92 Fun Facts About Lego

In which country was the Lego Group founded?

Lego began in 1932 as a small workshop in Jutland, making wooden toys; the town is still the company's home today.

What does the name 'Lego' derive from?

The name Lego comes from the Danish phrase 'leg godt' meaning 'play well.' Coincidentally, it also means 'I put together' in Latin.

What year was the modern interlocking Lego brick design patented?

The patent for the stud-and-tube brick was filed in Denmark on January 28, 1958; the tubes give the clutch power that keeps the bricks together.

What material are modern Lego bricks primarily made from?

ABS replaced cellulose acetate in 1963; the older plastic warped and faded, while ABS keeps its colour and its clutch power for decades.

Who founded the Lego Group?

Ole Kirk Christiansen founded Lego in 1932 in Billund, making wooden toys before switching to plastic bricks.

Where was the first Legoland theme park opened?

The first Legoland opened in 1968 in Billund, Denmark, the same town where the Lego company was founded.

What year were Lego minifigures first introduced?

Earlier figures existed, but the 1978 minifigure was the first with movable arms and legs.

In which year did Lego switch its grey bricks to the bluish shades fans call 'bley'?

Lego changed its palette in 2004, replacing the old light and dark grey with bluish greys that fans nicknamed 'bley'; old brown became reddish brown at the same time.

Which Lego theme was the company's first licensed product line?

Lego Star Wars, launched in 1999, was the company's first licensed theme. It became one of Lego's best-selling product lines of all time.

What is the name of the programmable Lego robotics platform first released in 1998, developed with MIT Media Lab?

Lego Mindstorms launched in 1998 with the Robotics Invention System, blending Lego building with programmable robotics developed alongside MIT Media Lab.

Who voiced Emmet Brickowski in The Lego Movie (2014)?

Chris Pratt voiced Emmet Brickowski, the ordinary construction worker mistaken for 'the Special'; Pratt played Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy the same year.

Which 2021 Lego set became the largest ever released, with 11,695 pieces?

The Lego Art World Map (set 31203) has 11,695 pieces, a wall-mounted mosaic of 1x1 tiles that lets builders recolour the oceans.

What was the trade of Lego's founder before he started making toys?

He was a carpenter whose joinery business, squeezed by the Depression, turned to wooden toys; a pull-along duck was among the early hits.

In what year was the Lego Group nearly bankrupt before a major turnaround?

In 2003 Lego faced a deficit of about US$220 million; a new chief executive took over the following year and pulled the company back to the brick.

How many combinations can be made with just six standard 2x4 Lego bricks?

Six standard 2x4 Lego bricks can be combined in over 915 million different ways, demonstrating the incredible versatility of the simple brick design.

What was the catchphrase of The Lego Movie (2014)?

'Everything Is Awesome,' performed by Tegan and Sara with The Lonely Island, was the film's theme song; its relentlessly catchy conformist chorus is part of the plot's joke.

Which Lego theme, launched in 2001, featured buildable action figures with ball-and-socket joints?

Bionicle launched in 2001 and became a massive success, essentially saving Lego from bankruptcy. It featured a deep lore about biomechanical beings on the island of Mata Nui.

What is the height of a standard Lego minifigure?

A standard Lego minifigure stands approximately 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) tall, making it roughly 1:45 scale compared to an average human.

Which actor voiced Batman in The Lego Batman Movie (2017)?

Will Arnett's Batman proved so popular in The Lego Movie that he got his own standalone film.

Which Lego theme began life as 'Legoland Town' and is one of the company's longest-running lines?

Lego City evolved from Legoland Town, the present-day setting that sat beside Lego's 'past' and 'future' themes; the City branding arrived in 2005.

On which platform can fans submit Lego designs that go to review at 10,000 supporter votes?

Lego Ideas lets fans post designs; a project that gathers 10,000 supporters goes to an expert review, and approved sets are sold with the fan designer credited.

