new LEGO logo unites all of the company’s products under one banner. First sales in Hungary and establishment of LEGO USA in Brookfield, Connecticut. German psychologist Karin Grossmann writes the book “Mach mehr aus LEGO” based on a study of 200 children and their play with LEGO bricks. LEGOLAND Sierksdorf opens near Lübeck, Germany. New ships and dollhouse units are created, along with furniture components, and the London bus.
1974
LEGO Spain, LEGO Futura ApS is founded. LEGO Overseas A / S established. The Mount Rushmore replica was created in LEGOLAND Park and LEGOLAND Park in Billund receives its 5 millionth visitor. The Esso Motor Hotel, built in 1968 in Billund, is purchased and the name is changed to Hotel Vis-a-Vis. New pieces produced are the LEGO family figures, other new cars and the trailer.
1975
LEGO USA moves from Brookfield to Enfield, Connecticut. Sourcing is established in the United States, now the LEGO group has 2,500 employees. LEGO Portugal is founded. English becomes the official language of the company. The LEGO Expert series is born, the Moon landing set and the Fire Truck with what will later become the first Minifigure, the latter however will be launched 3 years later.
1976
LEGOLAND Sieksdorf closes. Sculptor Robert Jacobsen’s “LEGO” sculpture is revealed in Billund, and Minitalia which was presented in Italy in 1971 is removed from the product line. LEGO VILLE and a Harley Davidson motorcycle appear.
1977
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, from the third generation, joins the management of the LEGO Group. LEGO Australia is founded. The DUPLO factory in Billund is now an independent unit of the LEGO group and produces doors, windows and “symbol” figures of DUPLO without arms and legs. The LEGO TECHNICs are coming.
1978
The “System within a system” is introduced, the development model of Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen which divides production into product ranges and lines. The DUPLO Rabbit logo is displayed. The first LEGO Road Show takes place in Dayton, Ohio, and later, this becomes the LEGO World Show. LEGO Japan is founded and the first fax is purchased at a cost of 68,000 Danish crowns. LEGOLAND Minifigures with movable arms and legs, baseplates with road markings, the USS Constallation Ship and the Castle are born.
1979
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is appointed President and CEO of INTERLEGO A / S. The DUPLO rabbit logo is registered as a trademark. LEGO Singapore is founded and Godtfred Kirk Christiansen is named a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog. This year sees the global launch of LEGOLAND Space, FABULAND, SCALA and the DUPLO Box-House.
1980
The Department of Educational Products is established. The Technic logo is developed by Papermint and according to a survey, 70% of all Western European families with children under the age of 14 now have LEGO bricks in their home. DUPLOs with sound elements, pull-along models tied to a rope and rocking toys for the little ones appear.
1981
The first LEGO World Show begins in Denmark and there is now a street in honor of LEGO in Hohenwestedt, Germany. A new plant for decoration, assembly, packaging and storage is opened in Baar, Switzerland but closes in 2001. The Scala Line, introduced in 1979, is canceled. The Elephant Edward arrives in FABULAND and the Educational Program consisting of 22 boxes is born.
1982
LEGO South Africa is founded and the LEGO Fiction department is created. The LEGO group celebrates its 50th anniversary with all Billund employees and the book “50 Years of Play” is launched. The new products concern the didactic and educational material consisting of the DUPLO Mosaic and Technic 1.
1983
LEGO has 3,700 employees worldwide and LEGO Overseas holds its first World Distributor Conference in Billund. The DUPLO Baby series arrives in the LEGO catalog which includes 6 rattles, large DUPLO figures with movable arms and legs, the DUPLO Train and the FABULAND Books.
1984
LEGO Brazil and LEGO Korea are founded together with McDonald’s co-promotion in the United States and Canada. The American, the TYCO brick, is launched in Hong Kong, which has led to lawsuits in several countries. The LEGOLAND Castle series is born and the crocodile Clive arrives in FABULAND.
1985
The LEGO award is founded in April. It is an annual international award of DK 750,000 (increased to DK1,000,000 in 1989) for outstanding efforts on behalf of children. Korea procurement department is established. LEGO has around 5,000 employees, 3,000 of them in Billund. The collaboration with Professor Seymour Papert and the Boston M.I.T. begins. In 1985, the DUPLO farm, the LEGO Technic Control for educational purposes and a new range of LEGO trains arrive.
