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I don’t know about you, but I love Legos. Not the fancy, branded sets that build one thing or maybe two, the latest $99 starships, $199 Harry Potter sets, or $399 kits to build the death star (what?). I love the basic, red, green, yellow, blue, and white sets that are an open-ended invitation for children to use their imagination and play, building houses, bases, creatures, skyscrapers — where ever their imagination takes them that day.

My children are getting good at the kits (oh, we have ‘em), and they’ve always made their own “jet zoomers” to zoom around the house, but now they’re discovering the beauty of open-ended construction with the little bricks, and oh, it’s beautiful. Widget and I spent yesterday morning constructing a “base” and some vehicles with his little guys and all of our blocky bricks, and it was beautiful. Just the perfect way to spend the day with your kindergartner (and his 103′ fever).

When he went to bed, I went online to grab some more bricks, so his next “base” could be more than a few bricks high, and we could build a skyscraper more than four bricks wide. I thought it would be easy to find the basic sets online, the ones that we used to have, before they all got so specialized and intricate (which I do love, for older children, but for littles? bring on the bricks!). It wasn’t easy, so I asked my twitter peeps. And they answered — in spades!

Where have all the basic legos gone?

There are two easy ways to find them, locally at your Toys R Us, Walmart, or Lego store, or online at lego.com. The magic words are ”basic bricks.” Here are two sets that I recommend if you’re looking for “just the bricks, ma’am”:

    * The big set: 6177 http://bit.ly/9tCLf1
    * The little set: 5574 http://bit.ly/abnDTv

The little set is $12.99 for 280 bricks. I’m picking up a bunch for birthday parties. (You’ve been warned.)

This post was not sponsored or prompted by anyone or anything — it’s just too hard to find these things, and I wanted to help make it easier for others looking for the same thing. This is for you, @yankeedrawl and friends — and a big THANK YOU for all the ideas to @mommy4cocktails @canape @minkymoo @angiekeenan @pgoodness @verybloggybeth @brandie185 @ejwillingham @bigbluemomma @squawky @nowseriouslykid @jodifur @centsiblelife @velma @thejesterman @joufy and @joeymom who made great suggestions, including legos.com, Toys R Us, WalMart, Target, Amazon, the Lego store, CraigsList, yard sales, and eBay. Some of you are a lot more patient than I am. :-0

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lego freestyle
Basic

are marketed as part of the LEGO System program.

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Lego A/S

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Address:
DK-7190 Billund
Denmark

Telephone: 75 33 11 88
Fax: 75 35 33 60

Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1944
Employees: 8,800
Sales: $2 billion
SICs: 3944 Games, Toys, and Children's Vehicles

Company History:

Managed by the founding company, Lego A/S of Billund, Denmark, the Lego Group consisted of 45 companies which distributed Lego toys in 133 countries around the world in the mid-1990s. Owned exclusively by the Kristiansen family of Denmark, this intensely private company has never released sales figures for public review. However, industry analysts have estimated annual revenues at about $2 billion, making Lego the fifth largest toy company in the world. The tremendous global success of Lego can be attributed both to the ingenuity of the Lego System toys and to the integrated marketing approach of this one-brand corporate group. Lego products, including the Duplo line for preschoolers and the Lego Technic line for older children, can be found in about 75 percent of American and 80 percent of European households with children.

The Lego brand of toys was created in 1932 when Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a Danish carpenter, decided to extend his carpentry business by manufacturing a line of simple, hand-carved, wooden toys. He called his new toy business "Lego" as a contraction of two Danish words "leg godt" meaning "play well." Years later when Lego construction toys became immensely popular in Europe, people pointed out that Lego also means "I assemble" in latin, but Kristiansen always claimed that this double meaning was purely serendipitous. During the bleak years of the 1930s, Kristiansen sold his simple wooden toys door to door in the tiny farming community of Billund, Denmark, where he lived. After facing near bankruptcy in 1932, Ole Kirk managed to survive by combining the production of his wooden toys with more mundane household implements such as ladders and milking stools. In one memorable year, the small woodworking firm became involved with the international yo-yo craze. Lego began large scale production of the toy only to discover that, like most toy fads, the yo-yo boom died as suddenly as it had begun. His storerooms crammed with thousands of the unwanted wooden discs, Kristiansen converted yo-yo halves into wheels for a new toy truck that became very popular with Danish children.

After the turmoil of World War II and a disastrous fire that destroyed the toy factory in 1942, Ole Kirk Kristiansen decided to rebuild his enterprise. A larger and more modern factory was built near the site of the old warehouse in Billund and the company was converted from a sole-trading firm to a private limited toy manufacturing company named Legetojsfabrikken LEGO Billund A/S (The LEGO Billund Toy Factory Ltd.). Ole Kirk took the title of senior manager and appointed his son Godtfred as junior manager. By 1947, the Lego company had matured into a prosperous family enterprise which manufactured almost 150 different kinds of carved wooden toys and employed about 40 people.

In the postwar period, good quality plastic became widely available for the first time, prompting Lego to add plastic toys to its line of merchandise. Initially, these plastic toys were coolly received by Danish consumers, with one journalist pointing out that "plastics will never take the place of good, solid wooden toys." Despite this early setback, Lego continued to experiment with plastic toys; in 1949, Lego made its first tentative step into toy history when the company introduced Automatic Binding Bricks, a plastic building toy in which the blocks could grip together to prevent block towers from toppling on little children. These blocks had studs on top, like today's Lego bricks, but their undersides were hollow, allowing the blocks to grip only when they were placed directly on top of one another. These bricks were not well received by toy consumers and many were returned from retailers unsold.

The concept for the Lego System was born in 1954 when Ole Kirk Kristiansen's son Godtfred visited a local toy fair. One of the buyers at the fair complained to Godtfred that all of the toys being offered at the exposition were alike and that no toy company offered a comprehensive toy system that would encourage creativity in children. Godtfred felt challenged by this complaint and returned to the Lego toy factory determined to come up with an original toy system. He drew up a list of ten requirements that he felt were essential for a quality line of toys. Among the more obvious criteria, like high quality and good play value, were some particular qualities that would distinguish the future Lego brick system. These criteria included the requirement that the toy line be enjoyable for either sex, that it cover a wide age group, that the system include a large number of components, and that compatible pieces be available for adding on to the parts already purchased. Upon reviewing more than 200 toys already being produced by the Lego company, Godtfred decided that the Automatic Binding Bricks, which at this time accounted for only about 5 percent of sales, held the most promise as the basis for an integrated toy system.

In 1955, the building bricks, manufactured in bright red, yellow, white, and blue, were renamed the "Lego System of Play" and marketed not just as building blocks but as an integrated toy system. Packaged with model street signs, cars and trucks, the construction set encouraged children to create whole city blocks instead of just one building. The great virtue of the Lego System was that it was infinitely expandable; a parent could purchase a set with bricks and accessories and then be encouraged to buy limitless numbers of add-on sets. In succeeding years, the small Billund toy factory was deluged with orders for the Lego System of Play, due in large measure to Godtfred's insistence on extensive advertising and personal sales meetings with the major Danish toy retailers.

