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Chapter 1: History of LEGO
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HISTORY OF LEGO
EARLY HISTORY The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (7 April 1891 – 11 March 1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called “Lego”, from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means “play well”. The LEGO Story To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the inception of the brand LEGO, an animated short film was made that was titled ‘The LEGO Story’. This short animated film depicted the struggles the Ole Kirk Christiansen and his son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen went through to make the company into a successful venture. The film shows the high ideals of Ole and the creative acumen of Godtfred, and their contribution towards the company and its growth. The LEGO Story highlights the problems that the father-son duo faced and how they tackled the obstacles to emerge victorious.
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Tre Generationer Stor – Three generations of the Kirk Christiansens
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t expanded to p roducing plastic toys in 1947. In 1949 Lego began producing the now famous interlocking bricks, calling them “Automatic Binding Bricks”. These bricks were based largely on the patent of Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which were released in the United Kingdom in 1947. Lego modified the design of the Kiddicraft brick after examining a sample given to it by the British supplier of an injection-molding machine that the company had purchased. The bricks, originally
manufactured from cellulose acetate, were a development of traditional stackable wooden blocks that locked together by means of several round studs on top and a hollow rectangular bottom. The blocks snapped together, but not so tightly that they required extraordinary effort to be separated.
HISTORY OF LEGO
Ole Kirk Christiansen
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen
The Lego Group’s motto is det bedste er ikke for godt which means roughly ‘only the best is the best’ (more literally ‘the best is never too good’). This motto was created by Ole Kirk to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. The motto is still used within the company today. By 1951 plastic toys accounted for half of the Lego Company’s output. Despite this fact, the Danish trade magazine LegetøjsTidende (Toy-Times) stated at the beginning of the 1950s, after having visited the Lego factory in Billund, that ‘plastic would never be able to replace good and honest wooden toys. This outcry demonstrates fittingly how most people felt (and sometimes still feel) towards the use of plastic in toys. Lego toys, however, seem to be an exception to the dislike of plastic toys due to the high standards set by Ole Kirk.
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
By 1954, Christiansen’s son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that struck the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their locking ability was limited and they were not very versatile. In 1958, the modern brick design was developed but it took another five years to find the right material for it, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer. The modern Lego brick was patented at 1:58 P.M. on 28 January 1958; bricks from that year are still compatible with current bricks.
Etymology of LEGO The name could also be interpreted as “I put together” and “I assemble” in Latin, though this would be a somewhat forced application of the general sense “I collect; I gather; I learn”; the word is most used in the derived sense “I read”.
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HISTORY O OF LEGO
DESIGN OF LEGO
Lego pieces of all varieties comprise a universal system. Despite variation in the design and purpose of individual pieces over the years, each remains compatible in some way with existing pieces. Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made in the current time, and Lego sets for young children are compatible with those made for teenagers.
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ach Lego piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled. The machines that make Lego bricks have tolerances as small as 10 micrometers. Primary concept and development work takes place at the Billund headquarters, where the company employs approximately 120 designers. The company also has smaller design offices in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Japan,
which are tasked with developing products aimed specifically at these markets. The average development period for a new product is around twelve months, in three stages. The first stage is to identify market trends and developments, including contact by the designers directly with the market; some are stationed in toy shops close to holiday periods, while others interview children. The second stage is the design and development of the product based
HISTORY O OF LEGO
upon the results of the first stage. As of September 2008 the design teams use 3D modeling software to generate CAD drawings from initial design sketches. The designs are then prototyped using an in-house stereolithography machine. These are presented to the entire project team for comment and for testing by parents and children during the “validation� process. Designs may then be altered in accordance with the results from the focus groups. Virtual models of completed Lego products are built concurrently with the writing of the user instructions. Completed CAD models are also used in the wider organization, such as for marketing and packaging.
The structure of LEGO
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HISTORY OF LEGO
MOVE TO PLASTIC BRICKS
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nother warehouse fire struck the Lego Group in 1960, consuming most of the company’s inventory of wooden toys. Godtfred decided that the plastic line was strong enough to abandon production of wooden toys. As a result, Godtfred’s brothers Gerhardt (then head of wooden toys) and Karl Georg left the Lego company and began a separate company “Bilofix”. By the end of the year, the staff of the Lego Group included more than 450 people. In 1961, Lego wished to expand sales to North America, but did not have the logistical capabilities to do so. Lego made an arrangement allowing Samsonite to begin producing and selling Lego products in the United States and Canada. 1961 and 1962 saw the introduction of the first Lego wheels, an addition that expanded the potential for building cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles from Lego bricks. Also during this time, the Lego Group introduced toys specifically targeted towards 5
the pre-school market. In 1963, the material used to create Lego bricks, cellulose acetate (CA), was dropped in favor of more stable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS plastic), which is still used today. ABS is non-toxic, is less prone to discolouration and warping, and is also more resistant to heat, acids, salt, and other chemicals than cellulose acetate. Samsonite manufacturing in North America did not switch at the same time, and still used some degree of cellulose acetate in its Lego products. 1964 was the first time that instruction manuals were included in Lego sets.
