Where is lego made. An amazing LEGO story: from wooden ducks to robotics. The history of the creation of the Lego constructor: how the name appeared

Constructor "LEGO" - who doesn't know him? Blocks, consisting of plastic elements, covered with pimples, have become not only an indispensable attribute in a set of children's toys, but even a part of world pop culture. With their help, they make characters from cult fairy tales, films - anything that brings joy and a smile. However, few people know the history of the LEGO constructor manufacturer, which is associated with the tragedy.

Story

It all started with the fact that at the beginning of the 20th century, Ole Christiansen was born the tenth child of poor farmers. He became a carpenter. If you have never heard anything about the manufacturing country whose LEGO company produces, then most likely you will be interested to know that the company originates in Denmark, and Christiansen became its founder. In Billund, he set up a carpentry workshop, specializing, in particular, in the production of stairs. But a crisis broke out. However, this was not enough for fate: this father of 4 children lost his wife - she died, and then his workshop burned down too!

The widower, in order to calm the grief of his beloved children, carved a small duck out of wood for them - a simple toy. Not only kids, but also other families liked it very much. He decided to start making such toys and quickly gained popularity in the area.

It was 1932. Thanks to local success, the company got off the ground - soon he began to plan the production of other toys so as not to fall out of the market. I decided to produce blocks from which children could build, in particular, castles and other structures.

Brand name

In 1934, Christiansen changed the name of the toy company to LEGO, short for the Danish phrase “Leg godt” (have fun). So, we found out that the country of origin of "LEGO" is Denmark. The factory grew, and in the early 1940s the owner's eldest son, Gottfred Christiansen, began to work there. Things were going so well that the family bought Denmark's first plastic injection molding machine and started making plastic toys in 1947.

And two years later, she began to produce the blocks that we know today. Their design was greatly improved in 1958. At the same time, the famous blocks were patented. The company enjoyed great success in Denmark and began to expand into overseas markets. And then another tragedy happened - Ole Kirk Christiansen died of a heart attack. The company was taken over by his son.

Tragic repeat

History loves to repeat itself. Two years after the death of the founder of the company, a fire started at the plant! This hastened the decision to end the production of wooden toys. But the products began to be exported, in particular, to the USA. And in 1968, the first Legoland, an entertainment city built from a designer, was launched in Billund. The founder’s grandson Keld became another director of the company, and in 2004 the leadership was entrusted to an outside person. However, until now, most of the shares remain in the hands of the founder's family. Therefore, when asked which country of origin LEGO has, people again answer that it is Denmark.

History of the name

The name "Lego" is an abbreviation for two Danish words. The firm itself claims that this means “playing well”. This is their name and our goal.

Over the past 80 years, the company has gone through incredible development - from a small private firm to a modern global business, which today is the third largest toy manufacturer.

Products

The small block is the most important product of the company. Twice the product of the LEGO manufacturer received the title of “toy of the century”. The details have undergone major changes over the years, but the traditional brick is still the starting point.

The presence of many shades makes it unique. Those who come into contact with colorful elements just need to turn on their imagination and give free rein to the flow of creativity.

The brick block is one of the best toys, and no one needs to be convinced of this. It has been known for a long time that playing with them brings joy to children and develops them from an early age. Building with bricks involves imagination, manual dexterity and visual coordination. Fun little bricks let you create your own unique world. This kind of game is real challenge and great patience training.

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to create the desired design. Almost anyone who comes across these blocks asks the question, who invented "LEGO", whose country of origin? The construction set became popular thanks to an idea that everyone liked.

It should be noted that initially a small Danish company managed to grow to the whole world. On the this moment sets from him have become the most popular gifts for Christmas and many other holidays. Almost every young person remembers from childhood how these brick blocks were scattered on the floor, and what it feels like to step on them. In the manufacture of its product, the company managed to find a balance between maintaining the original traditions and introducing innovations. All this keeps her afloat for such a long time. The benefits that LEGO manufacturers bring to people are also obvious. Such toys develop children's imaginations and allow them to realize their fantasies.