Although sales of the new toy system exceeded expectations, the company continued to experiment with the design of the product. A major breakthrough came in 1957 when, after testing a variety of models with local children, the company introduced the now-famous Lego brick with studs on top and tubes underneath. This new design not only held the bricks together more firmly, but it allowed a child to place the bricks together in any configuration. Three eight-studded bricks could now be combined in 1,060 ways. A child could build tall structures of practically any shape or size, limited only by the number of Lego bricks at his or her disposal.

With the new and improved bricks, soaring Danish sales, and a newly renovated and expanded factory, Lego executives felt that it was time to make a serious effort at marketing their toy system internationally. Initially, Lego had exported their products on only a limited basis by means of wholesale agents in other European countries; however, by the late 1950s they began to set up their own foreign sales subsidiaries. In 1956, the first foreign sales office was opened in Germany, to be followed quickly by offices in Switzerland, Belgium, France, Sweden, and Great Britain. Through these subsidiaries, the Lego company began to consider the whole of Europe as their home market for the Lego product and to use this base to extend sales overseas. By the early 1960s, licenses for the North American production and distribution of the plastic toy had been sold to the Samsonite Corporation; further, the Lego Overseas division recruited sales agents to sell the plastic bricks in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America.

From the start of this international expansion, Lego executives had decided that only the Lego construction system would be marketed internationally. This decision would mark the first step in Lego's move to become a one product company as the small plastic bricks began to account for larger and larger shares of sales. The fate of the wooden toys that had been the mainstay of the business for more than 20 years was finally sealed in 1960 when a fire destroyed the portion of the factory in which they were produced. Lego managers decided not to rebuild the wooden toy division, but instead to concentrate all production facilities on the Lego construction toy system.

American distribution of Lego products began in 1961 when the giant Samsonite Corporation acquired the American and Canadian license to manufacture and distribute the popular Danish construction toy. Samsonite was looking to diversify its growing company and felt that its experience in plastics and retailing corresponded well with the plastic toy industry. Samsonite opened plants in Stratford, Ontario, and Loveland, Colorado, to manufacture Lego bricks and established a separate sales force to market the product. Although Samsonite managed to sell a respectable $5 million in Lego products annually in North America, the sales figures never matched the huge success that Lego was having in the European market. As a result, Samsonite relinquished its Lego System license in 1973. "Our managerial expertise was better suited to consumer durables than to toys, so we eased out of the toy business" a Samsonite executive stated in a 1976 article in Business Week. The Lego Group moved in immediately, establishing an American sales company, Lego Systems, Inc., in Brookfield, Connecticut. In only two years, through heavy investment in advertising and promotion, the subsidiary was able to raise sales levels by more than 10 times; to meet this enormous increase in demand, the Lego Group set up a huge 143 acre site in Enfield, Connecticut, in 1975 for the manufacture and sales of Lego products. By 1976, annual retail sales in the U.S. had reached $100 million, accounting for almost one third of Lego sales worldwide.

By the early 1970s, the Lego company employed 1,000 workers at its Billund headquarters, was earning $50 million annually, and was responsible for nearly 1 percent of Denmark's industrial exports, according to toy historian Marvin Kaye. As the sales of the Lego construction toy system grew and new foreign sales subsidiaries were opened, it became imperative for Lego A/S to reorganize its administrative structure. Under the directorship of Godtfred Kristiansen, who had assumed control of the company after his father's retirement in 1956, Lego began to transform itself from a small family business into a multinational corporation. Although this evolution was begun in the 1960s, with the creation of separate divisions to handle product development, technological development, and sales and promotion, the pace and scale of these changes increased dramatically in the mid 1970s. In 1976, partly at the urging of Godtfred's son Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the Lego company was split into five sister companies.

International management and coordination was transferred to a new company called Interlego A/S (later to be renamed Lego A/S) and for the first time an outsider, Vagn Holck Andersen, was appointed to head overall operations. Lego System A/S would retain responsibility for the manufacture and direct supervision of European sales companies, Lego Systems Inc. would oversee North American sales and production, Lego Overseas A/S would coordinate sales in those countries without their own sales companies, and Lego Futura ApS would be responsible for product development. According to a 1974 article in International Management, Godtfred was reluctant to give up direct control over the day to day management of Lego, but he eventually agreed to create a more efficient management system. However, Godtfred was firm in his determination to keep the company private in spite of suggestions that going public would provide the capital for a more rapid expansion. In 1979, the Kristiansen family regained direct administrative control of the company with the appointment of Godtfred's son Kjeld Kristiansen as president of Interlego A/S.

The basic Lego brick remained virtually unchanged since its introduction in 1958. The mechanical properties and raw material of the bricks were improved so that they fit together more easily, but a brick made in 1958 would still join with one made in the mid-1990s. However, many new components were added to the Lego system with the basic requirement that all new products be compatible with all other elements of the system. In the 1960s, the Lego System sets began to be organized around specific themes, including trains, space, and airplanes. By the 1990s, these theme-related sets had evolved into ten product lines: Freestyle, Belville, Town, Space, Castle, Pirates, Ships, Trains, Aquazone, and Model Team. Each product line included many different sets with components geared to each specific theme, but nonetheless compatible with the components of all the other product lines.

One of Godtfred Kristiansen's original principles for his toy system was that it be attractive to both boys and girls. Although girls had always formed a share of the Lego market, market research revealed that the majority of Lego sets were being bought for boys. Over the years, Lego has attempted to broaden its appeal to girls. In 1979, the company introduced a Lego block based jewelry set, but it failed to capture the imagination of the five- to seven-year-old girls for which it was designed; the line was discontinued after a couple of years of mediocre sales. Undaunted, Lego introduced a new segment of their Basic product line oriented specifically for girls. Called Paradisa, the principal feature of the new line was its color. Pale pink, pastel, purple, and turquoise blocks were considered more attractive to girls than the traditional primary colors of the Lego System products. According to David Lafrennie, Lego's American PR director, the Paradisa line was very successful, and Belville, a girl-oriented set with a "role-playing" theme, was launched in 1994.

Another of Godtfred Kristiansen's principles was that the toy system be fun for all ages. From its introduction, Lego System was designed for a fairly broad age range of three to 16 years, but the Kristiansens felt that they could strengthen either extreme of this range by adding lines specifically developed for pre-schoolers and the older child. In 1969, Duplo Toys were introduced. Using the same principle of the interlocking brick as the Lego System, Duplo bricks were larger and easier to manipulate with small hands; further, they could also be combined with the smaller Lego bricks as the child grew. Lego Technic, introduced in 1977, was designed to bolster the other end of the age range and bring Lego play into the teen years. With Lego Technic the older child could build technically realistic models using the gears, pulleys, beams and other special pieces found in Lego Technic sets.

By the early 1980s, Lego had amassed an enormous share of the worldwide construction toy segment. Sales grew at an average rate of about 10 percent a year through the 1980s and early 1990s in spite of overall slow growth in the toy industry. In the late 1980s, total sales had soared to about $600 million, much of the increase due to the huge gains made in the United States and Canada. This steady growth was capped by an astounding 18 percent increase in 1991, at a time when overall toy industry sales rose by only 4 percent. In 1992, Lego controlled about 80 percent of the construction toy market, according to Advertising Age. By the mid-1990s, the small Billund carpentry business had grown into a group of 45 companies on six continents employing almost 9,000 people.

