Business has been so brisk at the world's most profitable toymaker that Lego last year did something unusual: It began looking for ways to discourage customers from buying its products.The Danish company scaled back its advertising efforts amid a 25 percent rise in annual sales, according to Reuters. It simply couldn't make enough toys to satiate demand in North America, and needed a break while it boosted capacity at its factories and increased its workforce by nearly 25 percent. "We feel we need to invest, to build some breathing space," John Goodwin, Lego's chief financial officer, told Reuters. Lego, a family-owned company founded in 1932, has enjoyed booming growth for decades. The company has released thousands of sets of its eponymous blocks, forging licensing deals with popular brands including Star Wars, Angry Birds and Disney Princesses. It has also taken on iconic architecture: A model of the U.S. Capitol building is for sale on Lego's site for $99.99, while a White House set sells for $49.99.
A replica of the Ghostbusters firehouse, meanwhile, is listed for $349.99. The company's dominance also has extended into the company's six Legoland theme parks, 125 retail stores and dozens of video games. "The Lego Movie," a full-length movie released in 2014, brought in $468.1 million at the box office.The company's revenue has increased by an average of 15 percent a year in the past 12 years, according to Reuters. The efforts to quell demand seem to have worked — at least temporarily. Sales in the Americas remained flat during the first half of 2016, according to Reuters. (Revenue in Asia and Europe, meanwhile, continued to grow by double digits.) Overall, Lego's revenue rose 11 percent to roughly $2.35 billion in the first half of the year, ahead of the $1.83 billion reported by Mattel, the maker of Barbie.But executives at Lego are hoping to ramp up production in time for this year's holiday season, Goodwin said: "We are working very closely with our retail partners to ensure that as we go into the important holiday season, the back half of 2016, that we've got all of the levers pulled to get back on the growth trajectory."
The company is building its first factory in China, and is expanding existing plants in Mexico, Hungary and Denmark. Lego also hired 3,500 employees in the first half of the year, increasing its workforce to 18,500, according to The Wall Street Journal."In the past decade we have seen LEGO sales growth in the double digits year after year," Goodwin said in a statement in October. "We are of course very excited about this development. (But) the high demand also puts a strain on our factories around the world."I’m standing in the block aisle with my kids’ holiday wish lists. Usually, I’m there for my 9-year-old son. But this year, “Girl Legos” is carefully printed at the top of my 6-year-old daughter’s list. As a mom of a boy and a girl – and a gender researcher who studies kids’ toys – I’m curious about this. Over the last five years, toy companies have begun to produce toys typically marketed to boys — like bow and arrows — in pink. Is this a marketing ploy steeped in sexist stereotypes, or a brilliant way to encourage my daughter to want different kinds of toys — ones that help build, create, even engineer?
My colleagues and I turned to science to look into this possibility. We bought two identical sets of traditional boys’ toys (think monster trucks and fighter jets). We kept one set blue, and painted the other set pink. Then we bought two sets of girls’ toys, like dolls and tea sets, and did the same. We then allowed 73 preschool-age children to play with all four types of toys and rate how much they liked each one. Boys preferred boys’ toys 20 percent more than the girls’ toys. And girls preferred girls’ toys over boys’ toys, though by just 5 percent. But when boys’ toys were painted pink, girls liked them. In fact, girls liked them just as much as they liked those so-called girls’ toys. The only toys they were not interested in were the blue boys’ toys, which they rated 10 percent less interesting than all of the other toys. Sadly, it doesn’t work the other way. Boys didn’t want to play with a tea set, whether it was blue or pink. The color blue doesn’t open the door for boys to play with all toys the way pink does for girls.
It’s possible that the stigma against boys playing with tea sets and dolls is too strong to be overcome by simply changing toys’ colors. There is less pressure for girls to conform to gender norms than there is for boys, and girls are a little more flexible in what they consider to be “for them.” In some ways, these results make me happy. The pink blocks appeal to my daughter in a way regular Legos don’t. And if she plays with them, I know it’ll help her learn math. Still, this pink-and-blue marketing strategy is trying to lure me into buying a pink set of Legos, when I already have a house filled with blue plastic blocks. Worse, it’s sending the message to kids that there are rules about what toys they should play with — and these rules are based on gender. So for now, I’m going to pass on the “Girl Legos.” Instead, I’m going to pick up a big bucket of rainbow-colored blocks. This winter break, I hope you’ll find me at the kitchen table, building something together with my daughter and my son.