In the first half of 2015, Lego became the world's largest toy maker by revenue, overtaking which company?

Mattel's first-half 2015 sales of about US$1.9 billion fell short of Lego's US$2.1 billion, putting the Danish family firm ahead of the maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels.

What Lego video game series, starting in 2005, features humorous retellings of movie franchises?

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (2005) kicked off a long series of Lego games that retell film franchises with slapstick humour, wordless cutscenes and drop-in co-op play.

What is the name of the Lego theme featuring ninja warriors that launched in 2011?

Lego Ninjago launched in 2011 and became one of Lego's most successful original themes, spawning a TV series, a feature film, and hundreds of sets.

Which company owns and operates the Legoland theme parks?

Merlin Entertainments took over the Legoland parks in 2005, when Lego sold control during its financial crisis; Merlin also runs Madame Tussauds and the Alton Towers resort.

What is the rarest Lego minifigure, often cited as worth thousands of dollars?

Only two solid 14-karat gold Boba Fetts were made, in 2010 for The Empire Strikes Back's 30th anniversary, each valued above US$10,000; five solid-gold C-3POs from 2007 are the closest rivals.

What is the Lego Group's company motto?

The motto dates from 1936 and in Danish reads 'det bedste er ikke for godt', literally 'the best isn't excessively good'.

What is Lego's advanced building system for older fans, with gears, axles, and motors?

Lego Technic, launched in 1977, is Lego's advanced construction system featuring gears, axles, pins, and motors for building complex mechanical models.

What happened to the Lego factory in Billund in 1942?

A short circuit started the blaze, destroying the factory along with all its stock and blueprints; the founder rebuilt and pushed the business further into plastics.

Which sitcom's coffee shop became an official Lego set in 2019 after fans voted for it?

Aymeric Fievet's Central Perk design cleared 10,000 fan votes and shipped as set 21319 in September 2019; a second Friends set, the apartments, followed in 2021.

What name did Lego give its first plastic building set, launched in 1949?

Automatic Binding Bricks, launched in 1949, were moulded in cellulose acetate and sold only in Denmark; they had studs but no tubes underneath, so they clutched poorly.

Which university appointed the world's first Lego Professor of Play in 2018?

Child psychiatrist Paul Ramchandani became the first Lego Professor of Play in Education, Development and Learning at Cambridge in January 2018, funded by the Lego Foundation.

Which Danish architect designed the Lego House experience center in Billund, which opened in 2017?

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) designed the Lego House, a 12,000-square-meter experience center that looks like giant Lego bricks stacked on top of each other.

Counted by units, Lego has been called the world's number-one manufacturer of what?

Its factories turn out about 306 million small rubber tyres a year for vehicle sets, more individual tyres than any conventional tyre maker.

Which CEO led Lego's turnaround from near-bankruptcy in the early 2000s?

Jorgen Vig Knudstorp became CEO in 2004 and orchestrated Lego's remarkable turnaround by cutting costs, selling Legoland parks, and refocusing on core brick products.

What is the Lego Serious Play methodology used for?

Business strategy workshops: teams build metaphors of their organisation in bricks to explore problems and open up communication.

Which Lego theme, launched in 2012, was specifically designed to appeal to girls?

Lego Friends launched in 2012 with mini-doll figures instead of minifigures and five main characters; it sold twice Lego's forecast in its first year despite criticism of its pink palette.

Open University engineers calculated how many stacked bricks it would take to crush the bottom Lego brick?

The Open University found a 2×2 brick withstood 4,240 newtons, so about 375,000 bricks — a stack 3,591 metres tall — would be needed to crush the bottom one.

What is the name of the adult-targeted Lego line of detailed landmark models, launched in 2008?

Lego Architecture, launched in 2008, features detailed models of famous buildings and skylines like the Sydney Opera House, the White House, and the Empire State Building.

In which decade did Lego first introduce its Duplo line for younger children?