The largest threat to Lego's dominance of the construction toy market in the 1980s and 1990s did not come from competing construction toys but from Lego imitators. One of the great virtues of the Lego System was the simplicity of its basic building blocks, but this simplicity has also proved to be a liability in which other companies could easily reproduce the basic design. Compounding this problem was the fact that the patent on the design for the Lego brick expired in 1981, forcing Lego to enter lawsuits with other companies involving trademark infringement on packaging, logos, and accessories but not on the brick design itself. Although a number of small companies produced cheap imitations of Lego using names like Rego, Dalu, or even Leggo, these small-scale unpromoted brands proved to be little more than an irritant to the giant Lego Group. A much greater threat came from the established toy company Tyco Toys, Inc., which in 1984 launched its Super Blocks series featuring plastic building blocks that were interchangeable with Lego bricks. Lego Systems sued Tyco in both the U.S. and Hong Kong courts but, after four years of litigation, they were unsuccessful in stopping sales of Super Blocks. Tyco's copy-cat product, while never approaching Lego sales volumes in the U.S., nonetheless managed to capture some 10 percent of U.S. sales of construction toys in the late 1980s. Even more importantly, the lower price of Super Blocks put pressure on Lego to keep their prices at a competitive level.

Although Lego had essentially been a single brand company since the early 1960s, the 1990s witnessed growth in the non-toy segment of the Lego Group. This new market included the extension of Lego licenses to a variety of children's items including clothing, children's room decor, and books. Since 1968, an invaluable part of the Lego marketing campaign in Europe had been the Legoland Park in Billund, Denmark. Built from some 42 million Lego bricks, the theme park attracted more than 20 million visitors, all of whom went home with a new vision of the potential of Lego toys. A new Lego theme park was scheduled to open outside London in 1996 and plans for an American park in Carlsbad, California, were also underway.

Lego marketers attributed the tremendous success of their construction system to their integrated marketing approach and their emphasis on brand building. "We put all our eggs in one basket, and we market that basket," Dick Garvey, vice-president of marketing, stated in a 1992 article in Advertising Age. However, a toy analyst with Kidder, Peabody & Co. told Advertising Age's Kate Fitzgerald in 1991 that Lego's phenomenal growth could not last: "Lego's been allowed to grow by leaps and bounds for the past decade mainly because they had a lot of catching up to do. The construction-toy market in the U.S. was wide open ... Lego is only now reaching the saturation point in the U.S. and they're going to have a hard time keeping up their momentum." In spite of these predictions, Lego sales have continued to grow in the 1990s, largely due to increases in sales of Lego Technic and the popular new lines for girls. With its stable base and continually evolving new product lines, Lego Systems remains poised to dominate the plastic construction toy segment of the industry well into the 21st century.

Principal Subsidiaries: Lego Futura ApS (Denmark); Lego Dacta (Denmark and Germany); Lego World (Denmark, Great Britain, and United States); Lego System A/S (Denmark); Lego Systems Inc. (United States); Lego Overseas A/S (Denmark); Lego Produktion AG (Switzerland).

Further Reading:

"A Danish Toymaker Puts It Together in the U.S.," Business Week, September 6, 1976, pp. 80, 83.
50 Years of Play, Billund, Denmark: The Lego Group, 1982.
Fitzgerald, Kate, "Lego: Dick Garvey. (The Marketing 100)," Advertising Age, July 8, 1992, p. S20.
------, "Toyland's Elusive Goal--Win Over Both Sexes," Advertising Age, February 8, 1993, pp. S2, S18.
Kaye, Marvin, The Story of Monopoly, Silly Putty, Bingo, Twister, Scrabble, Frisbee et cetera, New York: Stein and Day, 1973, pp. 155--159.
Kestin, Hesh, "Nothing Like a Dane," Forbes, November 3, 1986, pp. 145, 148.
"Lego and Tyco Blocks," New York Times, November 15, 1988, p. D13.
"Lego Taps New Markets, but Keeps an Eye on Its Image," Brandweek, February 8, 1993, p.28.
Meeks, Fleming, "So Sue Me," Forbes, November 28, 1988, pp. 72, 74.
Morais, Richard C., "Babes in Toyland?," Forbes, January 3, 1994, pp. 70--71.
Oates, David, "The King of the Lego Castle," International Management, January 1974, pp. 32--36.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 13. St. James Press, 1996.

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NOTICE: These pages are in NO WAY affiliated with or sponsored by the LEGO Group. All trademarks and tradenames are the property of their respective owners. Unless otherwise noted, all photos displayed herein are the property of the LEGO Group, and you should not assume any rights to them whatsoever, including downloading of the images. These pages are for display and reference only.

Please visit the official LEGO web site!

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LEGO History

A Chronological History of the LEGO Company and LEGO Toys

1932
In 1932, in the village of Billund, Denmark, a master carpenter and joiner by the name of Ole Kirk Christiansen started a company to manufacture stepladders, ironing boards and wooden toys. Ole Kirk's son, Godtfred Kirk, joined him in the family business at the age of 12.

1934
In 1934, the Christiansen's dub their business LEGO. It is a contraction of the Danish words "leg" and "godt". "Leg godt" means "play well" in Danish. Coincidentally, the word lego has the meanings "I study" and "I put together" in Latin.

At this time, the LEGO company only had about six or seven employees. It was also around this time that Ole Kirk's motto came into being as the guiding prinicple for his company: "Only the best is good enough." A funny note about this motto is that, apparently, the original Danish "Det bedste er ikke for godt," when translated literally into English, means "The best is not too good." But you get the point.

1942
In 1942, a fire burned the LEGO factory to the ground. Refusing defeat, the Christiansens quickly resumed production of wooden toys. The company employed about 40 employees at the time. Five years later, they were the first company in Denmark to buy a plastic injection-moulding machine with which to make toys. Within a couple of years, the LEGO company was making 200 different plastic and wooden toys, and the forerunner to the current LEGO brick was born.

1949
It was in 1949 that the first sets of Automatic Binding Bricks were sold, exclusively in Denmark, by the LEGO company. These bricks were very similar to the LEGO brick invented in 1958, except that they did not have tubes on the inside of the brick. If you're lucky, you can find some of these bricks in boxes or bags of toys that people sell at garage sales or thrift shops. If you do find some of these old bricks, you'll probably notice that the bricks don't look and feel as good as today's LEGO bricks. That's because LEGO used to use cellulose acetate to produce their bricks, which did not hold color as well and was not as stable as today's bricks.

1953
In 1953, the name Automatic Binding Bricks was dropped in favor of the brand-promoting LEGO Bricks. The next year, on May first, the word LEGO was officially registered in Denmark. But it was the second half of the 1950s that held the most exciting and critical time for the LEGO company.

1955
For the first time, in 1955, LEGO exported plastics products and toys to Sweden, including the "LEGO System of Play," which was comprised of 28 sets and 8 vehicles. LEGO's first sales company outside of Denmark was established in Hohenwestedt, Germany in 1956. The next year, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was appointed President of the company.