Product variations

Thus, the history of the LEGO brand flourishes in the first half of the 20th century. The date when the company was founded is not the moment when the cubes, which everyone knows today, appeared. The story of the LEGO manufacturer is actually much more complex and very interesting and even inspiring. It is enough to get to know her better to understand this.

In numbers

In 2015, the LEGO manufacturer built a tower from these blocks in Milan. Its height reached 35.05 meters. This is the tallest fragmentary building made of cubes.

The largest LEGO set consists of 5,900 pieces and is the famous Taj Mahal. The Indian temple is one and a half meters wide and 40 cm high. This kit used to cost about $ 300, but it has been out of production for a long time. In this regard, the complex now costs up to several thousand dollars. It is considered a rare and valuable item.

The manufacturer "LEGO" released the first figurine in 1974. She looked different than those we know today. First of all, it was bigger. In turn, the first small part was created by the LEGO manufacturer in 1975. The mass production of the little men began later.

LEGO Duplo, while eight times the size of a building block, is still compatible with it. One of the principles of the LEGO manufacturer is that all elements match.

Every second sold in the world 7 sets of this construction set, 40 billion LEGO bricks, stacked one on top of the other, could connect the Earth with the Moon.

Kinds

The country of origin of the LEGO kit creates all the conditions for the development of the company. And she herself, in turn, constantly introduces innovations, not stopping to improve. An assortment of LEGO themed sets is published in semi-annual catalogs. It also contains information about upcoming updates. In addition to sets with thematic packs, new main blocks are released different colors.

Lego duplo

LEGO Duplo bricks are built with the little ones in mind. Babies from one and a half to five years can play with them. The upper age limit is conditional, as older children are also happy to build from Duplo. These bricks are larger than the standard ones, making them easier to use. Duplo kits are designed for kids to play and to develop their imaginations. LEGO Duplo for girls has more elements that little ladies love, and LEGO Duplo for boy has more details related to their wishes.

Lego city

LEGO City is a series for older kids. It is based on city life. Buildings, cars, police, fire department, hospital, railroad, airport and even space center - all this and much more can be created from City sets. This series can already be played by four-year-olds.

Lego friends

LEGO Friends are sets designed for girls. They have animals, houses, cafes, a riding club, Heartlake City. Girls can create the world they dream of with the five LEGO Friends heroines.

Lego ninjago

LEGO Ninjago is a toy for boys. The theme of this episode is the ninja and their enemies. Dragons, fortresses, pirate airships and various items necessary for serious battles, limited only by children's imagination, appear.

LEGO Creator

LEGO Creator is a line of Lego sets based on building, but rather creating what a girl or boy dreams of. You can build a Ferrari 10248, a winter toy store, a Ferris wheel, or some of the world's most famous buildings. The LEGO manufacturer has made sure that the details are bright. The sets are designed in such a way that three different things can be made from the same cubes.

LEGO Technic

LEGO Technic is a real challenge for structural engineers and young craftsmen. Kits from this line, like all others, have instructions for use attached, but require little technical experience. The cars of this series are very precisely made, they have serviceable steering systems and many parts. There are so many of them that the end result of the game exceeds expectations.

The LEGO brand keeps up with the times. Therefore, in addition to the classic sets of brick blocks, there are also Lego series based on films and fairy tales. So, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Angry Birds have already been released.

The history of the company is the most striking evidence that it cares about customers. Her priority is to make sure that everyone can find something for themselves. Lovers of medieval castles, space expeditions, architecture, fans of racing cars, little princesses and great pirates - each of them can create their own world from LEGO bricks. That's why these kits have become so popular.

Brand name Lego has long been associated with the famous bricks that can be used to build anything - from a robot to an entire city model. Now this is a guarantee of the quality and originality of the constructor, but the LEGO path was not easy. At different points in its history, the company went through the stages of a severe crisis.

