Lego

This article is about the construction toy. For the company, see The Lego Group. For the Italian newspaper, see Leggo. For other uses, see Lego (disambiguation).

Lego
Logo used since 1998
TypeConstruction set
Inventor(s)Ole Kirk Christiansen
CompanyThe Lego Group
CountryDenmark
Availability1949–present
MaterialsAcrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Official website

Lego (/ˈlɛɡoʊ/ ⓘ LEG-oh, Danish: [ˈle̝ːko];[1] stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) that accompany an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Its pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Assembled Lego models can be taken apart, and their pieces can be reused to create new constructions.[2][3]

The Lego Group began manufacturing the interlocking toy bricks in 1949. Moulding is done in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, and China. Brick decorations and packaging are done at plants in the former three countries and in the Czech Republic. Annual production of the bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. One of Europe's biggest companies, Lego is the largest toy manufacturer in the world by sales.[4][5] As of July 2015, 600 billion Lego parts had been produced.[6]

Lego maintains a large fan community based around building competitions and custom creations, and a range of films, games, and eight Legoland amusement parks have been developed under the brand.

  1. ^ Brink, Lars; Lund, Jørn; Heger, Steffen; Jørgensen, J. Normann (1991). Den Store Danske Udtaleordbog. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. p. 845. ISBN 87-16-06649-9.
  2. ^ "Lego History-About Us". Lego. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  3. ^ "How a Lego Works". How Stuff Works. 28 June 2006. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Lego Builds on Its Position as World's No. 1 Toy Maker". The Wall Street Journal. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Lego: the brick behemoth that wants to be as big as Disney". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 October 2023. Such innovations have propelled the family-owned toymaker to become one of Europe's biggest corporate success stories.. Lego, with essentially just one product in endless iterations, has become by far the biggest toymaker in the world by sales, and on a different level altogether in terms of profits.
  6. ^ "The message is the medium". Intellectual Property Office blog. Gov.uk. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.