Lego Says 2015 Was Its ‘Best Year Ever,’ With Huge Sales JumpLego Group reported astounding revenue growth for 2015, up 25% from the prior year as it estimated the company's popular construction sets and toys reached an estimated 100 million children.The strong performance built upon years of success as the Danish-based toy maker has cultivated a very loyal following by selling a mix of traditional Lego sets and licensed properties linked to Star Wars, The Avengers, Batman and other popular franchises. Lego's results also extended a strong sales jump in 2014, when toy sales were up 13% as results were greatly boosted by the company's first major motion picture film, "The Lego Movie.""This has been the best year ever for the Lego Group," Lego Chief Executive Jørgen Vig Knudstorp told analysts during a video presentation. Vig Knudstorp was so enthusiastic about the results that he leaped into the air in front of the press, saying "If I could sing and dance, I should be singing and dancing because it is a fantastic number of results."
Lego's growth has been astonishing. It reported annual sales of about $2.3 billion in 2010 and just five years later, reported revenue of about $5.2 billion (those figures were converted from the Danish krone).What's fueling the growth? Parents are putting greater emphasis on toys that inspire learning, especially under the umbrella of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Lego has also benefited from blockbuster films like the latest Star Wars, as well as a greater push to address the girls' market.But also notably, Lego can't yet claim the title of world's largest toy maker. Barbie and Hot Wheels maker Mattel (mat) is still larger, with $5.7 billion in revenue for 2015. Mattel's sales have faced challenges however, dropping 5% last year. Transformers and My Little Pony owner Hasbro (has) ranks third in the toy aisle, with $4.45 billion in revenue.The toy industry is in a period of strength as it benefits from big sales from two hot Walt Disney (dis) properties: "Frozen," a princess-themed movie that drove demand in 2014 and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which lifted sales late in 2015 and should be a strong tailwind for this year as well.
Q&A with Nathan Sawaya - Creator of the largest LEGO skeleton What first drew you to LEGO?What was the first sculpture you made as a LEGO Certified Professional?Which has been the most challenging model you’ve built?How did it feel to earn your first Guinness World Records title?Any tips for budding LEGO professionals of the future?Finally, do you have a favourite LEGO Minifigure?For more exclusive interviews with blockbuster stars, be sure to check out Blockbusters! Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideThe LEGO Hobby Sets of the 1970s were not popular back then, but are so today. They are my favorite sets using "just bricks and plates". The 392 Formula 1 Racer car had a model change when the racing wheels switched from the 1970s (pre-Technic) European gears to the technic type wheels. The tires also had to change to handle this. While this is no secret, the fact that the box top art work changed (for 1 wheel), but the instructions remained the same is rarely known. Compare.... ;-)Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideThe rare 1592 Town Square Set of 1980-83 was only sold as a promotional or special set, and never found in any early 1980s LEGO catalogs.
BUT... it was sold in quite a few countries. And the story of this set is still something of a mystery of WHY it was sold in some locations. This set came in a 1980 UK version and a 1983 Netherlands version. But it was sold in 4 continents! 1983 Dutch version:See allUnofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideI've been very busy working on my new LEGO collectors guide book series lately, (to be translated to an Asian language) and haven't had time to post much. But here's an interesting video from the Brick Museum with Dan Brown in Bellaire Ohio. The lady that built these Canadian provincial parliament buildings was on a Canadian TV show (THE JOURNAL) in 1987, which I was on (all via remote interviews)... celebrating "25 Years of LEGO in Canada" (1962-87)... with the first AFOLs! - /, talks with Dan Brown, the owner of the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum, about the giant LEGO Canadian Parliament buildings...Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideThe largest LEGO set of the 20th Century was the 7100 wooden box Educational/Institutional set made by Samsonite for USA and Canada.
