LEGO sells more than 75 billion bricks each year, which roughly equates to seven bricks for each person living on our planet. It's fascinating to consider how a simple toy has captured the imaginations of so many children and adults worldwide.
Construction toys have always been popular throughout history. Traditionally, these toys were made of wood, allowing users to stack them on top of each other. However, this design was limited, as larger constructions could easily collapse. Various wooden toys were developed to address this issue, with interlocking features that improved stability, though these were still not perfect.
LEGO itself began as a wooden toy company., but the introduction of the plastic injection molding process marked a significant shift in the toy industry. It allowed for the creation of plastic bricks, offering much greater flexibility. A competitor, Kiddicraft was the first to pioneer this new approach, creating a plastic brick. The key distinction was that the underside of their bricks was hollow. LEGO's transformative innovation was the addition of tubes underneath the bricks, which significantly improved the interlocking capability of the bricks. This feature was patented, and it played a crucial role in establishing LEGO as the leading toy brick manufacturer.
Although the patent expired in 1978, LEGO has managed to maintain its industry leadership. The company has achieved this through a combination of exceptional manufacturing quality and strategic partnerships with some of the world's most famous franchises. But it was likely that without that simple but ingenious tweak to an existing design, LEGO would not be one of the most famous toys as it is today.
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