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ABOUT THE CREATOR
THE CREATOR OF LEGO
The Kirk Christiansens What began as a means for a nearly bankrupt Danish carpenter to make a living during the Depression has, over the last 75 years, grown into one of the largest toy companies in the world; the fifth largest in 2007, and by far the largest in Europe. When Ole Kirk Christiansen began making wooden toys in
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1932 he had seven or eight employees and sold his wooden goods and toys to local farmers. Today Lego employs more than 5000 people worldwide and sells its toys in more than 130 countries. Since the introduction of the modern interlocking brick in 1958, Lego has produced more than
400 billion bricks (or 62 bricks for every person on Earth), and over four billion minifigures. This year they will manufacture 19 billion bricks (36,000 bricks per minute) and will sell more than two million sets (seven sets per second). It is estimated that more than 400 million children and adults will play with Lego
ABOUT THE CREATOR
this year and that collectively they will spend more than five billion (with a b) hours with the toy. The company has survived global depressions, a World War, the TV age and the digital age. It has survived the onslaught
of American toy conglomerates, and later, cheap Pacific Rim imitators. It is still among the most popular toys for boys ages 7-14, and accounts for 3.6% of all toy purchases. The open-ended, creative nature of the toy has been
universally praised among educators and child development specialists. It is so highly regarded that it has twice been named the “Toy of the Century.”
until very recently, completely run by three generations of a single family — the Kirk Christiansens of Billund, Denmark. So the story of Lego is the story of the family.
What is perhaps most suprising is that the company has been owned, and
Ole Kirk Christiansen Ole Kirk Christiansen (or OKC as he was later known within the company) was born 7 April 1891 in Filskov, a small village in the farming and dairy country of central Jutland. As one of 10 children in a poor family he was put to work as soon as possible. By the age of six he was tending the family’s livestock. Later he attended school two days a week learning to read and write, and after his confirmation at age 14, he was apprenticed to his older brother, Kristian Bonde Christiansen, who was a carpenter. After completing his apprenticeship he worked in Germany from 1911—1912 and Norway from 1912—1916.
he married Sofie Jörgensen and they had a daughter, Ulla (1935).
Ole returned to Billund at the age of 25 and, with his savings from working abroad, he bought the local woodworking shop where he began his carpentry work and later his toy business. Around 1916 he married Kirstine Sörensen, whom he met while in Norway, and they had 4 children: Johannes (b.1917), Karl Georg (1919), Godtfred (8 Jul 1920) and Gerhardt (1926). Kirstine died in 1932, leaving OKC to look after the children. Two years later
Early on Ole involved all four of his sons in the business. By the late 1940’s Karl Georg was in charge of plastics production, Gerhardt was in charge of wood manufacturing and Johannes was responsible for truck deliveries. And Godtfred? He was well on his way to managing the company. He began working in the company when he was 12, by the age of 17 he was designing models and by age 24 he was his father’s right hand man.
For most of Ole’s life the company barely managed to stay in business. More often than not he was on the verge of bankruptcy. The fact that the company survived a global depression and a World War in rural Denmark was a testament to Ole’s strength and determination. Ole attributed this to his devout Lutheran faith, but it was more than just that - it was Ole’s vision (and perhaps obstinacy) that allowed the company to grow against these odds.
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ABOUT THE CREATOR
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen
Godtfred was named Junior Vice President on his 30th birthday in 1950. The next year Ole suffered a stroke and Godtfred progressively assumed more of the management responsibilities as Ole’s heath declined. Godtfred became managing director in 1957 and chairman in 1958 after Ole died. After Godtfred became chairman disagreements with the rest of the family lead him to buy out his brothers’ interests in the company and in 1961 he became the sole owner. Godtfred (or simply GKC) and his wife
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Edith had three children, Gunhild, Kjeld (27 December 1947) and Hanne. Like his father, Godtfred involved the children in the business at an early age. Package designs from the late 1950’s show all three of the children with the newly-developed Town Plan. In particular, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (the surname spelling was a clerical error at his birth) showed promise as an imaginative builder and GKC looked to him as a source of product development. Godtfred had, perhaps, the equivalent of a 10th
grade education. He never learned a foreign language and was such a notoriously poor reader that he had his managers give oral reports, but he was also a sharp-minded businessman. He personally developed the System of Play and the Lego Brick; the two defining achievements of the company. During the late 1950’s and 1960’s he expanded the company globally by creating his own sales network: First to Western Europe, then North America, Asia, and the Middle East.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
Kjeld started as a management trainee with the company’s German subsidiary in 1969 and went on to receive a B.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from the Århus School of Business, and an MBA in 1972 from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1973 he returned to the family enterprise as co-director of the LEGO Company’s technical R&D department and of its first foreign production plant in Switzerland. In 1979 he succeeded his father as CEO. Godtfred died 13 July 1995. Hanne was tragically killed in a car accident in 1969 and Gunhild, who married and is now Gunhild Kirk Johansen, is co-owner (with Kjeld) of Kirkbi AG, the Swiss holding company that owns the patents and intellectual property of the Lego Group. Her husband, Mogans Johansen, sat on the Lego board of directors from 1977—2007. Kjeld married Camilla in 1974 and they have three children, Sofie (1975),
Thomas (1979) and Agnetes (1982). Not surprisingly, Kjeld brought a modern, and more formal, business perspective to the family company. He modernized the corporate structure and presided over the growth of the company into one of the largest toy companies in the world. He was also responsible for developing the concept of Lego themes — the “System within a System.” In October 2004 Kjeld stepped down after 25 years as CEO and for only the second time in the company’s history, a non-family member, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, was appointed to run the company. It‘s too early to tell what role Kjeld‘s children will play in the family enterprise, but in April 2007 Thomas became a board member of both the Lego Group and Lego Holding.