1958
Then, in 1958, the stud-and-tube configuration of the LEGO brick that we are today very familiar with was invented and patented (Danish patent number 92683). The tubes underneath were added to improve the stability of models built with LEGO Bricks. LEGO calls this added stability "clutch power." This was also the same year that the roof brick was introduced. Roof bricks added a whole new dimension to the building of structures, which could now be built with slanted rooftops instead of a stair-step configuration. Sadly, 1958 also saw the death of the company's founder. Ole Kirk Christiansen died and Godtfred Kirk was appointed head of the LEGO company.

1959
The LEGO Futura division was established in 1959 with a five-person staff. It is this group that is responsible for coming up with all of the exciting, new LEGO sets that are released each year. Although LEGO is very secretive about their design and manufacturing, it seems that the current design cycle takes anywhere from a year and a half to three years, based on little clues found inside various sets. An example of this can be found on the holographic stickers included in the Exploriens sets. Although the sets were first introduced in 1996, some of the sticker sheets have a copyright date of 1994.

1960
In the 1960s, the LEGO company continued to grow at an accelerated rate, but not without a little tragedy first. In 1960, the warehouse that held all of LEGO's wooden toys burned down (two inventory-destroying fires for one company in eighteen years!). Finally, the LEGO company decided not to continue production of wooden toys, and instead to concentrate on plastics. Four hundred and fifty people worked at LEGO in 1960.

1961
The first LEGO wheels were invented and included in sets in 1961. The LEGO System of Play included 50 sets and 15 vehicles. Loose elements were also sold, as they had been since 1955. This was also the first year that LEGO sold products specifically geared towards the pre-school market. These lines were called Therapy I, II and III. Samsonite began to make and sell LEGO products in Canada under a special arrangement with LEGO. This deal would last until 1988!

1962
The jet age hit the LEGO company in 1962, as LEGO took delivery of its first airplane and built a private airstrip in Billund to facilitate the travel and shipping necessary for a rapidly growing and increasingly international company. LEGO Airways was born!

1963
Cellulose acetate was dropped in favor of ABS plastic in 1963. ABS, which stands for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, is more stable and holds colors better than does cellulose acetate. This tough plastic is also used extensively to make items such as automobile parts and building materials. ABS is still used today in the production of LEGO toys. In addition to the properties noted above, ABS is non-toxic, rustproof, heat-resistant, resistant to most organic acids and diluted inorganic acids, resistant to salt and animal oils and fats. Hopefully, your LEGO bricks will never see most of these elements anyway! Oh, and ABS is also sterile.

1964
The first LEGO sets that included building instructions were released in 1964. This was also the first year that LEGO instruced sets that had been previously consumer-tested...an innovation at that time. Molds for various LEGO elements were built in Germany for the first time in 1964 as well.

1966
LEGO Train fans would have to go back to 1966 to acquire the first LEGO Train sets. These sets included a 4.5-volt motor, rails and more. By this time, the LEGO line included 57 sets and 25 vehicles. The next year, as more than 18 million LEGO sets were sold, the DUPLO brick was invented. The DUPLO brick is eight times the size of a standard LEGO brick, but is still compatible with the original bricks, continuing the importance and inherent notion of a system of toys that all work together.

1968
On June 7th, 1968, LEGOLAND Park in Billund opened its gates to visitors. In that first year, 625,000 people visited the park. That same year, the LEGO company was awarded First Prize in a Best Toy competition in Luxemburg.

1969
Two years after its invention, the DUPLO brick is released into the marketplace in 1969, along with a new, 12-volt motor for the LEGO Trains.

1970
In 1970, small vehicles are introduced at a very low price to encourage the spending of pocket money on LEGO toys. These items included tow trucks, police cars and fire engines, etc. Brightly colored cogwheels were also introduced in various sizes. These items turn up every now and again in auctions on rec.toys.lego, or in garage sales. The cogwheels provided major inspiration towards the introduction of the Expert Builder (later Technic) line in 1977. There were 975 employees working for LEGO in 1970, not including those who worked at LEGOLAND Park.

1971
The first of a long-line of products directed specifically towards girls was introduced in 1971. These products were doll houses with furniture elements. The next year, the first LEGO floating boat was introduced. 1972 also saw the introduction of the current LEGO logo.

1974
The large-scale LEGO figures, sometimes referred to unofficially as "maxi-figs", were introduced in 1974. Set number 200 (LEGO Family) was released, and it was LEGO's biggest selling product to date. It included a mother, father, daughter, son and grandmother, and was popular with both boys and girls. This was also the first year that miniature, faceless figures were used in LEGO sets. These figures, which had heads similar to today's mini-figs but without printed faces, had solid torso and legs pieces (with no moving arms and legs). They were featured prominantly in a number of sets until 1978. There were now 1,325 employees at LEGO.

1975
The first sets geared towards more advanced builders were launched in 1975. These Expert Series sets focused on models such as antique cars. This was also the year that packing began at the Enfield, Connecticut LEGO Systems, Inc. facility. Two years later, in 1977, the Expert Builder range (Technix in Europe) was launched. Expert Builder sets included many special elements such as gears, joints, beams and pegs which allowed for complex, realistic, working models to be built. The tag line for the Expert Builder range was "As Technical as the Real Thing."

Also debuting in 1977 were new DUPLO sets that featured door and window elements along with generic figures without arms or legs. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen joined LEGO management in 1975 year as well. The spelling of his last name (using a "K" instead of a "Ch"), which has carried forth in the family to this day, was the result of an error on his birth certificate.

1978
The LEGO scene was changed forever in 1978, with the introduction of the LEGOLAND mini figure. These tiny figures, with moveable arms and legs and printed faces, were introduced along with baseplates and road plates that allowed for entire towns to be built. The small scale of the mini-figs meant that a huge variety of sets could be built, all at the same scale, for a reasonable cost to the consumer. The mini-figs would enjoy a life of simple, smiling faces for ten years, until the introduction of the Pirates line, which featured more complex face designs.

1979
Outer space was the target of LEGOLAND in 1979, as the first LEGOLAND Space sets were introduced. They very quickly became an enourmous success worldwide. Another series that debuted in 1979 was FABULAND. Geared towards younger builders, FABULAND sets featured an array of figures with animal heads and larger building elements. FABULAND was discontinued ten years later. A third new product for 1979 was the SCALA series. This was a series of jewelry sets that could be built from various pieces, marketed towards 5 to 7 year old girls, and was discontinued in 1981 due to a lack of consumer interest. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen was appointed to President of INTERLEGO A/S.

1980
The DUPLO rabbit logo was introduced in 1980, and LEGO established their Educational Products Department, which would later be renamed LEGO DACTA (in 1989). The following year saw the inauguration of the Neuhof factory in Switzerland, for the purpose of decorating, assembly, packing and storage.

1982
The DUPLO Mosaic and Technic I series were introduced in 1982. These sets represented the first examples of products specially developed for the pre-school and schools markets. On August 13th, LEGO celebrated its 50th anniversary, for which they published the book "50 Years of Play." A factory was opened in Jutland, Denmark to manufacture all LEGO tires.

