Lego embraces digital change but bricks will always be its core Lego's growth in New Zealand is outstripping that of the rest of the world. Kids are kids wherever they live, but there is something about New Zealand which makes it one of the fastest growing markets for Lego in the world.Lego Group head of marketing for Australia and New Zealand Troy Taylor also believed the trend towards children becoming more digitally savvy represented and opportunity, rather than any stumbling block.Lego, which is 83 years old, sold more than $3 billion of the brick toys worldwide in the first half of 2016. The Lego Tree in Auckland's Aotea Square uses more than 500,000 bricks. The toy manufacturer was on the verge of bankruptcy about a decade ago, but has now recorded a $700 million net profit in six months this year.READ MORE: * Lego love put on display * Child destroys $22,000 Lego sculpture an hour into exhibition * Imagine Lego... but better. A Kiwi has invented 'Flexo'Taylor said the New Zealand market, where Lego has been sold for more than 30 years, was strong.
Lego sold more than $3 billion of the brick toys worldwide in the first half of 2016. "New Zealand growth's actually outpacing the global Lego growth," he said."I think the brand resonates well with Kiwis."He said Duplo, the bigger bricks for younger children, was particularly strong here, and Christmas sales suggested New Zealand would continue to outpace global growth.But the company has been working hard to ensure the bricks do not come tumbling down. The launch of a 10-metre high Christmas tree in Auckland's Aotea Square on Friday, was one example of the company's attempt to try localise its marketing more.The tree weighs 3.5 tonnes, is made of more than 500,000 bricks, and has 3500 lights in its star alone, all especially transported in air conditioned containers. The bricks can lose their colour if they get too warm."If you think of how the Lego brand's been built, it's been built on the experiences you've had as a child."To continue that through the next generation we feel we need to provide something such as this tree, where families can come and engage."
Localising and having more events like this is certainly on our agenda and this is the start of it in the New Zealand market."Taylor said the obvious threat to Lego's popularity, being the rise of digital technology, was actually something the physical toy could co-exist with.Lego has launched a product called Nexo Knights, which comes with a downloadable app that can scan Lego bricks to unlock digital content.The themes, whether it be Star Wars or super heroes, might change, but Lego tested children all around the world to see what trends they followed.Lego would always be based on the brick, whatever developments might come, he said."I think the possibilities with that brick are endless."No doubt there's a trend towards children being in front of screens more, becoming more digitally savvy."But instead of being concerned about it, we're more embracing it and adapting our product to that new trend."Sorry, we can't find any results that match your chosen filtersGalaktek continues his long-running series of mechanically inclined animals with a turtle named Toby on an interstellar mission to the newly discovered planets of the Trappist-1 system a mere 39 light years from Earth.
The builder says, “Unfortunately, when the NASA contract asked for an “amphibious” rover, they may not have considered how a turtle would look at it…” With wheels that fold into the rover’s body, and a color scheme reminiscent of the LEGO Ideas set 21306 The Beatles Yellow Submarine, it looks like Toby is in for a groovy spacey adventure.Tell all your friends! LEGO City remains one of the most popular themes designed by LEGO and is always fun to see a large city layout. And you will definitely not be disappointed by this bustling city scene by Korean building team OliveSeon – a huge minifigure scale diorama that is over 6 meters (19 feet) in length. The main central part of the scene includes a few official modular sets such as the Detective’s Office, Parisian Restaurant and Ghostbusters HQ on the left. But there is much more to this diorama than buildings, as I believe it depicts almost every form of transport system imaginable from an airplane, to a suspension railway, to HGVs and even a hot air balloon.