Duplo arrived in 1969; its bricks are twice the size of standard Lego in every dimension, hence the name, from the Latin duplus, 'double'.

Which English toymaker's self-locking bricks inspired the first Lego bricks?

Hilary Page's Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Bricks, patented in 1939, were copied almost exactly by Lego's 1949 bricks; Lego bought the Kiddicraft rights in 1981.

Which TV competition show features adult Lego builders competing for prizes?

Lego Masters originated in the UK in 2017 and has been adapted in multiple countries including the US (hosted by Will Arnett) and Australia, featuring teams competing in building challenges.

What is the term for adult Lego enthusiasts?

AFOLs, 'Adult Fans of Lego', are now a market in their own right, and Lego designs many sets specifically for them.

How many employees did the Lego Group have worldwide in 2024?

The Lego Group employed 31,282 people at the end of 2024, spread across offices, stores and factories including a new plant in Vietnam.

Which supercar did Lego Technic recreate in 2018 with a working eight-speed gearbox?

Technic set 42083, the Bugatti Chiron, is a 1:8-scale model of about 3,600 pieces with a working eight-speed gearbox, paddle shifters and a W16 engine with moving pistons.

How many Lego motors powered the drivable full-size Technic supercar built in 2018?

The 2,304 Power Functions motors produced a theoretical 5.3 horsepower, enough for Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace to drive the 1.5-tonne brick Chiron at about 20 km/h.

Which Florida city is home to Legoland Florida?

Legoland Florida opened in 2011 in Winter Haven, on the site of the old Cypress Gardens botanical park, about 45 miles south-west of Orlando.

Legoland's Miniland was inspired by a visit to which Dutch miniature park?

Godtfred Kirk Christiansen and park designer Arnold Boutrup toured Madurodam, the miniature city in The Hague, before settling on Miniland as Legoland Billund's centrepiece.

Legoland Windsor was built on the 150-acre site of what former attraction?

Legoland Windsor opened in 1996 on the grounds of the former Windsor Safari Park, which had closed in 1992 and whose animals were rehomed before building began.

Which company managed the Lego brand in the United States from 1961 to 1972?

Samsonite, the luggage maker, licensed the Lego brand for North America in 1961 and moulded bricks in Loveland, Colorado; Lego took the US business back in 1972.

What did Lego's owner begin building in 1961 to help sell toys around the world?

Billund Airport, begun by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen in 1961 and opened in 1964, grew into Denmark's second-busiest airport, right beside the factory and the first Legoland.

Young Godtfred once cut costs by giving wooden ducks two coats of varnish instead of how many?

His father made him fetch the boxes back from the station and finish the job alone that night. Godtfred said it taught him what quality meant.

Which family investment firm owns the Lego Group?

Kirkbi A/S, the Kirk Kristiansen family's holding company, owns 75 per cent of the Lego Group; the Lego Foundation holds the remaining 25 per cent.

Who was president and CEO of the Lego Group from 1979 to 2004?

The founder's grandson appeared on Lego boxes as a child. His tenure introduced themes, minifigures, Lego.com and licensed properties.

In 1997, a rogue wave swept five million Lego pieces off a cargo ship into the sea off which English county?

The Tokio Express lost the container off Land's End, Cornwall, in February 1997; beachcombers have picked up the pieces, many of them sea-themed, for decades since.

Which NASA spacecraft carries three aluminium Lego minifigures to Jupiter?

Juno, launched in 2011, carries the aluminium figures of the god Jupiter, his wife Juno and the astronomer Galileo; it entered orbit around Jupiter in July 2016.

Who designed the first modern Lego minifigure?

Jens Nygaard Knudsen, a Lego designer from 1968 to 2000, created the 1978 minifigure with interchangeable torso, legs and arms; its blank smile and yellow skin left gender and race to the child.

Which theme introduced the first minifigures with natural skin tones?