The Daily Brick has over 35,000 Lego parts in stock to buy, including bricks, plates, slopes and Minifigure parts. If you're looking for missing Lego pieces for an existing Lego set, or you need replacement Lego parts, we have a very large range available. We also have a good selection of Lego Technic spare parts in stock. Get started by using the categories on the left to find the individual Lego parts you need. If you can't find what you need, you should be able to find the part on Brick Owl. Items 1 to 60 of 330 LEGO Cone 1 x 1 with Top Groove (15551 / 55525 / 59900) LEGO Plate 3 x 2 with Hole (3176) LEGO Plate 2 x 2 with Groove and 1 Center Stud (23893 / 87580) LEGO Mechanical Arm with Thin Support (53989 / 58342) LEGO Slope 45 2 x 1 (3040 / 6270) LEGO Minifigure Hips and Legs (73200 / 88584) LEGO Slope 18 1 x 4 x 1 (60477) LEGO Round Plate 1 x 1 (4073 / 6141 / 15570) LEGO Light Cover 1 x 1 x 1.667 with Bar (29380 / 58176) LEGO Brick 1 x 2 with Vertical Clip (Gap in Clip) (30237)
LEGO Plate 1 x 2 with Top Clip (92280) LEGO Bat-a-Rang with Handgrip in Middle (98721) LEGO Minifig Goblet (2343 / 6269 / 30002) LEGO Cone 1 x 1 without Top Groove (4589 / 6188 / 15551) LEGO Slope 18 2 x 1 x 2/3 Grille (18863 / 61409) LEGO Plate 1 x 2 with Handle (Open Ends) (2540) LEGO Half Pin with Bar 2L (61184) LEGO Minifigure Head with Decoration (Safety Stud) (63814) LEGO Sausage (25994 / 33078) LEGO Slope 31 (30) 1 x 2 x 0.66 (85984) LEGO Crash Helmet (2446 / 30124 / 88415) LEGO Ring 1 x 1 7.5 (11010) LEGO Minifig Handcuffs (61482 / 91795 / 97927) LEGO Seat 2 x 2 with Sprue Mark in Seat (4079) LEGO Spines Tail (55236) LEGO Axle Connector (Smooth with 'x' Hole) (59443) LEGO Turntable 2 x 2 Plate Top (3679) LEGO Slope 2 x 4 Triple Left (43710) LEGO Divers Mask (30090 / 88416) LEGO Diamond with Stick (30153) LEGO Slope 18 4 x 2 (30363) LEGO Minifigure Hips with Orange Legs with Decoration (63206)
LEGO Slope 2 x 4 Triple Right (43711) LEGO Container 2 x 2 x 2 Crate (61780) LEGO Minifig Helmet Visor (2447 / 25361 / 59456) LEGO Brick 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side (87087) LEGO Minifigure Torso with Laced Shirt and Black Apron Bib (76382) LEGO Dish 6 x 6 Inverted with Solid Studs (21599 / 44375) LEGO Brick 1 x 1 (3005 / 30071) LEGO Minifig Tool Chainsaw Blade (6117 / 28652) LEGO Barrel 2 x 2 x 1.667 (2489) LEGO Small Tread Link (3873 / 15379) LEGO Brick, Round 1 x 1 Open Stud with Letter Danish 'O' Slash Pattern LEGO Minifigure Torso Work Shirt with Olive Safety Straps and Orange Belt (76382) LEGO Brick 1 x 2 x 1.33 with Curved Top (6091 / 32807) LEGO Shell C 6m Ball Pin 10.2 (90650) LEGO Brick 2 x 3 (3002) LEGO Round Brick 1 x 1 with Letter 'M' with Open Stud (3062) LEGO Brick 1 x 3 (3622 / 45505) LEGO Duplo Bed 3 x 5 x 35.5 (4895 / 76338) LEGO Duplo Brick 1 x 2 x 2 with Indiana Jones Legoland Decoration without Bottom Tube (...