On the far right beyond those skyscrapers, the concrete plunges into a chilled out beach scene and then a mountain peak complete with cable car. The red and white cable car is very cute, as is the hot air balloon, even if every Health & Safety bone in my body is shouting that it’s too close to the high wires! On the far left the transportation has a more nautical feel with the port and harbour area. Don’t go for a dip in the water on this side of the build though, cos I’ve spotted a few hungry sharks on patrol. So can you think of any other forms of transportation the builders have missed in this huge 3-part diorama? A while ago W. Navarre revealed this ship as a part of a nautical diorama that was a modern re-interpretation of an original LEGO Pirates set. However, he decided that the diorama did not do the ship justice, and has chosen to photograph it now on its own. There is a lot to love about The Black Death, most notably the sails made out of all sorts of multi-angled pieces in an eye-popping dark red, as well as some very interesting shaping along the hull.
Years ago, brick-built hulls were very common for small and medium scaled ships, but lately it seems to be becoming the norm. Did you see the LEGO LC-130 Hercules we sent to Antartica at the end of last year? Did you want your own rocket-powered ski-plane? Over the last couple of months, TBB’s own Ralph Savelsberg worked with Dan Siskind and his team at Brickmania to turn Ralph’s model of this iconic aircraft into a custom LEGO kit you can buy. Ralph is awesome, Brickmania is awesome, science is awesome, airplanes are awesome — we couldn’t be happier that one of our team’s designs is being turned into a Brickmania kit! Learn more about this unique LEGO kit Major Motoko Kusanagi is a cybernetic human employed in law-enforcement in the Japanese manga, anime, and forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster, Ghost in the Shell — 50% cyborg-intelligence, 50% human, 100% LEGO. Builder Grant Masters uses an old Belville figure with coat of paint to show how the protagonist hooks up to a network of systems.
The twisted tubing provides a suitably cyberpunk backdrop to the scene, and it’s all enhanced with some nice uplighting. Sometimes all you need to relax is to contemplate a beautifully-built LEGO model. This wonderful bonsai by ZiO Chao deserves your attention — chill out and soak up the serenity. The gnarled and twisted tree itself is nicely-done — with an interesting technique of inserting flower stalks into larger leaf pieces — but it’s the little rock and the display stands which elevate this into brick-built art. I want one of these for my house. We recently had the chance to sit down with Johan Alexanderson (LegoJalex) to discuss his building style and approach to the hobby. A part-time web developer, as well as a free-lance illustrator and comic book artist, Johan is 35 years old and lives in Sweden. Come with us as we explore the mind of a builder! TBB: So how did you get into LEGO building? LegoJalex: I started building about 5 years ago, after a “dark age” of about 15 years.
I had a stressful time then and I really needed something to relax with, so naturally I started to build again. Building with LEGO has so many great memories for me and I really like the creativity involved. I think there are similarities with my interest in drawing and illustrating, where in both you have to think in a creative and artistic way. Curved silver elements lend a nice retro chopper feel to George Panteleon‘s hoverbike, but it’s the smart use of sand green pieces to depict a post-apocalyptic sewer which grabs the eye. The tentacle tip makes for a perfect outpouring of skanky muck, and the soccer pitch part creates a great impression of a thick gloopy liquid in motion. I love when builders pay as much attention to the surrounding scenery as to the central model in a scene — it makes all the difference between a decent image, and a standout one. Immersing a LEGO model in a real-world scene is quite a feat. Did Chris Madison really make a mouse hole in his wall skirting?
Of course, a closer look reveals it’s all built with bricks. A brilliant set-up, and the perfect use of the piece LEGO fans dub the “cheese slope”! Just looking at Jared Chan’s latest build makes me hungry and craving for something ever-so-sweet. I spy with my little eye a tuna sandwich, cheese bites, chocolate mousse cake, and fruit tarts. The set-up of this afternoon spread is even more pleasing with the addition of some very cleverly constructed cups of tea. I’ll let you enjoy staring at all this while I’m off making my High Tea reservations! It is said that you can give anyone a canvas and a brush but only an artist can make it come alive. Same goes for LEGO bricks; you can take a bunch of bricks and put them together, but it takes true creativity to bring those bricks to life. Master artist Chris Maddison does it ever so elegantly and skillfully with only a single color, re-creating man’s first footstep on the moon. It’s so iconic and recognisable that it doesn’t even really need any introduction.