1986
The LEGO group gets the title of “supplier to her majesty the queen” on April 16 (which is her majesty’s birthday queen Margrethe of Denmark). Godtfred Kirk Christiansen steps down as chairman of the board of directors of LEGO System A / S and LEGO Overseas and takes over from Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. LEGO Fiction becomes LEGO Publishing. New products include the DUPLO family, including the dog, the Technic line figure, lights and sounds, and the Technic Computer Control, again for educational purposes.
1987
The brick logo was developed, nearly 6,000 employees work at LEGO, and LEGO products now sell in 115 markets. The LEGO office in South Africa is closed. Korean mountaineer Young-Hu buries a small LEGO model on top of Mount Everst in the Himalayas. The historical collection of the LEGO (LEGO Idea House), founded in 1980, becomes an independent unit under KIRKBI A / S, is then transferred to LEGO A / S in 1991. The LEGOs and DUPLOs are sold in buckets, a Monorail appears at LEGOLAND and the DUPLO Baby board game.
1988
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen presents the vision of the LEGO Group and the first LEGO World Cup, the first official building championships, is held in Billund in August. The Kornmarken factory opens and LEGO Canada is founded. At the same time, the “The Art of LEGO” exhibition is touring the UK. The Circus DUPLO sets, the DUPLO Plane, the Forest and Black Star set from LEGO and LEGO clothing are born.
1989
The educational products department changes its name to LEGO Dacta. The word “dacta” comes from the Greek word “didactic”, which means “the study of the purpose, means and substance of learning and the learning process”. Dr. Seymour Papert becomes a LEGO learning research professor and consequently the first LEGO Dacta Center opens in LEGOLAND, later renamed TECHNIC LAND after a couple of years. Ole Kirk Kristiansen is inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame and the Pirates set is born.
1990
The LEGO Group is now one of the 10 largest toy manufacturers in the world, the only one in Europe, the others are American and Japanese. The magical goal of one million visitors in just one year is reached for the first time at LEGOLAND Billund on 4 September. Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen, son of the company founder, celebrates his 70th birthday on 6 July. LEGO Malaysia is founded. LEGO Publishing has been renamed LEGO Licensing and the LEGOLAND gang releases an LP. Professor Xavier Gilbet, IMD, Switzerland, is appointed Professor of LEGO, Business Dynamics. This year sees the birth of the DUPLO Zoo, the Model Team line, the LEGO TECHNIC control center and the LEGO Dacta composition kit.
1991
The Vis-a-Vis Hotel in Billund has been renovated and renamed the LEGOLAND Hotel. LEGO has 7,550 employees. The number of molding machines in the five LEGO factories reaches 1,000 units. Various new products are launched including, the Port theme from the LEGO Town line, Ships, elements of the Technic Flex system and the 9V Train controlled by the Travo remote control.
1992
A Guinness record is set in the construction of railway lines: 545 meters of LEGO track with 3 models of locomotive. The largest LEGO castle in the world is built on Swedish television. Over 400,000 LEGO bricks are transformed into a 4.45m x 5.22m castle, rightfully entering the Guinness Book of Records. The second LEGO World Cup final is held in Billund in August, with 32 children from 11 countries around the world participating. LEGO Japan and LEGO Hungary are founded. For the first time, LEGO products are being introduced on a large scale in the People’s Republic of China while the first LEGO show is taking place in Russia. The LEGO Imagination Center is open in the Mall of America in Blomington, Minneapolis, USA. The LEGO Town Paradisa Theme, the LEGO DUPLO Toolo and Truck with pneumatic elements from Technic are born.
1993
A LEGO building is built on Moscow’s Red Square in collaboration with the GUM department store. A 60,000m2 DUPLO factory is opened in Willisau, Switzerland but the plant closes in 2006. LEGO South Africa is reopened and the launch of LEGO children’s clothing takes place. The Frozen Planet 2002, the Technic Forklift, the LEGO DUPLO 4.5-V Train with a new system of tracks and sounds and the basic Brick Vac of the LEGO SYSTEM are born.
