Many LEGO fans may be up to date on the new LEGO sets on the market, but how much do you really know about LEGO and the incredible company that makes it?
What are some surprising facts about LEGO that you may not have heard?
1. An average of TWENTY EIGHT (28) sets of LEGO are sold every second during the holiday season
There’s no doubt that LEGO is one of the most popular gifts to kids and kids-at-heart every Christmas season. LEGO has always a top spot on every shopping guide in the holidays.
2. LEGO was started by a simple carpenter with great ambition
LEGO has very humble beginnings! Ole Kirk Christiansen experienced hardships after a series of fires which destroyed his home and business. All of these sufferings paved the way for the development of LEGO.
3. LEGO sets always have “extra pieces”
These extra pieces are not a mistake on the part of the production department. The reason for this inclusion bonus bricks is the weight requirement of each set. Small parts are hard to be detected with accuracy by their weighing process so an extra brick is usually added.
4. “LEGO” came from Danish words “leg godt”
“Leg godt” means “play well”. This has been the name of the company since the beginning. The bricks are meant to provide a way for every creative imagination to come into play.
5. The plural of LEGO is not LEGOs
LEGO is an adjective. The plural of LEGO depends on what toy you are referring to – LEGO brick, LEGO minifigures, LEGO pieces, LEGO tires, etc.
This is a common misconception in the LEGO community!
6. The first LEGO minifigures were faceless and without any specific roles
Yellow was the original color of the miniature LEGO figures because this color resembled neutrality, according to The LEGO Group.
But did you know that the first LEGO people were “blank” slates, and it’s up to the children to design them?
7. There is an actual LEGO house built
Located in Billund, Denmark, this 130,000-square-foot LEGO House is made of twenty-five (25) million bricks of LEGO. It houses three restaurants, conference halls, stores, and a public square for their yearly 250,000 visitors.
8. There are an estimated eight billion LEGO figures in the whole world
The LEGO company announced in 2006 that it produced four billion miniature figures in the world. A physics graduate from Virginia made a mathematical calculation that this number would rise to eight billion by 2019. No pronouncement from the company yet if it ever reached this number of LEGO figures. We believe, however, that given the still-rising popularity and ever-evolving LEGO nowadays, this estimate is not far from possible!
9. There was a LEGO dress made out of 12,000 bricks
In 2016, LEGO designer Brian D’Agostine created a dress made of LEGO pieces for his wife. Brian took four months to carefully put together the pieces and weave them into an amazing black dress for a LEGO convention they would attend.
The dress was made primarily out of LEGO Technic elements. 12,000 of them! The dress weighed 7 pounds, so I’m sure it was a bit cumbersome to walk around the convention in!
10. The LEGO Movie used 3.8 Million digitally-rendered unique LEGO bricks
According to producer Dan Lin, everything that was seen in the movie (smoke, water, fire, explosions) is made of LEGO pieces. The filmmakers wanted to make the movie look authentic, showing the famous LEGO bricks in every scene.
It is always fun to read interesting facts about everyone’s childhood toy. Who would have thought that these little brick pieces would bring that much joy to every kid and kid-at-heart throughout the years, right?
We would love to hear from you!
These are just ten amazing facts about LEGO and there are so many more! What are other surprising facts about LEGO do you know? Let us know in our free Facebook group – join in the discussion there!
If you would like to learn how to make money from the amazing LEGO hobby, check us out on YouTube where we talk about LEGO investing and reselling.