1983
DUPLO Baby sets were released in 1983, including rattles and new DUPLO figures with adjustable arms and legs. The third LEGOLAND-scale series was introduced the following year, as the first Castle sets hit the market. These sets featured knights, horses built from standard LEGO elements and many other new pieces.

1985
In April, 1985, The LEGO Prize was established. This was an annual award of 750,000 Danish Kroner (DKK) - about $114,000 per current exchange rates (6/22/97). The money was awarded for exceptional efforts on behalf of children. In 1989, the LEGO Prize was increased to one million DKK (about $152,000). LEGO Korea Co., Ltd. was established in Seoul, Korea. The various LEGO companies now employed about 5,000 people, with 3,000 of those in Denmark.

1986
The first Light & Sound sets were introduced in 1986, adding an exciting new dimension to LEGO building. The Educational Products Department released the first Technic Computer Control, which allowed LEGO robots to be controlled using a computer. The TCC was launched in the U.K. and Denmark initially, but only for the schools market. It worked with different types of computers. LEGO Publishing, a division of LEGO Futura, developed and produced nine books and nineteen short films for children in 1986 as well. These products were sold only in Europe.

On April 16th, 1986, LEGO was granted the title "Purveyor to Her Majesty the Queen." This date was also the birthday of Denmark's Queen Margrethe.

In 1986, LEGO also opened a factory in Manaus, Brazil, to produce and pack bricks.

1987
Buckets containing basic LEGO and DUPLO bricks first went on sale in 1987 in the U.S. and some European countries.

1988
The first LEGO World Cup building contest was held in Billund in August of 1988. Thirty-eight children from 14 countries participated in the event. LEGO Canada was set up the same year, after termination of an agreement with Samsonite, who had been making and selling LEGO products in Canada since 1961.

In 1989, the Pirates series was launched with eleven sets. These were the first set to use the pirate ship hulls and raised baseplates, as well as being the first sets to use mini-fig faces other than the classic smiley face. The Educational Products Department was renamed LEGO DACTA, deriving its name from the Greek "didactic," meaning "the study of the purpose, means and substance of learning and the learning process." Dr. Seymour Papert of MIT's Development Laboratory of Computer Learning is named "LEGO Professor of Learning Research." Since 1984, Dr. Papert has been worked with LEGO's development staff on linking the LOGO computer programming language to LEGO products. Postage stamps and first-day covers issued in 1989 from the Isle of Man and Denmark feature LEGO bricks.

1990
Model Team was launched in 1990, featuring three sets. The models featured are very detailed and realistic from a visual standpoint, as opposed to the technical, mechanical realism featured in the Technic sets. The first Technic Control Center was released this same year, as the LEGO Group becomes one of the world's ten largest toy companies. It is the only such company in Europe, with the other nine being based in either the U.S. or Japan.

Xavier Gilbert became the "LEGO Professor of Business Dynamics" at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Many of LEGO's international senior managers and specialists attend courses at IMD.

The fields outside of LEGO's Kornmarken molding shops were spruced up with 22 giant LEGO bricks made out of fiberglass. The bricks, which are 100 times the size of a normal LEGO brick, serve as a colorful backdrop to what had become the busiest intersection in Billund. LEGO also opened the LEGO Idea House. Part auditorium, part museum, the LEGO Idea House is a showcase for employees to learn about LEGO's past and future products, philosphy, attitudes and cultural values.

As the "magic barrier" of a million visitors in a single season to LEGOLAND Park was broken, the "Auto 2000" exhibit opened at the Park, featuring seventeen cars of the future, built from LEGO bricks by European design students.

1991
The first of the 9-volt LEGO Trains sets that use the current transformer and Speed Regulator were released in 1991. The Speed Regulator allows LEGO Trains engineers to make the trains go forwards and backwards and control the speed. The LEGO-owned Hotel vis-a-vis across the street from LEGOLAND Park (formerly the Esso Motor Hotel) was renamed to be Hotel LEGOLAND, and underwent major rennovation.

1992
The new LEGO System logo was introduced in 1992 after a design project that lasted several years. The DUPLO series saw the introduction of the Toolo line in 1992. Models introduced in this line, such as cars, cranes and helicopters, could be built with an included Toolo screwdriver. Another product line targeted towards girls, Paradisa was released with its island motif and pastel color scheme.

A new Technical Research and Development center was opened in Zug, Switzerland in September of 1992. Three months later, the first LEGOLAND Park outside of Denmark was announced. LEGOLAND Windsor, about 20 miles outside of London, would open in April of 1996.

Two Guiness Book of Records feats were accomplished in 1992 as well. A 545-meter LEGO train setup is built with three locomotives, and the world's largest LEGO castle, measuring 4.45 meters by 5.22 meters, was built on Swedish TV from over 400,000 LEGO bricks.

1993
The Brickvac was introduced to the Basic series in 1993. The Brickvac is a sort of "vacuum cleaner" for LEGO elements. DUPLO hit the rails, with new train sets. Push-along trains as well as electic trains powered by 1.5-volt batteries were introduced.

Also in 1993, Carlsbad, California was selected as the future site of the first LEGOLAND Park in the United States. The park will open in 1999. In 1993, approximately 8,500 people were employed by the various LEGO companies.

1994
The next girl-oriented product was launched in 1994 as Belville becomes part of the LEGO System program. Construction began on LEGO Family Park in Windsor, England on April 6th, 1994.

1995
DUPLO PRIMO (called DUPLO BABY in North America) was launched in 1995, catering to the six to twenty-four-month-old children's market. LEGO Basic sets were renamed to FreeStyle and are marketed as part of the LEGO System program. Aquazone, the first new series since Pirates, was introduced in 1995. It was also the first theme to be released with two distinct sub-themes: AquaNauts and AquaSharks.

Godtfred Kirk Christiansen died on July 13th, 1995.

1996
Another new series, Wild West, was introduced in 1996. This series featured brown bricks made to look like they were constructed from chopped logs. Time Cruisers, a controversial group of sets in the Town series, were the first sets to feature mini-figs who had noses.

LEGOLAND Windsor opened on March 29th, 1996. Meanwhile, LEGOLAND Billund welcomed its 25 millionth visitor! LEGO also started up a new unit, called SPU Darwin. The goal of the Darwin group was to develop software based on and relating to LEGO products. At the same time, Mindscape was working on their first LEGO-licensed product (and the first software product licensed from the LEGO company), called LEGO Island. 1996 was also the year that LEGO's official World Wide Web site went online.

1997
LEGO introduced its first CD-ROM, bundled with the Technic 8299 Rescue Submarine.

Sources

The information on this page was compiled from a few sources in addition to our own database of info:

The official LEGO web site: http://www.lego.com
Tom Pfeifer's rec.toys.lego FAQ: http://www.multicon.de/fun/legofaq.html
'LEGO Facts & Figures', January 1994, as relayed by Jeff Crites: http://www.mdn.com/crites/LEGO/denmark.html

If you have any information to add to this page, please let us know by sending us some e-mail. Thanks!

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History of Lego
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First LEGO wood models of the 30's (Creation Centre, LEGOLAND Windsor).This article describes the history of the LEGO Group.