Lego history

The history of the Lego company starts in 1932 in Denmark. Poor farming family carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen engaged in the production of wooden stairs and small household items, but this business did not bring profit.

To stay afloat, son Gottfried suggested making wooden cubes. This idea became decisive in their lives. New company Ole named lego, combining the words leg (play) and godt (good).

The company entered the production of plastic cubes with identical pins in 1947. The principle was not new: British children had already played with such cubes. Christiansen studied samples from Britain, redesigned his own and began churning out completely new models.

They were inferior to wooden ones in strength, but they were easy to connect and fit tightly to each other. This was the beginning of a big Lego Stories.

In the late 50s after the death of his father, Gottfried took charge of the company and brought the family business to an international level. Business management passed from father to son, and now it is headed by the great-grandson of Ole Kirk - Kild Kirk.

Lego today

The peak of Lego's popularity came at the beginning, and to this day it is one of the most coveted gifts for children.

Today it is the most popular brand of plastic construction toys for children in the world. Since its inception, the company has released thousands of sets based on famous cartoons, movies, comics. For example, here we reviewed the Lego set based on.

At the same time, there is not a single set specifically on a military theme: the founder did not want the toys to be violent.

With the advent of computer games simple toys lost their appeal, and the company found itself in a crisis. The founder's grandson found a way out in creating his computer games based on the popular LEGO series.

Currently, over 600 kits are produced for 130 countries, containing more than 2,000 unique elements. And their range is only expanding: the company is engaged in the production of robotics kits. They use additional mechanisms, motors, cameras, lights and sensors.

Moreover, all elements in all variants are compatible with each other, starting with those created in 1958.

Lego analogs

Huge popularity Lego constructor caused the emergence of a huge number of analogues: Brick, Mega Blocks, COBI, KRE-O, LIGAO and others. They are all compatible with Lego, but Lego has no competitors in the quality and choice of themed series.

Although analogs are inferior to the original designer, they have a significant plus for budget buyers - an affordable price. If you really want to please yourself or your child, then go to aliexpress there are tons of good options.

The only manufacturer close to Lego in quality is a Canadian company Mega bloks, which is owned by Mattel.

Exact copies of the original Lego constructors are produced by some Chinese companies, for example, Lepin. But none of the Lego counterparts add a safe barium sulfate.

This is necessary in order to see a part accidentally swallowed by a child on an X-ray.

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• Lego success story
• Lego legacy
• Gender miscalculation ...

The history of the iconic Lego brand dates back to a small carpentry workshop in the Danish village of Billund in 1932. Its founder - a simple carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen - tried to make ends meet by making ironing boards, ladders, chairs ... However, His Majesty Chance decided to dispose of a modest family contract differently.

Lego success story

Christiansen drew attention to the fact that his son and first assistant Godtfred collects large shavings that vaguely resemble different figures, paints them and successfully exchanges them with his friends for things of children's interest. Ole Kirk's savvy prompted the Danish carpenter to expand the workshop's assortment with wooden toys. The pioneer in the new product line is the duck on wheels. The children's line of business was gaining popularity and began to bring disproportionately large profits compared to other products. Already in 1934, the carpentry workshop received the resounding name Lego. The company owes its name to the same resourcefulness of Ole Kirk Christiansen. It was he who, proceeding from the new direction of the workshop's activity, combined the first two syllables of the Danish words "LEg GOdt", which means "to play well". In addition, the chosen name became prophetic in terms of translation from Latin - “I collect”, as well as “I study” ...

A more detailed dive into the Lego success story reveals that the idea of ​​the fastening kit was spied on by Mr. Christiansen Sr. from the English company Kiddcraft. Its founder Harry Fisher in the mid-40s of the last century invented and patented cubes with four and eight protrusions on the surface for mutual connection. A trip to Foggy Albion in 1947 was a fateful one for the founder of Lego. In addition to purchasing a molding machine for the production of plastic parts - in order to diversify the production of wooden toys with plastic ones - Ole Kirk Christiansen received permission to use samples of Kiddcraft toy building blocks.