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Chapter 2: Transfrom of Wooden LEGO Toys
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TRANSFORM
In 1916 took the 25-year-old carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen in Billund, a workshop about by Steffen Pedersen.
Wooden LEGO Toys The Lego Group had humble beginnings in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. The word lego is an abbreviation for two Danish words leg and godt meaning play well. In 1916, Christiansen purchased a woodworking shop in Billund which had been in business since 1895. He earned his living by constructing houses and furniture for farmers in the region, with the help of a small staff of apprentices. His workshop burned down in 1924 when a fire, lit by two of his young sons, ignited some wood shavings. Undaunted, Ole Kirk took the disaster as an opportunity to construct a larger workshop, and worked towards expanding his business even further; however, the Great Depression would soon have an impact on his
1932
livelihood. In finding ways to minimize production costs, Ole Kirk began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids. It was these miniature stepladders and ironing boards that inspired him to begin producing toys In 1924 Karl Georg and Godtfred set the worksop in fire during a play. They were playing and had made a fire in the workshop, but the wooden toys and other wooden stuff was set on fire. The workshop and the house of the family Christiansen went down. Ole rebuild the house and the workshop. In 1925 the larger factroy was stroke by lightning and was agian set on fire. This time the factory was rebuild also.
Ole Kirk Christiansen, master carpenter and joiner, establishes his business in the village of Billund, Denmark. His firm manufactures stepladders, ironing boards, stools and wooden toys. His son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, starts working in the business at the age of 12.
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ABOUT THE CREATOR TRANSFORM
1935 The LEGO Duck Clothes hangers (Dagny Holm design)
1934 The company and its products now adopt the name LEGO, formed from the Danish words “LEg GOdt” (“play well”). Later, it is realised that in Latin the word means “I put together”. The firm has 6-7 employees. Ole Kirk places the following motto on the workshop wall: “Only the best is good enough”. 1937 Godfred Kirk Christiansen starts creating models. He is 17 years old. 1939 The shop now has 10 employees.
1936 Numskull Jack on the goat
1948 A game of Tiddlywinks
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1940 Denmark occupied by the Germans. Godfred Kirk Christiansen does not travel to Germany to study as planned. Instead, he becomes manager at LEGO. 1942 The LEGO factory burns to the ground, however, the production of wooden toys is quickly resumed. 1943 The firm has approx. 40 employees. 1944 LEGO changes name in ‘Legetøjfabriken LEGO Billund A/S.’ 1948 LEGO has 50 employees.
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1946 Wooden LEGO Blocks. This set was released in 1946 till 1948. LEGO released a new one in 1998 to celebrate the companies 50th birthday in Denmark. The pictures are showing the new set from 1998.
1947 LEGO Monypoli game Godtfred and Ole (first owner of LEGO and his son) seem to have a special love to traffic. Before they invented the LEGO System in Play, they made a traffic game: In 1947 came LEGO with the boardgame Monipoly, a game based on safety in traffic. The poses off the policeman of set ‘1271 Trafficpolice’ are based on this game from 1947.
1949 The company produces around 200 different plastic and wooden toys, including Automatic Binding Bricks, a forerunner of the LEGO bricks we know today. They are sold in Denmark exclusively. The first packaging with four colours is introduced.
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1946 Wooden bricks with decorations (letters and figures)
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1949 1. The LEGO The LEGO Automatic Binding Brick with four and eight studs 2. A plastic fish 3. 3. A plastic sailor 1947 LEGO Monypoli game 14
ABOUT THE TIMELINE OFCREATOR LEGO
1951 The building base with 10 x 20 studs. The plastic tractor (Ferguson)
1952 Big plastic and wooden cars
1950 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, son of the founder, Ole Kirk Christiansen, is appointed Junior Vice President the day he turns 30. 1951 The first ever film about LEGO is shot. The photographer is Chistian Lund, and the film is black and white with no sound. Plastic toys account for half of the company’s output. 1952 Ole Kirk’s plans to expand and a plant is built. It cost 350.000 Danish Crowns. The company now has its first canteen!
1954 The Beam brick LEGO windows and doors
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1953 The Automatic Binding Bricks get a new name: “LEGO Mursten” (“LEGO Bricks”). The name LEGO is printed inside all bricks.
The first application for registration of the trademark. The Danish registration is accepted on the 1st of May 1954. 1954 The word LEGO is officially registered in Denmark on 1st May. Godfred Kirk Christiansen travels to England and meets a purchasing agent on the ferry. They talk about toys. The agent thinks that toys lack idea and system. This spawns the LEGO System idea in the mind of GKC. 1955 After further developing the LEGO Bricks, the company launches the revolutionary “LEGO System of Play”. The first real export of LEGO begins. First country is Sweden. Godfred Kirk Christiansen demonstrates
the new product at a toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany. Reaction are not positive. Selected Product News LEGO System of Play: 28 sets and 8 vehicles plus supplementary elements 1956 The first foreign sales company is established in Hohenwestedt, Germany. The company buys its first own truck. Selected Product News Bicyclists and motorcyclists (little plastic figures) 1957 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen is appointed Managing Director. LEGO Schweiz is established.