It had 3250 pieces, and was sold from about 1962-66. It sold for about $75 (a lot of money in the 60s!). This set came with a large number of specialty parts, including 12 1:87 scale cars/trucks. It was for schools that had the "ON CHERRY STREET" school primer book, and there were plans for classes to use LEGO with some stories in the book.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide1962-65 LEGO Architectural System... the first LEGO System that was a failure. Produced as a series of 3 sets (and 28 small plates spare parts packs... for aspiring young architects.... there was only 1 problem.... you couldn't build anything with these sets!! They came out the same year as Modulex... but with far fewer parts, and no window system or baseplates. Image: Henk.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideUnknown Norwegian LEGO Set discovered!! In 1956 TLG released the 1310 (later to become 310) Esso Service Station. Since Norway had toy import restrictions, a subisdiary called A/S Norske LEGIO produced LEGO sets in Norway that were also produced for Sweden.
So there were some differences with TLG Denmark. The 1956 Norway Esso set came in a basic set box wih a paper ribbon mentioning what was inside. Image: Arild.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideMy good Dutch LEGO friends (left) Jeroen and Henk built their own 1960s era LEGO city using many large retailer glued display models, as well as their own smaller MOCs and Town Plan accessories and 1:87 vehicles. Jeroen's specialty is the 1:87 models and old sets, and Henk's is collecting old sets and restoring old glued retailer models that are usually pretty beat up until Henk restores them with vintage parts! :-)Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideFirst year (1949) Automatic Binding Bricks LEGO set 700/1. This has to be one of the most beautiful of LEGO sets, and during the first year of Automatic Binding Bricks (1949-53) TLG used a serif font for the LEGO box. In excellent condition, this would be a museum quality set. I photoshopped it to perfection. Photo: Faust Chang.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideTrans-Clear Prototype LEGO Windows/Doors.
Thanks for my German Collector friend Andreas Kühne for bringing these to my attention. It looks as though in the mid 1960s (not Cellulose Acetate) TLG produced some trans-clear classic style 1x3x2 LEGO windows and 1x2x3 doors, but never put them into production. They are hollow stud, and have LEGO printed in the studs. The only logical use for these that I can think of, is that maybe they were intended for the first LEGO trains of 1966 (such as the 113). If so, TLG decided against using them.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideNo LEGO Instructions came with most 1950s and 1960s sets. Most people are not aware that a lot of LEGO sets either did not come with instructions back then, or if they did have them, they were on the bottom of the box (or in some cases on the inside of the box top). But few sets had paper instructions before 1965. Here are all the 005 thru 060 Europe/Australia/Asia basic sets of 1965-68. Shown on the bottom of the box are the closest thing to instructions.
Images: Henk.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideThe first LEGO Set with Wheels.... the 314 set, sold in Europe, Asia and Australia starting in 1963. The bottom of the box of the continental Europe/Asia version shows ideas that could incorporate the wheel elements found in this box... but no bricks or other parts were included. No patents are showing either. Images: Chris.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideRAREST LEGO FINDS of 2016..... 1) The 1309 Esso Side Garage of Norway. Only sold in 1957... and only 1 example known, not found in Billund Archives/Collections/Vault. Image: Arild.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideSears 1971 Mail-Order Catalog LEGO items. These were all shipped out to customers in a brown cardboard shipping box (no colorful inner box... just trays). The factory set was #248 (with the unique 25x50 stud gray baseplate). The house/garage set was the 536 piece #536 Designer Set (also sold in a colorful box by FAO Schwarz), as was the 244 piece #244 Explorer Set.
These exclusive sets were not sold at your local LEGO retailer. Image: Eric.Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideHappy Holidays!! Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide1976.... LEGO Retailers always love Christmas!! :-DUnofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideHappy Holidays!! 1965 German LEGO Christmas ad. From my previous comments, there will be a new LEGO series of books out based on my Collectors Guide download (multi-volume). I had to come up with high resolution images (thanks to all my LEGO friends who volunteered them!). Here are some examples of the upgrades coming up for the guide (current owners get it free). :-)Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors GuideHappy Holidays to all my LEGO friends all over the world!! For those of you who have purchased my online DVD version of my collectors guide, thank you! And thanks for being patient... at the end of 2017, you will be getting a free online update going forward to 2016. That's the good news, the bad news is that VERY soon I will no longer be able to sell any more online guides to new collectors, and it will be a closed edition.