He modified the design of the English designer and, with the help of a newly acquired unit, put into production "automatically interlocking bricks". This is the long name that the first pieces of modern Lego wore.

Lego legacy

May 1, 1954 is considered the birthday of the world famous brand, since it was on this day that the name Lego was officially registered. The new manager of the company, the son of the founder Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, realized that the "highlight" of his products should be the creation of a fundamentally new system creative children's games. The concept was based on the philosophy of multifunctional construction. In the form of Lego bricks, she opened an inexhaustible source for the realization of children's fantasies, from the construction of earthly castles to the construction of space stations. When the locomotive of the innovative system, called the Lego Play System, despite the imperfect adhesion of the bricks, found its enthusiastic consumer, Christiansen Jr. realized that he had found his "goose that lays the golden eggs."

At the same time, a technical failure in the high-quality retention of Lego parts to one another for several years has been a stumbling block for a full-scale ideological revolution in the world of children's construction sets. The raw materials for the production of cubes, due to their chemical characteristics, did not allow achieving high-quality mutual adhesion of parts. The technical part of the problem Godtfred managed to solve thanks to the invention of a new system of communication of blocks of the "thorn-tube" type, which is used in modern Lego constructors. The raw material issue was cleared after successful experiments with the ABC polymer. It is this type of plastic that allows the spikes and tubes to be securely held together. In fact, in January 1958, the painfully familiar design of a Lego brick was patented.

It is worth noting that all cubes produced since the receipt of this patent are fully connected with parts that leave the assembly line today. Such continuity becomes even more urgent due to the fact that one generation is simply not able to implement all possible combinations. It is mathematically proven that more than 915 million combinations can be made out of six 8-pin monochrome Legoes.

Working for a small consumer forced the company's employees to think over all sorts of options for the "use" of blocks by young designers. Barium sulfate is an invaluable service to Lego. It is this water-insoluble salt that is included in the plastic of all parts. It is non-toxic and highly distinguishable on x-rays, which allows the cube to be quickly detected if swallowed. Lego figures are also designed to be swallowed accidentally. In order to avoid an attack of suffocation in such a situation, all "little men" are equipped with special holes.

Gender miscalculation ...

The early 1970s greeted the company unkindly. The prohibitive level of popularity of the designer, which has covered consumers like a tsunami, has dropped sharply to a critical point. The buyer, tempted by the abundance of the market, fed up with Legov's bricks, began to look to the side. However, the third generation of the Christiansen family, Mr. Kjell, was able to breathe new life into production. The grandson of the founder of the company has gone to a serious shift in emphasis in the concept of the gaming system. The basic line of universal constructors aimed at the development of children's imagination has been supplanted by the creation of a whole complex of narrowly focused thematic sets. In addition, the transport series was provided with electric motors. These conceptual innovations have borne fruit. Since the beginning of the next decade, the company's revenue has added an average of 10% per year.

At the same time, an attempt to reach a new consumer using the gender factor became a serious miscalculation of the company. The Scala set, designed specifically for little flirts, did not find a response in their hearts and was soon discontinued, causing considerable losses.

Anti-crisis management "in legovski"

Subsequently, the European Court finally legalized their activities, having ruled that the design of a Lego brick cannot be a trademark, since it carries an exclusively technical function. Taking advantage of this solution, serious gaming giants began to fill the niche of Lego-style constructors, depriving the Lego Group of a monopoly comfortable for a successful business.

In the early 1990s, miscalculations of management in assessing the market and a serious increase in competition laid the foundation for a prolonged management crisis. The era of computer games made it worse. 1998 brought a kind of anti-record - the company's losses amounted to $ 48 million. Anti-crisis management led to the dismissal of more than a thousand age employees, the creation of a mini-cinema studio for shooting cartoons with Lego characters, the development of a line of programmable robots, which significantly increased the consumer's age limit, as well as the opening of the production of related products, including clothing, etc. Thus, an attempt to keep up with the trends " fast world”And diversification of capital led to a shift in the production focus from the design direction to other, often foreign lines of business for the company. As a result, the pursuit of innovation nearly drove the Lego Group into sad bankruptcy proceedings.