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Selected Product News Plastic Tractor A LEGO brick with light inside 1958 Ole Kirk Christiansen passes away and Godtfred Kirk Christiansen becomes head of the company. The first telex machine and photocopier in Billund.140 employees in Billund. 1959 Futura, the productdevelopment department, now has five members of staff. A market analysis department is established. Photography department established. LEGO France, British LEGO Ltd., LEGO Belgium and LEGO Sweden are established. The machines in the production are
now so automatic that one operator can handle two machines at a time! LEGO gives the municipality of Billund approx. 20 acres of land and 50.000 Danish Crowns for a sports ground. 1960 The Lego Group matured a great deal over the next up and coming years. In 1959, the Futura division was founded within the company. Its tiny staff was responsible for generating ideas for new sets. Another warehouse fire struck the Lego Group in 1960, consuming most of the company’s inventory of wooden toys; fortunately, the Lego brick line was strong enough by then that the company decided to abandon
production of wooden toys. By the end of the year, the staff of the Lego Group had come to be over 450 total people. Gerhardt Kirk Christiansen established BILOfix company in Kolding, Denmark, in february 1962. A new factory was build and 90% of the production was sold in Scandinavia, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Wooden car
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ABOUT THE CREATOR TRANSFORM
Making wooden lego toys In the workshop in 1950.
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TRANSFORM
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1. 1957 Assembly of the plastic Ferugson Tractors 2. LEGO factory was rebuilt after the fire and stood hlet modern in 1943 when this picture was taken. In the garden Ole Kirk. 3. Plastic LEGO ambulances are painted. (Photo mid-1950s.) 4. LEGO Group logo (photographed here outside the LEGO System A / S headquarters in Billund, 1996), that hat looked since 1972. The logo is in itself one of the most important and valuable assets of LEGO. It is known and loved and positive associations for birthdays, Christmas and the joy of children and adults around the world. 18
ABOUT THE CREATOR TRANSFORM
The Magic of Plastic Although the LEGO Company continued to make wooden toys until 1960, two essential developments in 1947 provided the pad from which the LEGO Company would be launched into the business stratosphere. The first was the introduction and marketing in 1947 of interlocking toy blocks by Hilary Fisher Page in England under the name Kiddicraft. LEGO Ferguson Tractor - 1952 The second was Ole Kirk Kristiansen’s decision, at the time a huge gamble, to purchase a plastic injectionmolding machine, which was selling at about the same price as a new farm tractor. The cost of the machine consumed a significant percentage of the business profits that year. With the use of that machine, however, the LEGO Company began manufacturing plastic toys, eventually producing such hits with the public as the Ferguson Tractor (at right), 75,000 units of which were sold, placing the Company on a much more solid financial foundation. In 1949, Hilary Fisher Page, the inventor of the interlocking 19
plastic toy block, and his wife, Oreline, visited Ole and Godtfred Kristiansen, leaving drawings and samples of their bricks with the Kristiansens. According to some histories, the Pages were never aware that LEGO produced a version of their, the Pages’, bricks. However, even had they been aware, the Pages would most probably not have been concerned. They, the Pages, had made commitments to produce a vast series of miniature toys, everything from soup cans and cereal boxes to miniature cigarette packs, with which children were meant to simulate adult behaviors. The project ran into serious licensing difficulties and nearly caused Kiddicraft to fold. In this context, many historians conjecture that the Pages would have been unconcerned with the Kristiansens producing their own version of the Kiddicraft block. In any event, later, in a demonstration of the famous LEGO integrity, the Company paid Kiddicraft approximately one hundred
TRANSFORM
thousand dollars for the patent rights to the slitted bricks. Atomic Bonding Bricks In 1949, the first LEGO Brick design modeled after the Kiddicraft brick was used to manufacture a small number of toys. These bricks, however, produced between 1950-1953, had no tubes underneath. Therefore, the LEGO brick as we know it today was not yet on store shelves. During this period, the fates once again stepped into Ole Kirk Kristiansen’s life in a major way. In 1951, Ole suffered a stroke. It was the beginning of failing health, eventually leading to his death in March of 1958. However, this new development did not dampen his fire for the continued expansion of LEGO. In 1952, he ordered a new factory built, a much bigger factory. His son, Godtfred, now a junior partner, objected strenuously. The Company had just emerged from debt. Why not enjoy that status?
Well, Ole believed that, in business, one either grows or dies. Therefore, the LEGO Company spent the equivalent of $538,000 in 1952 to build their new factory building. Ole is reported to have said to his son and junior partner, “I make the decisions, and you find the money.” There was no doubt who was in charge. On another level, Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen understood in an intimate way what the next steps needed to be in order to lead LEGO into the international business limelight. Clearly, a new brick design was essential. Godtfred and Ole, working together, brought just the right mix of talent and vision to produce what was needed for the Company to rise to the next level, AND SEVERAL LEVELS BEYOND THAT.
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ABOUT THE CREATOR TRANSFORM
The LEGO logo In 1934 the first logo was created by the LEGO Group. It was used on correspondance, shipping labels and other printed materials, but not on toys. Starting in 1936 an ink stamp “LEGO Fabriken Billund” was used on the wooden toys.
The original LEGO logo created in 1934, first introduced in 1939 or 1940. It was used extensively on wooden toys, typically in the form of an applied decal, for the next 10 years.
The LEGO logo during the year 1948.
The logo used by the LEGO during 1950.
LEGO company's logo in the year 1953.
A LEGO logo in 1953. Note: "LEGO Mursten".
1952–1953 The LEGO logo as of 1936.
1953–1955 The LEGO logo as it appeared in 1946.