1994
LEGO Mexico is founded and the first ever TV campaign appears on Chinese TV. UNHCR uses LEGO mini-figures on posters around the world and the “Space Travel”, organized by LEGO USA, opens in the Space Center in Houston. Email is used between LEGO Japan and Billund. The Billund LEGO Center opens and now LEGO has 8,880 employees worldwide. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is made a Knight of the Order of Dannebrog. In the LEGO catalog Belville, Islanders from the LEGO Pirates line, the SuperCar from LEGO TECHNIC, Spyrius from the LEGO Spazio line and the DUPLO House.
1995
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, son of the company founder, dies on 13 July. LEGO Belgium and LEGO Netherlands merge into the LEGO Benelux. Weekly LEGO programs are broadcast on national television in Latvia and Lithuania, LEGO events and exhibitions in Latvia, Peru, Hungary, Switzerland, Denmark, Greenland, the United States, Canada, Italy and Ecuador. New pieces are the LEGO DUPLO PRIMO, the LEGO FreeStyle, the LEGO SYSTEM Aquazone, the LEGO TECHNIC Control II and the DUPLO Play Books.
1996
Lego.com is launched. LEGOLAND Windsor, the first LEGOLAND family park outside of Denmark, opens on 29 March. A new development department, SPU Darwin, is established. His work includes software development based on and related to LEGO products. LEGOLAND Billund has now counted 25 million visitors since its opening in 1968. The new LEGO Truck Show kicks off. The LEGO Award is given to actor Paul Newman and the organization “The Hole in the Wall Gang”. The Time Machine and the Western set are made for the LEGO SYSTEM, Exploriens for the LEGO SYSTEM Spazio and the LEGO Clicks children’s magazine launched in France and Switzerland.
1997
For the first time, a CD-ROM containing building instructions is included in a LEGO set. The set also contains a series of barcodes with a programmable barcode reader. On October 13, a 700m2 LEGO Imagination Center opens at Disney Village, Florida. The first LEGO MINDSTORMS Learning Center opens at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, United States. The PRIMO and DUPLO names are changed to LEGO PRIMO and LEGO DUPLO on January 1st. Consumer Service Center and Consumer Service Center in America are established. LEGO is entering the Kremlin Palace, Moscow, attended by over 300,000 children. The LEGO Kids Wear store opens on Oxford Street in London. The LEGO SCALA for dolls, the Underwater theme of the LEGO SYSTEM and the Bat Castle for the Castle line, the UFO Boxes for the LEGO SYSTEM Spazio, the LEGO Island software, the LEGO DUPLO Dinosaurs and the LEGO TECHNIC Yellow Submarine are born.
1998
The “Just Imagine …” brand statement was introduced into the LEGO universe. For the first time ever, the LEGO Group is in deficit. In April the new LEGO logo is presented, it is a graphically “narrow” version of the logo used in the last 25 years. In May, there is an urgent recall of the LEGO PRIMO ladybug crackle from end consumers and retailers after it was discovered that there is a risk that it could affect the throats of young children. LEGO Media International begins collaboration with the Danish group Egmont for the publication of children’s books. The New Generation Forum is established. Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit LEGOLAND Billund. This year sees the birth of the LEGO MINDSTORMS, the LEGO TECHNIC CyberMaster, 8 new LEGO PRIMO, Res-Q and X-Treme sets for the LEGO SYSTEM, ZNAP, LEGO Mudhoppers clothing for children and software for the LEGO Creator, for LEGO Chess and for LEGO Loco.
1999
LEGOLAND California opens in Carlsbad, Southern California in March. The LEGO group is undergoing a restructuring, the changes result in the loss of 1000 jobs. Mitchel Resnick of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been named the new LEGO Papert learning research professor. The LEGO brick is named as one of the “Products of the Century” by Fortune magazine. LEGO World Shop appears on the internet as the first LEGO products-only store opens in the center of Bluewater in Dartford, London, England. New items for the turn of the millennium are the LEGO MINDSTORMS 1.5 Robotics Invention System, the LEGO SYSTEM Star Wars and Rockraiders set, Winnie the Pooh and Friends for the LEGO DUPLO, LEGO TECHNIC Sledges and two educational programs called ROBOLAB and LEGO Soft.