The turning point in defining the future of the company was the statement of the Director of strategic development Jorgen Knudstorp says that none of the innovations at the Lego Group is profitable, and the management system is not effective.

At the initiative of Mr. Knudstorp, the Lego Group got rid of the ballast of inappropriate and unprofitable business areas, relocated production to states with cheap labor, and established an online scheme for exchanging ideas with its clients. An important stage was the revival of the traditional Lego game system, as well as a return to the classic design and size of bricks.

The measures proved to be effective. After a long dive, the company managed to return to the ranks of serious players. According to the vice president of the Lego Group, John Goodwin, the company's net profit in 2015 increased by 31% and reached 9.2 billion Danish kronor.

40 trillion cubes to the moon

Confirmation of the new-found status of a gaming heavyweight for the Lego Group is the fact that the Guinness Book of Records is full of all kinds of "achievements" of spike-tubular parts: a 545-meter Lego railroad, a 30-meter tower, full-size working cars, printing printers, Amur tiger life-size ... The scope of the bricks seems limitless.

According to the meticulous calculations of the company's employees, the total production of various structural elements for all years of production exceeds 760 trillion pieces. Only the number of released animated Lego figures is approaching the population of our planet by leaps and bounds ... The giant mania of the Lego Group leadership pushed the company to carry out mathematical calculations, according to which a tower of 40 trillion Lego cubes will reach the moon.

Fortune magazine, having paid tribute to Lego's status as the best toy of the century, allowed itself a very truthful joke, writing that of the countless bricks scattered around the globe, "almost certainly 10 billion fell under the sofa cushions, and another 3 billion are inside vacuum cleaners." ...

Lego dividends for the "played enough" owners

Of course, innovative technologies, coupled with a competent business ideology, are the key to a successful future. British financial analysts have made an almost sensational statement. According to them, people who bought Lego bricks 15 years ago, if sold today, will earn more than those who invested in gold and stocks in the same period. For example, a constructor from the Star Wars series called The Millennium Falcon, whose market price in 2007 was about 342 pounds, today can be purchased from the “played enough” owners for 2.7 thousand pounds, which is equivalent to 280 thousand rubles ... It turns out, that Lego is like good cognac. Over the years, it only grows in price.

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Lego is a trademark of the Lego Group's line of construction toys for children. Lego Group is private company, the main office of which is located in Denmark, in the city of Billund. Lego constructors are the most popular and certainly the most famous product of this company in the world. Lego constructors consist of plastic bricks, various auxiliary elements and minifigures. Lego bricks can be connected to each other by many different ways, creating on their basis amazing structures, including buildings, vehicles, and even working robots (for example, Lego series Mindstorms). Everything assembled from Lego can later be disassembled and used building blocks and elements to create other structures. The idea of ​​the Lego designer was visited by the founder of the company, Ole Kirk Christiansen, in the forties of the 20th century. And nowadays, Lego has become a kind of subculture that attracts millions of people around the world and includes video games, various contests and competitions for constructing from Lego sets, and even five Lego parks.