Another LEGO logo used during the year 1946. 21
During 1953 all three of these logos were used
LEGO's logo in 1953. Nicknamed the "Sausage Logo".
"LEGO Mursten" logo in 1955.
TRANSFORM
The LEGO logo from 1956.
Late 1954 The first of the oval logos. This first appeared on LEGO Mursten catalogs. The company had still not standardized on colour. Examples exsists in several colours, typically depending on the colour of the catalog.
1955 This logo first appeared on the System i Leg sets. The original logo was appears to be hand drawn and is different on various boxes from early 1955.
Another "LEGO Mursten" logo in 1955.
1955–1959 The classic dogbone logo from late 1955. It was the first time the logo was standardized, in terms of both design and colour. It was used across all toys lines and appears widely on both plastic and wood toys.
A LEGO logo in 1958.
One of the LEGO logos used in 1958.
Yet another logo used by the LEGO company in 1958.
Another LEGO logo in 1958. Note the blue colour.
1973–1998 This logo appeared in 1973, the same year that LEGO began its own production and distribution in the US. It represents an attempt to standardize on a single worldwide logo and remains the most recognizable version of LEGO’s brand identity.
The Modern Logos 1965–1972 A variation of the 1960 logo. Includes the colour bars (red, yellow, blue, white, and black) and was the first to include the registered trademark as part of the LEGO name. 1998–present A redesign, or in LEGO's words, a “graphic tightening”, of the 1973 logo to allow for better digital reproduction. 22
Chapter 3: System of LEGO
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SYSTEM
System of LEGO The brick The 1×1-stud Systembrick measures about 8×8×10 mm. The sizes of almost all other LEGO construction toys are derived from this size and can be combined with it.
LEGO System along with TECHNIC is The LEGO Company's main line of building elements, minifigures and sets and features the iconic standard LEGO bricks, which evolved from LEGO's first series of Automatic Binding Bricks that first appeared in 1949. The new pieces were first marketed under the name LEGO Mursten in 1953 and from 1955 to 1970 in the System i Leg series of toys. Later it was simply known as LEGO System. Most
System bricks can be used with TECHNIC bricks. LEGO System is also the brand under which most standard minifigure-compatible sets are marketed since 1978. The pieces in this line are smaller than DUPLO blocks. The iconic logo of LEGO System wasn't featured on boxes and catalogues until 1992. Most newer minifigurecompatible sets don't feature this logo anymore although they are still considered a part of System.
First minifigure-compatible themes (1978 - 1999) With the introduction of minifigurecompatible sets in 1978, three major playthemes were introduced, Town, Castle and Space, inside each of which were later added several new subthemes, that mostly consisted of new distinct factions of minifigures and were all related to the respective main theme's core
subjects. With Boats and Trains, two minor themes where introduced that complemented Town but were not counted as parts or subthemes of it. Another unique theme was Model Team from 1986, whose sets focussed on more or less accurate scale reproductions of real world vehicles and were not designed to
be minifigurecompatible. Beginning with Pirates in 1989, LEGO added additional main themes to the LEGO System line that stood beside the three initial main themes. These four major theme made up the bulk of the LEGO System sets of that era and were also the most popular themes. Another 24
ABOUT THE CREATOR SYSTEM
minor System theme Belville was introduced in 1994, which contained larger figures and more speciallydesigned bricks. The next addition was Aquazone in 1995 followed by Western in 1996. Another small theme Time Cruisers was introduced in the same year. The, now six, major minifigurethemes (Town, Castle, Space, Pirates, Aquazone and Western) were subjected to bigger changes in 1999: Space, Pirates, Aquazone and Western were discontinued for the time being. Castle
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was rebranded to Knights' Kingdom. Town's core subjects were outsourced to Town Jr. and later City Center, while still being complemented by different subthemes which were in most cases only remotely related to city-life. An exception was the smaller Adventurers theme from 1998 that was complemented with different subthemes until its eventual discontinuation in 2004. The smaller Alpha Team was introduced in 2001 and lasted a while, unlike many of the newer themes have. Smaller themes and licensing (1999
onwards) Edit Instead of slowly adding new factions and sets to existing main themes, most themes were now self-contained series of sets that in most cases had all of its sets released in its first year and only lasted for one or two more years. One of this new themes was Rock Raiders from 1999 and Life on Mars from 2001, which was a shortlived revival of the old Space theme. Nevertheless, there were still some original LEGO themes that ran for several years and were regularly updated with new
ABOUT THE CREATOR
sets, like Alpha Team that ran from 2001 to 2005 and to a smaller extent Knights’ Kingdom II that saw new releases from 2004 to 2006. Relaunch of classic themes (2005 onwards) Edit With the introduction of City in 2005, the
constant rebranding of the Town theme in the years after 1999 came to a halt. It also marked the first true revival of one of the classic major themes since the initial concept of complementing a consistent long running theme by regular releases of new sets saw a
SYSTEM
renaissance as well. Other recent themes were Castle (2007) and the continuation of Pirates. Space saw a partial revival in the form of Mars Mission (2007 2008) and the new Space Police from 2009.