2000
The company’s mission and core beliefs have been revised “Children are our role models …” The British Association of Toy Retailers names the LEGO brick “Toy of the Century”. The LEGO group reaches its budget surplus of DKK 500 million and employees are rewarded with a bonus and a global party, meanwhile the LEGO group signs a partnership agreement with Warner Bros. related to the launch of LEGO products based on the magical universe of Harry Potter. The LEGO factory opens in Kladno, Czech Republic but the LEGO group still has a deficit of 1 billion Danish crowns. The LEGO & Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set for the LEGO Studios, the decorative foam for the LEGO SCALA line, the Formula 1 silver champion car and the catapult for the LEGO TECHNIC, the LEGO MyBot, the LEGO Calcio, the musical apple appear. and the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System 2.0, released only in Japan.
2001
LEGO My World receives a major award in Germany for the best software learning product at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The LEGO Mindstorms robot “Jitter” is sent into orbit around the earth in the International Space Station. LEGO Serious Play was unveiled in the fall and this time around the deficit is being turned into profit again for the LEGO Group. The LEGO BIONICLE appear, also for PC and Nintendo in the form of a video game, the Dolls of the LEGO DUPLO, the LEGO Builder Bob, LEGO Harry Potter, the figure of Jack Stone, the Alpha Team, the software for the LEGO My World, the software for LEGO Island 2 The Brickster Revenge and LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System 2.0 is released in the rest of the world.
2002
The “Play On” brand declaration replaces “Just Imagine…“. The LEGO DUPLO brand is replaced by the LEGO EXPLORE brand which covers all pre-school activities. LEGO stores open in Cologne, Germany in September, Milton Keynes, England in November, and Moscow, Russia in December. LEGOLAND Deutschland opens in Günzbrug, Germany. The music composer and the music reel for LEGO EXPLORE, the LEGO Island Extreme Stunts with PlayStation game, the Williams F1 race, Galidor and SpyBotics are born.
2003
The LEGO Group signs the United Nations Global Compact initiative. For LEGO minifigures that represent real-life people or characters from books, movies or TV series, the yellow face coloring is replaced by a more authentic skin color, facial expression and hair style. The first BIONICLE movie, Mask of Light, is released and proves to be a huge success. The LEGO Expedition to the East and CLIKITS, the new design system for girls, are here.
2004
In January, the LEGO Group announces its 2003 results, a huge deficit. Owner and CEO Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen leads the construction of an action plan to revive the company. In October he appoints Jørgen Vig Knudstorp as the company’s new CEO, but the year ends with another huge deficit due to severe devaluations. The LEGO Group and Ferrari launch an agreement to create some LEGO sets based on the iconic racing cars. The DUPLO brand is restarted following consumer requests. LEGO Factory launches on LEGO.com allowing you to create your own LEGO model and purchase the necessary elements to build it. The LEGO Ferrari and the LEGO Racing Off-Road Vehicle come to life.
2005
LEGOLAND parks are sold to Merlin Entertainments and the parent company of the LEGO group, KIRKBI, buys a share of them. Today KIRKBI owns about one third of the Merlin Entertainments. The LEGO group registers a profit again, the company is back on track. CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp launches a five-year strategic plan, a vision shared by the LEGO group which in turn creates its own LEGO Ambassador program to create closer ties between the company and LEGO fans. New products are the LEGO Vikings, the Exo-Force, DINO 2010 and some LEGO sets for drawing.
2006
LEGO has 4922 employees and the LEGO Group announces plans to outsource major parts of production to external partners. The LEGO plant in Willisau in Switzerland closes. LEGO.com records on average over 8 million aggregate daily unique visitors per month, who spend an average of around 28 minutes on the site. CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp publicly announces the shared vision, an action plan for the company through 2010. MINDSTORMS NXT, a significantly improved new version of the LEGO robotic system and the Parcheesi board game, is launched.