Early history of the company

As already mentioned, the founder of the Lego company was Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter by trade. He lived in Billund, Denmark. His small then private enterprise was engaged in the manufacture of wooden toys. The name Lego first appeared in 1934 and was based on the Danish phrase "leg godt", which means "to play well." The first plastic construction kits were released by the company in 1947, but they did not yet resemble the famous Lego bricks that children around the world play with today. But Lego in the form we are now familiar with (bricks interlocking in all sorts of combinations) appeared in 1949. In their production, a patent of the Kiddicraft company was used. Founded in 1932, the British company Kidcraft has been the inspiration behind Lego in many ways. It was its founder, Hillaru Harry Fisher, who invented and patented the idea of ​​"toy building blocks". It was he who, for the first time in history, described cubes with four and eight protrusions on the surface for mutual connection. It was back in 1947. Such constructors were produced by the Harry Fisher company in post-war years... The Lego founder received samples of Kiddcraft plastic bricks along with an injection molding machine he purchased in England as a demonstration of the installation's capabilities. After studying the construction of these toy building blocks in detail, he decided to copy them. Christiansen slightly modified the design of the English cubes and called his cube "Automatically interlocking bricks". Doesn't sound like Fischer's name? Fischer never found out about all this and his daughter later said "I'm surprised that my father did not hear anything about Lego until his death." The patent for the manufacture of cubes - "self-adhesive building blocks" - according to Kidcraft technology, the Lego company acquired only in 1981.

The first Lego bricks were made from cellulose acetate, a substance invented in 1865 and known as celluloid. Celluloid then served as the basis for the production of cinema - and photographic films, as well as spectacle frames. The first plastic cubes looked much more fun than their wooden counterparts, but were still not of a high quality enough to provide a good grip and still have little force to separate the blocks. In his activities, Christiansen was guided by the slogan "Even the best is never too good." That is why Ole Christiansen put quality at the forefront. To this day, Christiansen's slogan is the flag of the Lego company. Nevertheless, the first sales of the new Lego constructor ended in setbacks and the return of goods from reseller points back to the company: the buyers were not yet ready to evaluate the new product. In 1954, Ole Christiansen's son, Godfried Kirk Christiansen, took over the management of the company. Godfried believed that the creation of systems of creative children's games should be Lego's main trump card. But the technical imperfection of Lego bricks prevented him from realizing his dream: their ability to interlock and hold, as well as the instability of the workmanship did not meet the requirements. The first step towards the dream was the development of a new cube design in 1958. The problem remained with the material from which Lego bricks were made. And this problem was not solved so quickly: the research took another five years. As a result, an ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) polymer was chosen. The new Lego cube was immediately patented. This happened in 1958. Since then and to this day, all Lego models are compatible with each other.

Design and development

Lego bricks are a versatile building system for kids. Despite the huge number of options for individual elements and their original purpose, each of them remains compatible with all the others. Each Lego cube is manufactured with high precision and this allows them to grip securely and at the same time not too tightly. The accuracy of the production of Lego bricks is no worse than 10 microns! These standards are higher than many used for the manufacture of industrial parts and mechanisms! Most of the initial concepts and development are carried out at the Lego headquarters in Billund, employing about 120 designers. Smaller Lego design units are found in England, Spain, Germany and Japan. Regional offices usually develop Lego bricks for specific national markets. This ensures direct contact with customers and taking into account their wishes. The next stage - design - is based on the analysis of consumer preferences and wishes. Since September 2008, the development team has been using 3D modeling to pre-render Lego toys. The resulting graphics are then sent to all Lego development offices in order to collect comments and suggestions, as well as to assess children's interest. This process is called validation at Lego. Further, based on the collected reviews, the design and parameters of Lego sets are being clarified.

Since 1963, Lego bricks have been made from ABS. Since September 2008, the company has been using a CAD system for design, which allows the development and optimization of parts of the structure. Thanks to this approach, a high development speed and excellent properties of Lego bricks are achieved: they are beautiful, durable. To cast Lego bricks, ABS plastic is heated to 232 degrees Celsius (to a doughy consistency). Then soft plastic is poured under high pressure into a mold, where it cools down for 15 seconds under pressure of up to 150 tons. Casting machines provide accuracy down to 2 micrometers. The produced Lego bricks are then checked by human quality inspectors. For this, 8 pieces are randomly selected from each million produced Lego bricks. About 1 percent of the Lego bricks produced are discarded and melted down. The production of Lego bricks is based in many factories around the world. In addition, to create a ready-made constructor, you also need packaging, as well as instructions for assembling Lego models. We can say that Lego production is very international. Its scale boggles the imagination: about 36 billion cubes are produced in one year alone. That's roughly 1,140 Lego building blocks per second! If all these bricks are distributed equally among all the inhabitants of our planet, then you will get about 62 Lego bricks for each person. Back in 2006, Lego, then making 306 million small rubber tire for its models, was the number 1 tire manufacturer in the world.

