Everyone loves Lego bricks. Kids love em', parents love em'... i mean we all grew up toying around with Lego bricks. No one would have thought that a toy, tiny colorful interlocking bricks that can be assembled in many ways to construct all kinds of objects ranging from houses, towers, vehicles, animals, human beings, etc since the 1940s could today achieve international recognition and appeal with such extensive popular subculture.
A bit of history; originating from Denmark, Lego is the brainchild of Ole Kirk Christiansen . Back in 1932 - 1934, he began constructing wooden toys. In mid 1934, he then started a company called 'Lego', or the 'Lego Group' to produce these toys. Lego then expanded and in the 1940s, they came up with a brilliant idea to build plastic toys. These plastic toys called 'Lego' today would then get stacked on top of each other by having its' studs at the top of a Lego brick interlock with a hollow rectangular bottom Lego brick. These bricks snapped right into place but not too tightly that they couldn't be pulled apart. In other words, the bricks that snapped together had to have the precise amount of 'clutch power' so they do not fall off easily or lock up too tightly.
Today Lego has once again been picking up steam. Thanks to its popular subculture buzzed up by enthusiasts, hobbyists' and fans alike, the Lego Group has now began releasing thousands of play set themes revolving around a variety of topics such as space, robots, scuba diving, architecture, SpongeBob Squarepants, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Speed Racer and Harry Potter. There's even a product line carved especially for females called 'Clikits' that are meant to spur and encourage creativity (arts & crafts). Four 'physical' Lego amusement parks were also built and can be found in Germany, Denmark, England and the USA. Lego Brand retail stores are also springing up like daisies across the globe. I bet there is one in almost every major city in the world. Not only do these Lego Brand retail stores sell just Lego Bricks, but they're now carrying the ever popular video game titles such as Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones, etc. Fans or designers can now download a piece of software called Lego Digital Designer that runs of both PC's and MAC's and upload their collections on the Lego Factory website.
Make sure to checkout Lego Mindstorms and Lego Serious Play . It will blow you away. An endless array of possibilities with Lego bricks is all i can say. And don't forget to join the Facebook Lego FanPage if you're a fan.
Posted by: |