Contents [hide]
1 Beginnings
2 Growth
3 Expansion
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Beginnings
The Lego Group inventer Adam Becky Plc, graduate of UWIC university 2010, farther of two, son kieth and daughter debbie 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 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.[citation needed]

(Note: According to a Lego employee in Denmark, Ole Kirk's move to toy production was actually inspired by the government rather than self-motivated. Various literature appears to be to the contrary, implying that Ole Kirk actively decided to move on to toy manufacture. However, more personal recollections and retellings suggest that when Ole Kirk's carpentry shop was going out of business in 1932, his local social worker suggested or otherwise encouraged him to make toys.)

In 1932, Ole Kirk's shop started making wooden pull toys, piggy banks, cars and trucks. He enjoyed a modest amount of success, but families were poor and often unable to afford such toys. Farmers in the area sometimes traded food in exchange for his toys; Ole Kirk found he had to continue producing practical furniture in addition to toys in order to stay in business. In the mid-1930s, the yo-yo toy fad gave him a brief period of activity, until it suddenly collapsed. Once again, Ole Kirk turned disadvantage to his favor, turning the disused yo-yo parts into wheels for a toy truck. His son Godtfred began working for him, taking an active role in the company.

It was in 1934 that the company name Lego was coined. Ole Kirk held a contest amongst his staff to see who could come up with the best name for the company, offering a bottle of homemade wine as a prize. Christiansen was considering two names himself, "Legio" (with the implication of a "Legion of toys") and "Lego", a self-made contraction from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning "play well." Later the Lego Group discovered that "Lego" can be loosely interpreted as "I put together" or "I assemble" in Latin [1].

When plastic came into widespread use, Ole Kirk kept with the times and began producing plastic toys. One of the first modular toys to be produced was a truck that could be taken apart and re-assembled. In 1947, Ole Kirk and Godtfred obtained samples of interlocking plastic bricks produced by the company Kiddicraft. These "Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Bricks" were designed and patented by Mr. Hilary Harry Fisher Page, a British citizen.[2] In 1949 the Lego Group began producing similar bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks." Lego bricks, manufactured from cellulose acetate, were developed in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another; however, these plastic bricks could be "locked" together. They had several round "studs" on top, and a hollow rectangular bottom. They would stick together, but not so tightly that they could not be pulled apart. In 1953, the bricks were given a new name: Lego Mursten, or "Lego Bricks."

The use of plastic for toy manufacture was not highly regarded by retailers and consumers of the time. Many of the Lego Group's shipments were returned, following poor sales; it was thought that plastic toys could never replace wooden ones. Despite such criticism, however, the Kirk Christiansens persevered. By 1954, Godtfred 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. It was not until 1958 that the modern-day brick design was developed. The bricks were improved with hollow tubes in the underside of the brick. This added support in the base, enabling much better locking ability and improved versatility. That same year, Ole Kirk Christiansen died, and Godfred inherited leadership of the company.

[edit] Growth
The Lego Group matured considerably over the next decade. 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 included more than 450 people.[citation needed]

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 the pre-school market, and made an arrangement allowing Samsonite to begin producing and selling Lego products in Canada, an arrangement that would continue until 1988. There were more than 50 sets of bricks in the Lego System of Play by this time.

In 1963, the material used to create Lego bricks, cellulose acetate, 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 discoloration and warping, and is also more resistant to heat, acids, salt, and other chemicals than cellulose acetate. Lego bricks manufactured from ABS plastic in 1963 still hold most of their shape and color more than 40 years later, and still neatly interlock with the most recently manufactured Lego bricks.[citation needed]

1964 was the first time that instruction manuals were included in Lego sets.

One of the Lego Group's most successful series, the Lego train system, was first released in 1966. The original train sets included a 4.5-volt motor, battery box and rails; two years later, a 12-volt motor was introduced.

On June 7, 1968, the first Legoland Park was opened in Billund. This theme park featured elaborate models of miniature towns built entirely from Lego bricks. The three acre (12,000 m²) park attracted 625,000 visitors in its first year alone. During the next 20 years, the park grew to more than eight times its original size, and eventually averaged close to a million paying visitors per year. More than eighteen million Lego sets were sold in 1968.

In 1969, the Duplo system went on sale. This was a newly developed system, targeted towards younger children; Duplo bricks are much larger than Lego bricks, ma
king them safer for very young children, but the two systems are compatible: Lego bricks can be fitted neatly onto Duplo bricks, making the transition to the Lego system easily made as children outgrow their Duplo bricks. The name Duplo comes from the Latin word duplus, which translates literally as double, meaning that a Duplo brick is exactly twice the dimension of a LEGO building brick (2x height by 2x width by 2x depth = 8x the volume of a brick).

The 1960s were such a period of growth for the Lego Group that by 1970, one of the biggest questions they faced was how best to manage and control its expanding market.

[edit] Expansion
The coming decades marked considerable expansion into new frontiers of toy making and marketing. Lego began to target the female market with the introduction of furniture pieces and dollhouses in 1971. The Lego universe expanded its transportation possibilities with the addition of boat and ship sets, with hull pieces that actually floated, in 1972.

During this same period, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen's son, Kjeld Kirk Christiansen, joined the managerial staff of the company, after earning business degrees in Switzerland and Denmark. One of Kjeld's first achievements with the company was the foundation of manufacturing facilities, as well as a research and development department that would be responsible for keeping the company's manufacturing methods up to date. Human figures with posable arms made an appearance in 1974 in "Lego family" sets, which went on to become the biggest sellers at the time; in the same year, an early version of the "minifigure" miniature Lego person was introduced, but it was not posable and had no face printed on its head. A Lego production plant was opened in Enfield, Connecticut in the United States.

"Expert Series" sets were first introduced in 1975, geared towards older, more experienced Lego builders. This line soon developed into the "Expert Builder" sets, released in 1977. These technical sets featured moving parts such as gears, differentials, cogs, levers, axles and universal joints, and permitted the construction of realistic models such as automobiles, with functional rack and pinion steering and lifelike engine movements. Finally, the Lego world came together in 1978 with the addition of the Lego "minifigure". These small Lego people have posable arms and legs, and a friendly smile. The figure was used in many varieties of Lego sets, allowing consumers to construct elaborate towns with buildings, roads, vehicles, trains, and boats, at the same scale, and populated with the smiling minifigure Lego citizens.

Another significant expansion to the Lego line occurred in 1979, with the creation of Lego Space sets. Astronaut minifigures, rockets, lunar rovers and spaceships populated this successful series. The Scala series debuted in this year as well, featuring jewelry elements marketed towards young girls. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen became the president of Lego in this year; another decade concluded with Lego toys still going strong.

Lego bricks had always had a constructive potential that was seen by some educators as being an invaluable asset in helping children to develop creativity and problem-solving abilities. Since the 1960s, teachers had been using Lego bricks in the classroom for a variety of reasons. In 1980, the Lego Group established the Educational Products Department (eventually renamed Lego Dacta, in 1989), specifically to expand the educational possibilities of their toys. A packing and assembly factory opened in Switzerland, followed by another in Jutland, Denmark that manufactured Lego tires.

The second generation of Lego trains appeared in 1981. As before these were available in either 4.5 V (battery powered) or 12 V (mains powered), but a much wider variety of accessories were available, including working lights, remote-controlled points and signals, and decouplers.