Lego Basketball's 2003 NBA sets were the first with realistic skin tones, because the figures were likenesses of living players; licensed lines such as Star Wars followed in 2004.

Which Star Wars character got the first Lego minifigure with a uniquely sculpted head, in 1999?

Jar Jar Binks's 1999 minifigure was the first with a specially moulded head instead of the standard cylinder; Yoda, C-3PO and Davy Jones later got sculpted heads too.

Lego's fan-submission platform was originally known by what Japanese-derived name?

It began in 2008 as a beta with a Japanese crowdsourcing firm and took its current name in 2014. Creators still get 1% of net sales.

Which 2000 theme came with a camera and software for making stop-motion brick films?

Lego Studios launched in 2000 with the Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set, bundling a USB camera and editing software; the homemade brickfilm look later inspired The Lego Movie's animation.

What was the first official Lego film, released straight to DVD?

Bionicle: Mask of Light (2003), distributed by Miramax, was Lego's first feature film; The Adventures of Clutch Powers followed in 2010 and the first theatrical Lego movie in 2014.

Who wrote and directed The Lego Movie?

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller limited every rig to the articulation of a real minifigure so the film would look like stop motion.

In The Lego Movie, the superweapon called the Kragle, wielded by Lord Business, is really what?

A tube of Krazy Glue with half its label worn off; the Piece of Resistance stuck to Emmet's back is the tube's cap, which is why it can stop Lord Business.

Which Australian studio animated The Lego Movie and its sequels?

Animal Logic, based in Sydney, animated The Lego Movie — initially contracted for about 80% of the film — and returned for the Batman, Ninjago and Second Part films.

The Lego Movie earned its only Oscar nomination in which category?

Best Original Song, for 'Everything Is Awesome', which did not win either; the film's omission from the animated feature shortlist was a famous snub.

Where did The Lego Batman Movie hold its world premiere?

The world premiere was at Dublin's Savoy Cinema on 29 January 2017, two weeks before the US release; the film took $312 million on an $80 million budget.

Who voiced the Joker in The Lego Batman Movie?

Zach Galifianakis voiced the Joker, who is hurt that Batman will not call him his archenemy; Michael Cera voiced Robin and Ralph Fiennes Alfred.

Which martial-arts star appears in live action in Lego's 2017 ninja film?

Jackie Chan plays Mr. Liu, the relic-shop owner in the live-action framing story, and voices Master Wu; the film was the franchise's first box-office disappointment.

What fictional martial art do Lloyd Garmadon and his fellow ninja practise?

Spinjitzu is the spinning tornado technique Master Wu taught the ninja; each of them is also an Elemental Master of fire, ice, lightning, earth or energy.

Which studio picked up the Lego film rights in 2020 after Warner Bros. let them lapse?

Universal Pictures signed a five-year deal with Lego in April 2020 after Warner Bros.' rights lapsed; the switch killed a planned Lego Batman sequel.

Piece by Piece (2024), an animated Lego biopic, tells the life of which musician?

Piece by Piece, directed by Morgan Neville, retells Pharrell Williams's life in Lego animation; it was the first theatrical Lego film since The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part in 2019.

Lego's 1998 robotics line took its name from a book by which educator?

The MIT Media Lab's programmable brick became the product's brain. Papert's theory of constructionism shaped the open-ended, no-instructions kit.

Before being renamed in 1982, Lego's gears-and-axles line was sold under which name?

Lego sold the 1977 gears-and-axles sets as Expert Builder (Technical Sets in some markets) until the Technic name arrived in 1982; 853 Car Chassis, with working steering and pistons, was the flagship.

What was the first set in Lego's Modular Buildings series, released in 2007 after adult fans asked for minifigure-scale town buildings?

Café Corner had 2,056 pieces and an empty interior; a 2006 poll of adult fans had asked for realistic, minifigure-scale town buildings.

In 2022, Lego rebranded its Creator Expert line of adult sets under what name?