2007
The LEGO Group, in good shape, celebrates its 75th anniversary on 10 August. The LEGO Club has around 2.6 million members. All distribution for the European and Asian markets is collected in a distribution center in the Czech Republic. The LEGO Group enters into a licensing agreement with Lucasfilm Inc. for the production of Indiana Jones LEGO sets. The Millennium Falcon LEGO Star Wars is the largest LEGO model ever designed so far weighing 6 kilos and with 5,195 parts included. The Power Functions of the electric building system are born, and the LEGO Aqua Raiders.
2008
The LEGO brick celebrates its 50th anniversary. While maintaining production at sites in Eastern Europe, Mexico and Denmark, the LEGO Group decides to resume most of its production so that the majority of LEGO products are produced in-house. The Taj Mahal is launched, containing the largest number of bricks assembled so far, 5,922 bricks. LEGO owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen was inducted into the US Toy Industry Hall of Fame. The lines of LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Agents are produced.
2009
The LEGO Group is now the world’s fifth largest toy manufacturer in terms of sales. Warner Bros. and the LEGO Group announce their intention to develop the first feature film based on LEGO bricks and icons. The LEGO Group announces a multi-year partnership with Disney Consumer Products by obtaining exclusive rights to construction toys based on the entire portfolio owned by Disney and Disney Pixar. An entirely new product line, LEGO Games, is launched. The line consists of a series of board games that can be played by the whole family. Pilot launch takes place in the UK and Germany. The rest of the world will follow. LEGO Power Miners makes an appearance.
2010
The online game LEGO Universe is launched. The largest LEGO mosaic in the world is assembled in London. Measuring 15.3 x 6.4 meters and made up of 384,000 LEGO bricks and 1500 building plates, the motif consists of several Star Wars figures. New products are the LEGO Prince of Persia and LEGO Atlantis.
2011
LEGOLAND Florida opens, the largest LEGOLAND park of all in the world. The LEGO group launches its first “Life of George” appcessory. The LEGO Group is now the world’s third largest toy manufacturer in terms of sales and adds LEGO Technic Unimog, LEGO NINJAGO and LEGO Alien Conquest to its catalog.
2012
Organizational change is intensified to prepare the LEGO Group for future growth and to make it more adaptable and competitive. Company management changes from 6 to 22 people. The LEGO Universe closes, as does DesignbyME, because the two product lines are not sustainable. LEGO Education becomes a separate subsidiary under LEGO A / S. LEGO Friends is born, a new line aimed at girls aged 5 to 8.
2013
The LEGO Group continues its growth and presents strong annual results of 2012, having nearly tripled sales in 2007. LEGO MINDSTORMS celebrates its 15th birthday and launches its third generation: LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, powered by the new EV3 smart brick. The LEGO Group opens a sales office in Beijing, China and a new main office in Singapore while the LEGO brand retail store number 100 opens in White Plains, United States. This year also sees the creation of the LEGO Legends of Chima and the LEGO Ranger Lone in collaboration with Disney.
2014
In early February, The LEGO Movie premieres in several countries. The film is written by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and produced by Warner Brothers. It is the first time that the LEGO universe has been portrayed in a film. As part of the company’s expansion strategy and global presence, the LEGO Group announces in addition to its headquarters in Billund (Denmark), its headquarters in London, England, Enfield in the USA, Singapore and Shanghai in China. Strong growth continues and the LEGO Group has very satisfying annual results for 2013. In less than 10 years, the company has quadrupled its revenue. The LEGO name celebrates its 80th birthday. In 1934, the founder of the company, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, launched a competition to find a suitable name for the company. He won the competition himself by combining the first two letters of the words LEg and GOdt to create the name “LEGO“. LEGO Mixels, LEGO Juniors and LEGO Disney Princess products are born.
2015
The LEGO Group and the LEGO Foundation have entered into a three-year partnership with UNICEF to protect children’s rights and change the way children learn. The offshore wind farm, Borkum Riffgrund 1, of which 32% is owned by the LEGO Group, opened in October. LEGO products are now sold in over 140 countries around the world. The first bricks are printed in the new LEGO Group factory in Jiaxing, China. The first packaging lines were put into operation in September and the first box packed in Jiaxing was the LEGO CITY police station. New products this year are LEGO Dimensions, LEGO Elves, the relaunched LEGO BIONICLE, and LEGO Jurassic World.