The "Expert Builder" series matured in 1982, becoming the "Technic" series. August 13 of that year marked the Lego Group's 50th anniversary; the book 50 Years of Play was published to commemorate the occasion. In the following year, the Duplo system was expanded to include sets for even younger audiences, particularly infants; new sets included baby rattles and figures with adjustable limbs. The year after, Lego minifigure citizens gained a realm of knights and horses, with the introduction of the first Castle sets. Light & Sound sets made their appearance in 1985; these sets included a battery pack with electrical lights, buzzers, and other accessories to add another dimension of realism to Lego creations. Also that year, the Lego Group's educational division produced the Technic Computer Control, which was an educational system whereby Technic robots, trucks, and other motorized models could be controlled with a computer. Manaus, Brazil gained a Lego factory in this year, as well.

In 1984, the Technic line was expanded with the addition of pneumatic components.

This Lego model of a composite of London, including a motorized model of a London Underground train controlled by computers, can be seen in Legoland Windsor.In August 1988, 38 children from 17 different countries took part in the first Lego World Cup building contest, held in Billund. That same year, Lego Canada was established. The Lego line grew again in 1989 with the release of the Lego Pirates series, which featured a variety of pirate ships, desert islands and treasure; the series was also the first to depart from the standard minifigure smiling face to create an array of piratical characters. The Lego Group's Educational Products Department was renamed Lego Dakta in this year; the name is derived from the Greek word "didactic", which roughly means "the study of the learning process." MIT's Dr. Seymour Papert, from the Laboratory of Computer Learning, was named "Lego Professor of Learning Research," after his ongoing work in linking the Logo programming language with Lego products.

A new series designed for advanced builders was released in 1990. Three Model Team sets, including a race car and an off-road vehicle, featured a level of detail and realism not previously seen in any Lego series. Where Technic was mechanically accurate, Model Team was visually and stylistically accurate. The Lego Group became one of the top 10 toy companies in this year; it was the only toy company in Europe to be among the top 10. Legoland Billund had more than one million visitors in this year, for the first time in its history. The first-ever "Lego Professor of Business Dynamics," Xavier Gilbert, was appointed to an endowed chair at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. Lego Malaysia was also established in 1990. In 1991, the Lego Group standardized its electrical components and systems; the Trains and Technic motors were made 9V to bring the systems into line with the rest of the Lego range.

Two Guinness records were set in 1992 using Lego products: A castle made from 400,000 Lego bricks, and measuring 4.45 meters by 5.22 meters, was built on Swedish television, and a Lego railway line 545 meters in length, with three locomotives, was constructed. Duplo was augmented with the addition of the Toolo line featuring a screwdriver, wrench, nuts and bolts; the Paradisa line, targeted towards girls, brought a variety of new pastel colors into the Lego system and focused around horses and a beach theme. 1993 brought a Duplo train and a parrot-shaped "brickvac" that could scoop Lego pieces up off the floor.

A model of St Paul's Cathedral in London can be seen in Legoland Windsor. It is made of thousands of Lego bricks. The rotating model of the London Eye in the background is also made of Lego bricks.Early prototypes of the Lego minifigure had a variety of skin colors and facial expressions, but production designs used only a yellow skin color and standard smiling face. Lego Pirates in 1989 expanded the array of facial expressions by adding beards and eye patches. Soon the other themes caught on, ranging from sun glasses, lipstick, eyelashes, and so on. However, many of the older collectors resented the new look, saying they looked too "cartoon-ish" or "kiddy", and preferred the simplistic nature of the two eyes and smile. Nevertheless, from 1999 licensed series such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Harry Potter gave minifigures the personas of specific characters from their cinematic counterparts, but it was not until 2003, with the introduction of Lego Basketball, that the palette of skin tones broadened to include more lifelike colors. [2]

In the late 1990s, the Lego Group brought out a series of new and specialized ranges aimed at particular demographics. The Bionicle range uses Technic pieces and specialist moldings to create a set of action figures for boys, while Belville is a more conventional line aimed at girls and featuring large posable figures like those in the Technic range. A "Lego 4 Juniors" group features 2-inch (51 mm) tall medium-sized figures ("medi-figure") without jointed arms, and longer legs than the classic Lego minifigure. In 2003, the Lego Group introduced a completely new system, Clikits, aimed at girls and consisting of customizable plastic jewelry and accessories. In 2004, LEGO added the QUATRO brick, for ages 1–3. Much like Duplo, a Quatro brick is 4 times the dimension of a regular LEGO brick, and is compatible with the Duplo brick. Also that year, they created the second line of Knights Kingdom themed product.

The late 1990s also saw the first products featuring licensed characters. In 1999, Star Wars Lego and Winnie the Pooh Duplo were released. These were followed by characters from Harry Potter to Steven Spielberg.[3] Before this, Lego characters were always designed in-house, and lacked the strong characterisation of these licensed characters. A number of in-house characters after this point were strongly characterised with media utilisation and non-LEGO System merchandising in mind, most notably Bionicle And Total Drama.

[edit] References
^ http://www.lego.com/eng/info/default.asp?page=timeline7.
^ [1]
^ Schwartz, Nelson D. (2009-09-05). "Turning to Tie-Ins, Lego Thinks Beyond the Brick". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/business/global/06lego.html.
Lego Group timeline
Henry Wiencek, The World of LEGO Toys. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1987. ISBN 0-8109-2362-9.
[hide]v • d • eLego Group

Lego · History of Lego · Timeline · Lego.com

Product ranges Current themes Architecture • Atlantis • Kingdoms • City • Creator • Duplo • Harry Potter • Hero Factory • Games • Indiana Jones • Mindstorms • Minifigures • Modular Houses • Pirates • Power Miners • Prince of Persia • Racers • Space • Star Wars • Technic • Toy Story • Trains

Discontinued Agents • Belville • Bionicle • 4+ • Adventurers • Alpha Team • Aqua Raiders • Aquazone • Avatar: The Last Airbender • Baby • Batman • Dino Attack • Exo Force • Fabuland • Mars Mission • Mickey Mouse • Ninja • Quatro • Rock Raiders • Slizer/Throwbots • Spider-Man • Sports • SpongeBob SquarePants • Studios • Time Travels • Wild West • Vikings

Other products Computer and video games • Board games • Design By Me • Serious Play

People Ole Kirk Christiansen · Godtfred Kirk Christiansen · Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen · Jørgen Vig Knudstorp

Legoland Legoland Billund · Legoland California · Legoland Deutschland · Legoland Florida (opening 2011) · Legoland Windsor · Legoland Discovery Centre

Events/Conventions BrickCon · BrickFair · BrickFest · Brickworld · FIRST Lego League · Robofest

Other Brickfilm · The Brick Testament · Irregular Webcomic! · LDraw · Lego Club Magazine · LUGNET · MLCAD · Modulex · My Own Creation · Minifigure

[edit] External links
BrickWiki Open Content Lego Encyclopedia
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lego"
Categories: Lego | Company histories
Hidden categories: Articles needing cleanup from September 2009 | All pages needing cleanup | Wikipedia introduction cleanup from September 2009 | Articles needing additional references from October 2008 | All articles needing additional references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from October 2008
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+ نوشته شده در شنبه یازدهم دی 1389ساعت 21:18 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

دست جمعی از پارک می اومدیم خونه ، هرکی یه چیز سنگین دستش گرفته بود جز من .