THEMES Small themes Rock Raiders (1999) Life on Mars (2001) Island Xtreme Stunts (2002) World City (2003 - 2004) Dino Attack (2005) Vikings (2005 - 2006) Aqua Raiders (2007) The other side of the medal were themes that were based on popular media franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter. Those themes would regularly see new releases over the timespan of several years. Another possibility of releasing sets based on licenses was the
Studios theme. Licensed System sets Batman (2006 - 2008, 2012 onwards) Ferrari (2004 - 2009) Harry Potter (2001 - 2007, 2010 onwards) Indiana Jones (2008 onwards) Jurassic Park 3 (2003) (Studios subtheme) Lamborghini (2009) Prince of Persia (2010 onwards) Speed Racer (2008) Spider-Man (2002 - 2004) (Studios subtheme) SpongeBob SquarePants (2007 - 2010, 2011 onwards) Star Wars (1999 onwards) Toy Story / Toy Story 3 (2010 - 2011) Williams F1 (2002 - 2003)
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ABOUT THE CREATOR THEME
LEGO Theme Building Your Lego Cities Logo city sets require quit a bit of room. A nice big tabletop will work or clear a size-able place on the floor. Make sure it’s an area that won’t be used for a while! A Lego Train set would be great way to start your city. You can easily build your town around you city’s transportation. Use your Lego city building sets for your cities main street stores and other buildings. This would be the “downtown” area of your city. You can use your Lego building bricks for building some tall buildings, giving your city a skyline. Add a Lego hospital set, police station set and Lego school sets too. Now’s the time to build your city’s neighborhoods. There is no limit to the sizes and types of houses you can construct out of your building bricks. Put in some Lego trees and grass for your lawns. Add a nice neighborhood or city
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parks with trees, benches and playgrounds. Another nice touch would be to build a Lego airport set with airplanes on the outskirts of your town. Your town’s now ready for Lego vehicles! This is a really fun time in building your city. Just imagine all of the cars, trucks, buses, fire engines, and police cruisers in your own hometown or nearby town and add them to your city. No city would be complete without people and animals! There is an endless supply of Lego mini figures, or minifigs, to choose from and they can all be found at Toy Building Bricks. Your convenient headquarters for all of your Lego toy building sets.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
THEME
1. Lego city airport 2. Lego City Harbour 3. Lego City Police Station 4. Lego city patrol boat and tower 5. Lego City Train Station 6. Lego City Camper 28
ABOUT THE CREATOR THEME
Lego Star Wars - The Most Popular Lego Theme Sets It’s hard for any kid nowadays to picture their childhood without Lego being involved, because most kids did grow up with the product and most likely feel some sort of attachment to their Lego brick sets to this day. Whether it’s an original Lego set or sets from various series, kids and adults alike have fallen in love with building Legos. The product is known for its customisability. Who wouldn’t want to build their own medival castle or other structures? With Legos, anyone can tap into their creativity. Certain Lego sets have stood out from the rest and are considered by many as an important milestone
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for the company. All Lego building bricks are extremely popular, yes, but if there’s anything that caused the popularity of Lego bricks to shoot up by a wide margin, it’s the Star Wars Legos sets. The movie trilogy became their very first franchised product way back in 1999 when the Star Wars movies became legendary. People were thrilled at the prospect of being able to build Lego toy sets that resembled various star ships and other iconic structures in the Star Wars galaxy. Since then, Lego’s franchised sets have turned into classic American toys for the world’s youth. Today many adults are also fans of
the product as well and have created their own custom Legos to share with fellow fanatics. A lot of other toy sets pale in comparison because they don’t have tie-ins with the famous products as Lego does. Thanks to the popularity of Star Wars Legos sets, the company’s popularity has spread and today with many more licensed sets, such as Lego Batman sets, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and even Avatar: The Last Airbender Lego sets. Star Wars fanatics and Lego fanatics alike can enjoy the intricate figure Star War’s General Grievous, or Lego Star War’s Darth Vader, or even the themes main good guy, Lego’s
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Star Wars Luke Skywalker. All Lego figures have been crafted to greatly resemble their movie counterparts, and many characters have their own Lego versions today. For the characters that unfortunately did not get their own Lego versions, many people customize their own figures and sometimes even sell those custom Legos online. This is even further proof that Legos enhance creativity. Now, anyone can
stage their own jedi wars in the Star Wars galaxy by collecting various Lego sets and even building their own structures. There are hundreds of toy building sets out there that one can purchase for themselves and or for their child. Parents can enjoy spending quality, and valuable, time with their children while building their unique Lego creations. As for Star Wars Legos, they have become so popular that a game series was
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even launched, dedicated to the Lego characters. To this day, as the franchise continues to flourish via the newly released TV series, Clone Wars, new sets are being produced to keep up with the newer characters and more recent space crafts, characters, and structures. New video games dedicated to Legos are also being planned, proving that people of all ages never tire of their Lego toy building bricks!