Lego Icons took over a line whose roots go back to the 2000 Statue of Liberty exclusive; new packaging debuted on 1 January 2023.

Lego Friends' mini-doll characters Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia and Stephanie live in which fictional town?

Heartlake City's 2012 launch doubled sales expectations and introduced new brick colours like lavender and teal; the cast was relaunched in 2023.

Lego Pirates (1989) was the first Lego theme to include which pieces?

Pirates' 1989 debut brought Lego's first firearms — flintlock pistols, muskets and firing cannons — along with parrots, monkeys, cloth sails and the first minifigure faces beyond two dots and a smile.

Lego's original three minifigure themes were Town, Space and which?

Castle completed the trio — Town for the present, Space for the future, Castle for the past; the 1978 set 375, nicknamed the Yellow Castle, opened the theme.

Who is the pizza-delivery hero of the 1997 game Lego Island?

Pepper Roni, the skateboarding pizza-delivery boy, must recapture the escaped Brickster; the 1997 PC game was developed by Mindscape.

The Lego Dimensions starter pack story stars Batman, Wyldstyle and which wizard?

Gandalf joins Batman and Wyldstyle in the 2015 starter pack of Lego Dimensions, a toys-to-life game that mixed more than thirty franchises through a USB toy pad.

BrickLink, the Lego resale marketplace, was originally called what?

Dan Jezek launched the site in 2000 as BrickBay; after eBay objected to the name it became BrickLink, and the Lego Group bought the site outright in 2019.

Lego Hidden Side (2019), set in the town of Newbury, used a smartphone AR app to hunt and capture what?

Ghosts: players scanned the physical sets with the Hidden Side app to reveal and capture augmented-reality hauntings, an idea Lego had tried before with Nexo Knights' scannable shields.

Lego Monkie Kid (2020) draws on which classic Chinese story?

Monkie Kid reimagines Journey to the West, the 16th-century novel of Sun Wukong the Monkey King; it was Lego's first full line based on Chinese culture.

Fabuland (1979) was the first Lego theme to feature what?

Fabuland's animal townsfolk, such as Edward Elephant and Bonnie Bunny, were the first named characters in a Lego theme; they spun off into books, clothing and the 1980s TV series Edward and Friends.

Lego Speed Champions launched in 2015 with Ferrari, McLaren and which other brand?

Porsche was the third launch brand: the 2015 wave included a 911 GT3 RS and a 918 Spyder alongside Ferrari and McLaren cars; the line later anchored a 2019 Forza Horizon 4 expansion.

Which Space Shuttle carried 13 Lego kits to the International Space Station in 2011?

Endeavour flew the kits on STS-134 in May 2011, its final mission; astronauts built the models inside a glovebox for the Lego Bricks in Space education programme.

Which board game designer co-created the 2009 Lego Games line?

Reiner Knizia, designer of Lost Cities and Ra, co-created games such as Ramses Pyramid and Lunar Command; players built the boards, and even the dice were Lego, with rubber edges and studded faces.

Which British studio developed Lego Dimensions and the licensed Lego video games?

Traveller's Tales, based in Knutsford, Cheshire, made the games; after Lego shut its own publishing arm in 2004, ex-staff formed Giant Interactive, which merged with Traveller's Tales in 2005 to create TT Games.

Lego opened its sixth factory, billed as its most sustainable, in 2025 in which country?

The Binh Duong plant in Vietnam, opened in April 2025, runs on solar power and was Lego's sixth factory, after Denmark, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico and China.

In 2020, Lego announced it would replace the single-use plastic packaging inside sets with what?

Paper bags: Lego said in September 2020 it would phase out the single-use plastic bags inside its boxes over several years, after children wrote in asking the company to drop plastic.

Lego Ghostbusters began in 2014 with a fan-designed set of which vehicle?

The Ectomobile came through the fan-vote platform and was retired by the end of 2016. A firehouse set followed.