به مامان بزرگم گفتم : اگه عصات سنگینه بده من بیارم ..

خدایی یه بنده خدایی بدون آدرس این نظرو توی نوشته ی قبلیم گذاشته بود :

یکشنبه 14 شهریور1389 ساعت: 23:30 توسط:آشنا

سلام.فکر نمی کنم من رو بیاد بیاری.منم اتفاقی آدرس سایتتو توی بلاگه یکی از دوستان دیدم.فقط خواستم بگم تو اولین آدمی بودی که بهش حسودیم شد

تو عمرم کسی همچی حرفی به من نزده !

+ نوشته شده در سه شنبه شانزدهم شهریور 1389ساعت 18:59 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

موافقم ، آدما زود عوض می شن ، خیلی زود ، اما ظاهرا آدما برای عوض شدن اومدن دنیا ؟ خودشونم نمی دونن چی می خوان و چی قراره بشن ، نمی دونم خود خدا هم بدونه یا نه ! واقعا در حیرتم و گیج و پاک معطل . توی ارتباطات این بنی بشر موندم ، که با گذشت زمان و تغییر شرایط چه تغییراتی می کنه ، درسته که تو ممکنه تغییرات طرف مقابل رو نبینی و از نظر خودت نظر بدی که این آدم چه قدر عوض شده ، اما خیلی پارامترا موثرن .

ما با هم دورانی داشتیم ، هرکی به راه خودش رفت ، گاهی وامیستیم و می گیم چرا رفت ؟ چی شد رفت ؟ اما خوب ، من به خودم نگاه می کنم ، هنوز تو همون لحظات کاملا جدی میخکوب شاید باشم ، نه اینجوری از نظر حسی ، از نظر ادامه دادن ، توان همراهی با کسی رو در خودم از بین رفته می بینم .

امیدورام در مورد تو اینطوری نباشه .

چن سال گذشته ؟

توی یه چرخه ی شاید بی حاصل کوفتی مسخره گیر کردم و هنوز خودمو پیدا نکردم !

+ نوشته شده در یکشنبه بیست و هفتم تیر 1389ساعت 0:18 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

خدا می خواد یا بنده ی خدا ؟ یا هردو یا هیچکدام ؟!

زنگ زدم به مادربزرگم ، می گم شما نمیاین پیش ما ؟ می گه : ببینیم خدا چی می خواد ،
می گم : یادتون به من می گفتین چرا زن نمی گیری ؟ می گفتم تا خدا چی بخواد ، شما می گفتین بنده ی خدا هم باید بخواد ، حالا شما هم باید بخوای تا خدا هم بخواد و بیای پیش ما .

حالا جدی من ( بنده ی خدا ) می خوام زن بگیرم یا نه !؟

+ نوشته شده در سه شنبه بیست و دوم تیر 1389ساعت 22:10 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

مادر زن !

بابا و مادربزرگم ( که بشه مادر مادرم ) دارن با هم حرف می زنن

مادربزرگ : شما این همه سر درد داری ، یه سر برو دکتر ببین چی می گه
بابام : اتفاقا رفتم ، فهمید چیه ، گفت از مادرزنه !!!
من خودم که هنوز همون زن رو هم ندارم !

+ نوشته شده در یکشنبه بیستم تیر 1389ساعت 16:35 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

مادرم یه سری عکس دوستان و آشنایان رو برام ذخیره کرده بود ،

دختر یکی از آشنایان داره ازدواج می کنه ،

شاید عکسشو پاک کنم

بچه ها چه قدر زود بزرگ می شن

و ما هنوز اندر خم یک کوچه ایم !

+ نوشته شده در شنبه نوزدهم تیر 1389ساعت 12:23 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

زن ذلیل !؟

- سبزی بگیرم ؟
می گه : سه دسته ریحون بگیر .
- به سبزی فروشه می گم .
سبزی فروش می گه : تربچه نمی خواین ؟
می گم : من هیچ کاره ام ! هرچی دستور بدن انجام می دن ..

می خنده ، فک می کنه چه زن ذلیلی ام !

( داشتم با مادربزرگم حرف می زدم )

+ نوشته شده در سه شنبه پانزدهم تیر 1389ساعت 19:42 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

پ . ن . اگر بلاگ فا فیلتر شد ، تو همین آدرس توی پرشین بلاگ هستم .

دخترک سه سالشه .

- تولد کیه مامان؟
- علی ، مامان جون .
- پس کلا بوقیش کو !!؟؟؟

( امروز تولد حضرت علی بود !)

+ نوشته شده در شنبه پنجم تیر 1389ساعت 23:43 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

برزیل دو یک چین رو تو جام جهانی ) بازی اول مرحله ی مقدماتی ) برد .

درگیر یه پروژه ی یکی دو روزه ام .

فکرم به اینه که هنوز هدف زندگیمو پیدا نکردم .

زندگی نیمه مجردی ای رو می گذرونم . ) بگم ، تابحال ازدواج نکردم . با خاله و مادربزرگم زندگی می کنم . ( سر کار می رم . تو خونه هم گاهی کار می کنم .

همکارا بد نیستن . هرچند ارتباطاتمون بیش از حد تنگاتنگه ، اما محدود به محیط کاری می شه . می بینم که با هیچکدومشون اونقد اخت نشدم که دوست صمیمی باشم .

دکتر هم که می گه قبل از ازدواج باید ببینی این کاره هستی یا نه ! این مساله با اعتقاداتم متضاده ، با عرفی که عرف می دونم متضاده ، با چیزی که درست می دونم متضاده .

خلاصه که یه جورایی از لحاظ فکری فعلا پنجر کردم . هم از لحاظ انگیزه ی زندگی هم از لحاظ اینکه ازدواج یا عشق ، هدفه یا وسیله .

چن تا وبلاگ جالب این مدت دیدم .

چگونه مقاله منتشر کنیم

http://esreell.blogfa.com که به مرگ و فرصتهای زندگی یه دید دیگه داره .

اعجاز علمی قرآن

+ نوشته شده در چهارشنبه بیست و ششم خرداد 1389ساعت 1:19 توسط قرار وبلاگی |

برای کارم وبلاگ جداگانه ای دارم که فکر نمی کنم بخوام مخاطبان اون وبلاگ اینجا رو بخونن یا برعکس . اینه که اگر اتفاقی با اسم آدرس اون وبلاگ براتون نظر دادم یا بالعکس ، خوشحال می شم که به روم نیارین و به همون وبلاگی که قبلا میومدین بیاین .

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نمی دونم چی بنویسم . خیلی چیزا عوض شده ؛ از جمله کارم . ماهیتش عوض شده . طرز تفکرم عوض شده . اما هنوز مجردم .

+۱۸ ......

ادامه مطلب

+ نوشته شده در جمعه چهاردهم خرداد 1389ساعت 17:48 توسط قرار وبلاگی |