Star Wars Lego Minifig 30
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Lego Duplo Block Building Sets For the Youngsters Lego Duplo toys were first introduced in 1969 and are made especially for toddlers and young children in the 1 1/2 to 6 year old range. Lego Duplo bricks, block building sets, and pieces are well built and made from a nontoxic material. The Duplo blocks are twice the height, length and width of conventional Lego bricks, allowing toddlers ease in using the blocks and making the sets more easily handled. Building instructions come in every new boxed set. A parent can also go online and find guides for helping the kids build their Lego Duplo toy sets. The Lego Duplo sets are divided into 7 different categories. Bricks and Building Accessories: Nine Individual basic 31
sets that include 3 different sized brick boxes, a small town set, building plate sets, and Build and Play, Fun With Wheels and World People sets. Dino: Comprised of Dino Birthday, Dino Trap and Dino Valley individual sets. Castles for Boys and Girls: Three castle sets that include the Ambush, Castle, and Princes'' Palace sets. Fire, Police and Vehicles: Police Station, Fire Chief, Tanker Truck, Fire Station and Garbage Truck sets are found in this series. In and Around Town: The largest series with 12 sets ranging from Supermarket, and Friendly Zoo to a Construction Site with Tractor Fun and Digger sets. Thomas and Friends: This is where you will find the Thomas Starter Train, Percy at the Sheds and
Spencer and Sir Topham Hatt sets. Trains: You can pick up the My First Train and Track Repair Train sets, as well as, switching, straight and curved track in this series of sets. Buy your younger childrens Lego Duplo toys at Toy Building Bricks at prices you can afford. We appreciate your business!
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LEGO速 DUPLO速 Deluxe Brick Box
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MY LEGO Duplo Town Duplo, 2008
Fun with DUPLO Bricks
My First Lego速 Duplo速 Set.
Basic Bricks - Medium
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Creating A Lego Medieval Castle
Miracles of Agostino Novello
Castle Gate
Choose between whimsical and faithful reconstruction. Depending on preference, choose whether you and/ or your child want to create a fairy-tale story kind of medieval castle, or the faithful reconstruction of a historical site. Both kinds of building projects have their own set rules, of course. A whimsical piece can afford creative freedom while a faithful reconstruction of an existing castle can also be beautiful to behold. Decide on the scale of your project. If you feel that creating an entire castle project can be a little overwhelming for your children, they can build just one part of the castle instead. This works well using small building sets, channeling more creative
energy into building one section of the castle city itself, which could include a market place, and one prominent part of the castle such as the drawbridge. Some Lego builders prefer to incorporate “stories� within their constructions. A very good example of this would be creating only the top half of a castle with a dragon alighting on one of the towers. A battle scene, complete with knights and horses, on the doorstep of a castle would also be an interesting story to tell! You will find a complete line of reasonably priced Lego Castle sets right here at the Toy Building Bricks online store, where your business is always appreciated!
Japanese Temple
King's Castle Castle/ Royal Knights, 2006 33
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The Fantasy Begins With Lego Bionicle Toy Sets
The Lego Glatorian Bionicle adventures all take place in a desolate land called Bara Magna. There are five major villages in Bera Magna and are called Tajun, Tesara, Vulcanus, Roxtus, Iconox and Atero. A different Agori tribe inhabits each of the first five villages, plus the sand tribe who wanders the desert. Members of each tribe live in Atero. The wastelands in between the villages are home to a roaming tribe of bone hunters, dangerous desert dwellers, the beast like Vorox and Zesk, and other perils. Glatorian fighters that protect the villages and Agori villagers and traders travel between
the villages facing danger at every turn! Due to the harsh, dry climate, most vehicles are creature drawn. One thing for sure is that travelers do not want to be caught in the desert overnight! The Lego Bionicle Glatorian warrior sets are everyone's favorites. All of these fantasy warriors have their own unique weapons and powers. These six sets all include one life counter as well as the warrior himself. There are six Agori sets that any Lego Bionicle fan would want in their collection s well. There is an Agori set featuring a leader or protector from
each of the tribes. These sets feature the characters Atakus, Raanu, Tarduk, Berix, Metus, and Zesk. The six Bionicle Mistika toy building sets are great fun too. There are three Toa Nuva heroes that do battle with three different dangerous members of the Brotherhood of Makuta in the Swamp of Secrets. The Toa include Toa Gali, Toa Tahu, and Toa Onua. The Brotherhood includes Krika, Gorast, and Bitil. The characters in these sets have some of the most unique weapons in the Bionicle universe! Bionicle Vehicles and Creatures sets offer some really
fantastic heroes, villains and their powerful rides! These five great sets are called Cendox V1, Kaxium V3, Baranus V7, Thornatus V9, and Fero and Skirmix. New Bionicle vehicle! The Skopio XV-1 has all the fighting skills of a scorpion with four retractable treads, enabling it to cover any terrain on four legs or as a high speed all terrain vehicle. Complete with it’s creator and pilot, Telluris. You will find all of these Lego Bionicle sets and more right here at the Toy Building Bricks online store and at prices that can not be beat!
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Lego Bionicle Matoran Kirop
Lego Bionicle Legends Stronius
Lego Bionicle Legends Stronius
Lego Bionicle Legends Stronius
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Lego Disney Toy Story Sets Are Here!
I'm sure there are not many visitors to ToyBuildingBricks. com that remembers the television show called Woody's Roundup. Of course you wouldn't, it was on in the 1950's! That would certainly qualify the minifigs Woody and his trusted horse Bullseye, Jessie, and that ornery Stinky Pete, all of Woody's Roundup Set 7594, as old west characters! Everything in the Lego Disney Toy Story takes place in Andy's room. A universe in it's self. Enter Buzz Lightyear and his green alien buddy of the Construct a Buzz Set 7592 into Andy's room in Buzz's Star Command Spaceship
Woody and Buzz to the Rescue!