Lego Today

Since its inception, Lego has produced hundreds of different themed building sets. These are Lego Atlantis, Lego Racing, Lego City, Lego Duplo, Lego Star Wars, Lego Games, Lego Creator, Lego Ninjago, Lego Systems, Lego Cars, Lego Technician, Lego Hero Factory, and many others. With new sets, Lego lovers always get new construction elements. Developed and special kits for girls like Belleville. By the way, they are fully compatible with any other Lego sets. Lego also makes "paramilitary" sets, such as Star Wars. And this is fully consistent with the concept of the founder of the company: wars are allowed only in games. The range of Lego elements has been expanded to include electric motors, gears, light sources, various sensors and cameras. All of this is designed in such a way that it is fully compatible with other components of Lego sets. The electric motors and battery compartments, as well as the lights and switches are combined into a single Power Functions section. In the line of products "Technics" (Lego Technician), a new type of connection of Lego bricks is used, which, nevertheless, is fully compatible with the classic one. All Lego Technic models can be brought to life with optional Power Functions sets.

Lego Bionicle (Bionicle) - a separate direction in the Lego Group. These kits are designed for children between the ages of 7 and 16. The Bionicle line was launched in January 2001 in Europe and June 2001 in the United States. The idea for the Bionicles is based on the earlier Lego Slizers, also known as Throwbots and Roboriders. Both of these series had the same throwing discs and were assembled from classic Lego elements. Bionicle figures are now larger and more flexible in terms of design. In 2010, the Lego Bionicle series was replaced by the new Lego Hero Factory series.

One of the oldest Lego branches is Duplo. It dates back to 1969. The first Lego Duplo sets were simple building blocks that were twice the size of the standard Lego bricks. They were intended for the smallest fans of Lego constructors.

Lego Technic (Technic) starts in 1977 and immediately becomes wildly popular.

In 1979, a series called "Fabuland" starts. This line was intended to fill the gap between Duplo and "adult" Lego sets. Lego Fabuland is a fairy tale country made in a cartoon style. The elements of these sets are simplified and adapted for small children. For example, the roof of a building consists of a single large element. The cubes of these sets are large, the same as those of Duplo.

One of the largest Lego sets is the Millennium Falcon from the Lego Star Wars series. Created by Jens Cronwold Fredriksen in 2007, this set contains 5195 pieces! But it is also inferior to the Taj Mahal set, which includes 5922 Lego pieces.

In May 2011, an expedition aboard the shuttle Endeavor delivered thirteen Lego sets to space station where astronauts assembled models and studied their responses to microgravity as part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. Research results are freely distributed among educational institutions.

Characters from movies and comics

Over the years, Lego has been acquiring licenses and producing characters from films, cartoons and comics. Avatar, Batman, Ben 10, Cars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones Pirates of the Caribbean, Prince of Persia, Spider-Man, SpongeBob Squarepants, Star Wars, Toy Story ... Some of these series like Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones have fantastic success among children and adults. Lego is now striving to reduce the number of such licensed characters in their construction sets, replacing them with their own in-game stories.

Robotic kits

In 1998, Lego launched a line of robotic kits called "Mindstorms". This line is successfully expanding and supplementing these days. The basis for the designers of the Mindstorms series was the development of the MIT Media Lab, and the name was invented by the mathematician and computer developer of this company Seymour Papert, whose research activities closely intertwined with the Lego Group. The programmable lego cube that underlies the Mindstorms sets has undergone several updates and improvements and was eventually named the NXT cube. The latest set in the series, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, includes sensors that respond to touch, light, sound and ultrasonic vibrations. Several extras can be purchased separately. For example RFID is a reader. The smart cube can be programmed using Windows or Mac software. The program is loaded into the cube using the Bluetooth connection, or USB cable... There are also several unofficial programs and cube-compatible programming languages. A huge number of articles have already been written on the programming of these sets, and the Lego Mindstorms fan community numbers hundreds of thousands of people. On the basis of the sets, competitions of Lego robots are held. The oldest of these is Bootball, a national competition for American schoolchildren.