2016
The number of employees exceeds 18,000 and represents more than 70 nationalities. In August, the LEGO group organizes the first PLAY DAY in which all company employees at all LEGO locations leave their desks and play for four hours. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen and Thomas Kirk Kristiansen inform of the gradual generational change taking place in the owner’s family. Thomas takes over as president of the LEGO Foundation and vice president of LEGO A / S. The LEGO factory in Jiaxing, China is officially open. In December, it is announced that Jørgen Vig Knudstorp will take up the position of CEO, replacing Bali Padda. Going forward, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp will support active family ownership as the working chair of the board of directors at LEGO A / S, among many things. LEGO Nexo Knights come to life.
2017
Annual revenue grows by 6%. Starting in April, former LEGO Group CFO John Goodwin is the new CEO of the LEGO Foundation. In August and September, the LEGO Group celebrates its 85th Anniversary with Play Day activities and parties at all LEGO locations around the world. The LEGO House, Casa del Mattoncino, will open on 28 September. Among other things, guests can admire the Tree of Creativity, which is the largest LEGO model to date built with over 6.3 million LEGO elements. A one-of-a-kind LEGO logo measuring 2 × 2 meters is made with over 1.6 million LEGO elements and is visible at the entrance to the historical collection. On 1 October Niels B. Christiansen takes over in Bali Padda as CEO of the LEGO Group. LEGO BrickHeadz and LEGO BOOST are born.
2018
2018 marks an anniversary where the LEGO brick celebrates its 60th anniversary, LEGOLAND Billund turns 50, and the LEGO minifigures celebrate its 40th anniversary. It is now possible for younger children to code with LEGO elements. With the launch of two LEGO DUPLO trains and an associated app, trains can be programmed to drive, brake, turn on the lights and change direction. Following the launch of the LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron, a full-size Bugatti Chiron is built with over 1 million LEGO Technic elements and without glue. And it is possible to drive it! The largest mosaic in the world is assembled in the LEGO House. It measures 12×14 meters and is made up of over 650,000 LEGO elements. The first sustainable LEGO bricks are made of plastic granules, an extract from sugar cane, thus entering the market. Among the first elements are trees and bushes. The LEGO Foundation donates $ 100 million to Sesame Workshop to help children affected by conflicts around the world. LEGO Unikitty is coming!
2019
In February 2019, a sequel to The Lego Movie was produced by Warner Animation Group and released by Warner Bros., titled The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Many of the voice actors from the first film reprised their characters for the sequel, but it underperformed in ticket sales compared to its predecessors. On 25 November 2019, The Lego Group announced the acquisition of Bricklink, the world’s largest Lego fan community, from Nexon for an unknown price, which is expected to finish before the end of 2019.
2020
In November 2020, Lego announced its largest set to date, a replica of the Colosseum in Rome containing 9,036 pieces. The set overtakes the previous record holder, the Millennium Falcon from the Star Wars franchise. This year Lego also presents Braille Bricks, bricks for children with visual impairments. These special bricks, while maintaining their original shape, have buttons in their upper part arranged to form the letters and numbers of the Braille alphabet, the tactile writing and reading system in relief for the visually impaired and blind. Always remaining compatible with the remaining LEGO bricks, each one has the corresponding letter, symbol or number printed on it, thus making it possible for visually impaired children to collaborate equally with their peers and sighted teachers.
…CONTINUE!
“Over the past 85 years, LEGO has come a long way, from a small woodworking shop to a modern, global Enterprise, and is now one of the world’s largest toy manufacturers. The LEGO brick is the most important product. They have been nominated twice “Toy of the Century“. LEGO products have undergone extensive development over the years, but the basis remains the same and unmistakable LEGO brick. The brick in its present form was launched in 1958. The interlocking principle with its tubes makes it unique and offers unlimited construction possibilities. It’s all about letting the imagination run wild and bringing out a lot of new creative ideas through play”.
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