Set 7593 and a conflict has to be settled. Buzz tries to overtake Woody's control of Andy's room and Woody is having no part of that. In the end Woody makes Buzz see the light and everything turns out fine with peace in Andy's room. In fact in Woody and Buzz to the Rescue Set 7590 the two actually team up with Woody driving the motorized car and Buzz using his back pack rocket to mount a rescue mission. Of course you can't have a perfect universe so we see Construct a Zurg Set 7591 providing the Toy Story with Zurg the Evil Emperor that keeps Buzz Lightyear
busy saving the universe from Zurg when he isn't on a rescue mission with Woody. Zurg is no easy foe with his cannon attached to one arm. The final addition to The Toy Story is Army Men On Patrol Set 7595. These four soldiers with their jeep are up for any mission. The cool thing about this set? Everything is Army green. Soldiers, jeep, weapons and even the bomb detector are green! You can get this and all of Lego's Disney Toy Story sets at cheap prices, right here at the Toy Building Bricks store.
Woody's Round-up
Toy story set 36
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The LEGO Mindstorm
LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0
LEGO Mindstorms NXT
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The LEGO Mindstorm series of kits contain software and hardware to create small, customizable and programmable robots. They include a programmable 'Brick' computer that controls the system, a set of modular sensors and motors, and LEGO parts from the Technics line to create the mechanical systems. The hardware and software roots of the Mindstorms Robotics Invention System kit go back to the programmable brick created at the MIT Media Lab. This brick was programmed in Brick Logo. The first visual programming environment was called LEGOsheets, since it was created by the University of Colorado in 1994 based on AgentSheets. The original Mindstorms Robotics Invention System kit contained two motors, two touch sensors, and one light sensor. The NXT version has three servo motors and one light, sound, and distance as well as 1 touch sensor. The NXT 2.0 has 2 touch sensors as well as a light and distance sensor, and support for 4 without using a sensor multiplexer. LEGO Mindstorms may be used to build a model of an embedded system with computercontrolled electromechanical
parts. Many kinds of real-life embedded systems, from elevator controllers to industrial robots, may be modelled using Mindstorms. Mindstorms kits are also sold and used as an educational tool, originally through a partnership between Lego and the MIT Media Laboratory. The educational version of the products is called Lego Mindstorms for Schools, and comes with the ROBOLAB GUIbased programming software, developed at Tufts University using the National Instruments LabVIEW as an engine. In addition, the shipped software can be replaced with third party firmware and/or programming languages, including some of the most popular ones used by professionals in the embedded systems industry, like Java and C. The only difference between the educational series, known as the "Challenge Set", and the consumer series, known as the "Inventor Set", is that it includes another light sensor and several more gearing options. Mindstorms is named after the book Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas by Seymour Papert.
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Chapter 4: The art of the brick
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NATHAN SAWAYA: BRICK ARTIST Nathan Sawaya (born July 10, 1973), is a Lebanese-American artist who builds custom three-dimensional models and large-scale mosaics from popular everyday items and standard Lego toy bricks. His unique art creations are commissioned by companies, charities, individuals, museums and galleries. Born in Colville, Washington and raised in Veneta, Oregon, Sawaya attended New York University, where he earned bachelors and law degrees, eventually practicing law at the firm Winston & Strawn. He first came to national attention in 2004, when he won a nationwide search for a professional Lego Master Model Builder. After working for the Lego company for six months, he branched off and opened his own art studio in New York and is officially recognized by The Lego Group as a Lego Certified Professional. Since 2000, Sawaya has created some of the most recognizable LEGO art sculptures, including a 7-foot (2.1 m)-long replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, a life-size tyrannosaurus rex, a 6-foot 39
(1.8 m)-tall Han Solo frozen in carbonite, Curious George, and models of Alfred Hitchcock and Lindsay Lohan. Others include a huge black-and-white self portrait and a gigantic Monopoly box. He had his first solo art exhibit in the Spring of 2007 at the Lancaster Museum of Art. "The Art of the Brick" is the first major museum exhibition in the U.S. to focus exclusively on the use of Lego building blocks as an art medium. Nathan had his first exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia in June 2011. The exhibition since travelled around Australia, including stops in Adelaide and at the Sydney Town Hall. In July 2012 Nathan's Asian tour began. His art is currently on show at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei, Taiwan until the 14th October. The tour has broken attendance records and been widely acclaimed. His work is currently shown by Avant Gallery, Agora Gallery, and Artsicle.
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The incridible LEGO artwork by HIM
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1. Heartfelt - February 2009 2. Underneath - March 2009 3. Blue - January 2006 4. Yellow - February 2006 5. Circle Triangle Square - April 2009 6. Think! - November 2008
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7. Mt. Rushmore Replica - February 2009 8. Rebirth of New Orleans - December 2006 9. Hands - August 2009 10. Gray - March 2006 11. Hand - January 2006 12. Life size Replicas - October 2008 40
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13. Iwo Jima Replica - September 2006 (This is a replica of the flag raising at Iwo Jima – a permanent installation at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.) 14. Grasp - December 2008 15. Green - July 2008 16. Sing - February 2008 41
17. Mask - January 2008 (Mask is currently on display at the Avant Gallery in Miami.) 18. Reflection - August 2006 19. Stop, Look and Live - October 2008
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20. Red - August 2005 21. Balance 22. Everlasting, 2010 - Two brick figures stand hand-in-hand, a representation in love. 23. Hawk -October 2012 24. Crowd
25. Bare bones in bricks - June 2012 26. Melting man debuts in times square 27. Pencil fun - February 2009 28. Pop-up book - December 2009 29. Flowers - May 2005 30. Captain america - September 2011 42
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