Slogan: Play On
Just Imagine ...

The most famous toy in the world, the dream of many little boys and girls - the construction set Lego appeared in Denmark, the kingdom of children's fairy tales, in the homeland of Hans-Christian Andersen. It seems that it was there, in a country with a magical atmosphere, with love for the world of childhood, that a wonderful constructor was supposed to appear, there they could come up with it and appreciate it. Wonderful invention - constructor Lego became part of the life of Denmark: there in 1968 was built Legoland- whole small world from 45 million cubes Lego, where children and, with no less pleasure, adults go with pleasure. Constructor Lego has repeatedly received prizes and awards in different countries the world, quite rightly, he was named one of the most important inventions of the 20th century.

Lego- the most recognizable brand in the world of toys, was created in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a joiner from the small town of Billund, Denmark. Ole Kirk Christiansen in his small factory was engaged in the production of ladders, stools, ironing boards and wooden toys. The company received its name in 1934 from the phrase "LEg GОdt"- “play well” in Danish. Ole Kirk Christiansen announced a competition for the best name for the company among his employees, and in a tough competition he himself won it.

Lego 1978 set

Since then, the name has adorned all the company's products. His son, Gottfred, who later became the head of the company, also worked with his father from adolescence. Many can envy the boy's "difficult childhood", since the age of 17 he has completely devoted himself to the modeling and production of wooden toys. Later guide Lego Group will be taken over by the founder's grandson Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen.

In 1949 Lego begins the release of "Automatically connecting blocks" with four or eight protrusions - in them you can already recognize the prototype of the future famous designer. In 1954, these bricks began to be called "LEGO bricks". The modern blocking system was patented later in 1958. In the same years, the company was developing its own "game system" - a certain set of basic and additional elements of the constructor, which every year became more and more complex. Transport figures, figures of people, then animals, many additional elements and many, many, many more cubes were later added to the cubes.

Form for stamping Lego bricks. She stamped over 120 million pieces before becoming an exhibit at Legoland California in August 2008 (legogod photo).

In 1973, the logo appears Lego, which we know now, before that, products were produced under several logos, but the company's active entry into the international market has led to the creation of a single sign that is recognizable in all countries. In 1998, a new, more condensed version of the logo was created.

Lego manufactures products for children of the most of different ages and adults are happy to do the folding of not so primitive cubes. The most famous series Lego that's what it's called Lego or "Lego system" it is represented by many series: "City", "Castle", "Space", "Pirates", series dedicated to "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter", etc. A series for small children is produced - "DUPLO" and for the little ones - "Primo".

Have Lego also a little-known series "Znap"- there are no classic cubes in it, most of all this series is suitable for the construction of bridges, openwork ceilings. Series "Technic" equipped with more intricate parts and suitable for robot lovers. Series "Mindstorms" proposes to create not just your own robot, but also, using a computer module, program it at your discretion. Of course, this takes much more effort and time than if you bought a ready-made robot, but the result exceeds all expectations.

Modern sets are much brighter than their predecessors. Lego transport

The basis of success Lego- its simplicity and versatility. Responding to the needs of our customers, constantly changing and improving Lego firmly took its place in children's rooms, it is not boring with it and your imagination is practically unlimited. Small cubes can turn into any toy, into any object, embody any fantasy, everything depends only on the player. Receiving a box as a gift Lego, the child receives a future, potential world, creating which he plays, and learns, and develops at the same time. The only but significant drawback Lego in the eyes of most buyers, the high cost of the construction set is not affordable for everyone.