Content helped build Lego into the world’s largest toy maker. Its movies, TV shows and video games take advantage of licensing deals with some of the world’s biggest brands, like Batman and Star Wars, to grow its customer base.
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It wasn't because the Chinese adults weren't interested in plastic toys, but things like Gunpla and anime figures seem to be more popular among male adults compared to Lego, at least in China
The BIONICLE appreciation on display here is excellent! I was surprised, though, that there was no mention of Monkie Kid in the discussion of the LEGO Group's attempt to break into the Chinese market, being a reimagining of the classic work Journey to the West that seems to have managed the feat of both marrying the LEGO brand to a part of Chinese culture that's instantly recognisable to parents and producing media that's still engaging and relevant to its target childhood audience. In doing so, the LEGO Group's gone a step beyond what they managed with BIONICLE and, later, Ninjago by not only creating a genuinely great licensed theme-equivalent world without having to pay licence fees, as those two themes did, but also capturing the immediate marketing boost that a licensed theme would have by associating it with a familiar, understood cultural touchstone.
And you don’t even mention the research they do in polymer processing
I am 59 years old and been building Lego bricks since I was 10 years old. The longevity of the bricks and their use continues to amaze me every day.
This is great stuff. But man, do I miss when LEGO came up with good original themes like Bionicle, Hero Factory, Power Miners and Space Police… I just wish they did that along the licensed themes.
LEGO not Lego…
BIONICLE
I am new to the stock market. Every stock that I bought so far, I was out of luck because I bought them when they were expensive. I feel I missed out on all the stock opportunities so far for the tech stocks.I believe having 75K yearly income would be a good investment so I want to plug all my savings into the stock market. I know this sounds a bit dull but I would like to know if I should learn investing or let somebody else (more capable like a FA) do it for me? Please share your thoughts. I am kind of tired of searching for a good stock to buy and losing all the good opportunities
stil have fond memories of playing racer and star wars with my brothers
LEGO Star Wars and Ninjago are so awesome. Bionicle was the thing that started it all.
Search "why Lego won" for the article that inspired this piece. WSJ doesn't do original ideas, they just copy other creators.
One thing my brothers kept building with their Lego was a ship, sorta like a cruise liner, but more along the lines of a giant private yacht. Back then, I didn't own much Lego, so I preferred using Plasticine and still do prefer using modelling clay over Legos, though these days I build in Modded Minecraft (which once had a Lego texture pack for the Java edition).
The reason Lego changed from wood to plastic is because of a fire that burned down Ole Kirk Christiansen's wooden toy inventory in 1942. In fact this was actually the second fire Ole faced at his workshop. These tragedies would become part of a big comeback story, however. He took the first fire as an excuse to build a bigger workshop, stock market crashed in 1929, his wife died in 1932, and then facing financial disaster he let go of most of his staff. But he made a big decision, he decided to use his wood that he originally used for furniture to create cheap, wooden toys that would sell.
He slid into bankruptcy by doing this but he kept going, refusing to stop making toys. He changed his company's name to Lego (leg godt; play well) to reflect its new direction, and then when the second fire happened in 1942, he had enough to bounce back and move forward, deciding that wood was too prone to fire and jumped to plastic when traditional stuff used to produce goods weren't available. Using a plastic molding machine invented in the UK, Ole bought Denmark's first in 1946 and called the new product the "Automatic Binding Brick", a name in English rather than Danish to honor the Allies who liberated Denmark.
You know WSJ are people of culture when they include the holy figures of BIONICLE! Another thing Lego is doing to prosper in the Chinese market is opening four Legoland parks (owned by Merlin Entertainment) in Shenzhen, Chengdu, Beijing, and Shanghai. As well as creating sets specifically for a Chinese audience (though popular with others too) like Chinese New Year sets every year and a theme called Monkie Kid inspired by Journey to the West.
Man… bionicle. I miss those days. But yeah… if Lego North America made a 5-6 ft minecraft unbreakable sword for $20-$30 I AM SO DOWN TO BUY IT!
As well if any Lego North American and EU worker's see my comment lost in the sea… PLEASE! CAN YOU GUYS COLLAB WITH ANY HIGH END FASHION LUXURY BRAND (LIKE VERSACE)?! I AM SO SERIOUSLY DOWN TO BUILD A LEGO X VERSACE COLLAB MEDUSA SET. ALSO GIVE ME CREDIT FOR THAT IDEA LEGO NORTH AMERICA AND LEGO EU… PLEASE AND THANK YOU! 👍
So why, with all that money are the train kits still requiring 10 AAA batteries and a screw driver to charge!!!!
A sealed battery design and a USB-C socket is over due!!
Sorry, it's just too much capeshit nowadays. They stopped the classic themes like Space, Castle, Pirates, Exploration, Western, etc. (apart from the occasional creator or anniversary sets)
LEGO stimulates both logic and creativity and gives kids a good time. When one generation of kids discover girls we put the LEGO´s in a pillow case and wash them at lowest temperature in the washer and they are ready for next generation. I am close to 60 now and all the LEGO I got as a child are still fully usable today and I cannot say that about any other toy I had then. In my humble opinion, it are not only a great toy, but if you include its durability, it also are the cheapest.
For anyone curious the kid who played Zach the Lego maniac became an architect when he grew up haha he used to work at my firm
Lego is never a toy company for kids. As an adult I can't afford their skyhigh prices. They cost more than real bricks that I can build a house with.
LEGO likes to take all my money.
The basketball sets were actually so great
BRING BIONICLE BACK PLEASE WE ARE ADULTS WITH JOBS NOW WE WANNA BUY OLD SETS LEGO COME ON
I saw people INVESTING in Lego sets now. Better ROI than trading cards and comic books they say 😂.
They are also good at making really good cartoon series when they want to
Would be awesome if they built houses one day.
The simplicity of the LEGO is the reason why they are widely accepted.
see toys still sell if you do it right and give it a twist
its a toy and will always be a toy.
Up 17% last year but yet they had to raise the prices of sets that were already on store shelves. Greed is greed, there is never enough of a profit to be made, even by the largest toy company in the world. Then you constantly see sales across the board as retail outlets and Lego stores try to dump old stock to get warehouse and store shelf space ready for the next seasonal wave. Just points out the hypocrisy of saying that costs for them are increasing so they have to up the prices… until they have too many over-priced sets and then the sales come to reduce inventory. Perhaps if you kept the costs reasonably priced, they would sell and you wouldn't have to look like liars when you turn around months later and sell them at a lower cost than they were to begin with!
Next step Disney buy Lego😂😂😂
Meh…I’ll stick with bristle blocks for my kid. So glad we don’t have any legos.
Really good video. Surprising depth for a mainstream news company. 10/10
lego, the most expensive plastic in the world.
Ein sehr sehr sympatischer Grosskonzern der sich noch für seine Kunden einsetzt grüsse an den Helden
I want to become one of the TOP LEGO designers 🤩