‘We will not be able to deliver all customers’ orders in the remainder of the year,’ says toy company spokesman, after ‘extraordinary’ surge in demand ‘It is really extraordinary and it has exceeded both ours and our customers’ forecasts,’ the company said about the recent demand for new orders. Some children may not see their Christmas wishes fulfilled this year, as Lego’s factories, although running at full speed, may not be able to make enough plastic bricks to keep up with the demand from Europe’s toy stores. The Danish company has become the world’s largest toymaker by sales, overtaking Mattel, the US manufacturer whose toys include Barbie dolls. Lego’s success is thanks partly to toys linked to movies, including The Lego Movie. But difficulties in forecasting demand accurately means some orders may not be filled on time. “We will not be able to deliver all of the orders coming from customers in the remainder of the year,” said spokesman for Lego, Roar Trangbaek.
He did not specify which lines of toys or which countries would be affected. Trangbaek said the company would be able to deliver the orders it had already received but may have trouble filling new orders later this year. “It is really extraordinary and it has exceeded both ours and our customers’ forecasts,” Trangbaek said when asked why the company had not foreseen the surge in demand. The Danish company’s sales grew by 18% in the first half of this year to 14bn Danish crowns (£1.36bn), putting it ahead of Mattel and Monopoly-board maker Hasbro, whose revenues came in at $1.9bn (£1.23bn) and $1.5bn respectively. “We are running our factories at maximum capacity and will do everything we can to meet demand,” Trangbaek said. The unlisted company, owned by the family of founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, invested more than 3bn crowns in plants and equipment last year to manufacture more toys. Before Christmas last year, there were some shortages in some countries including Denmark and Canada.
The company is building a factory in Jiaxing, China, 100km from Shanghai, which is expected to be up and running in 2017 and should go on to produce most of the Lego toys for Asia. Lego already has factories in Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico. Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold. The iconic @TheSimpsons Kwik-E-Mart exclusive LEGO set and the second series of LEGO Minfigures are coming May 2015!Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information. Used & new (78) from $74.12 Sold by Kailone Tech and Fulfilled by Amazon. LEGO Minecraft 21117 The Ender DragonDetailsLEGO Minecraft 21127 The Fortress Building Kit (984 Piece) FREE Shipping. Enter the End at your peril! Don your diamond armor and helmet, grab your weapons and step into this dayless dimension that floats in the void beneath starless skies. Seek out the dangerous Endermen that dwell in the darkness. Wield your diamond sword and bow to defeat the enemy. Then summon all your powers to confront the mighty Ender Dragon that hovers above the regenerative Ender Crystals.
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Back in 1998, LEGO (or as we casually refer to them, Legos) was one of the original toys to be inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, and there are good reasons why. In a way, Legos can be seen as the iconic "building blocks" of so many people's childhoods all over the world. Even if you never loved Legos, you definitely know what they are (and you probably appreciate its role in keeping your brother out of your hair for hours). And Legos aren't just for kids. Plenty of adults have stayed fond of the ubiquitous bricks (or, like us, have recently rediscovered that fondness via the awesome new Lego Movie, which is definitely made for grown-ups). Whichever the case is, take a quick break from your LEGO set, and read these 11 totally awesome facts about LEGO. 1. LEGO is 82 years old. The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 in Denmark. It went from a small carpenter's workshop to the world's third largest manufacturer of toys. A vintage LEGO set from 1985: 2. A LEGO brick from 1958 would still interlock with a LEGO brick made today.
LEGO bricks are part of a "universal system," so that regardless of the year it was made and the set it belongs to, each piece is compatible with existing pieces. 3. The name has a very special meaning. The LEGO name was created by using the first two letters of the Danish words "Leg" and "Godt," meaning "play well." Here's Escher's "Relativity" recreated in Lego: 4. You can combine six of the eight-studded LEGO bricks in 915,103,765 ways. Here's a challenge for your brain: Try to figure out the 24 different ways two LEGO bricks with eight studs can be combined. Here's a woman wearing a dress made out of LEGOs: 5. The nation of minifigures would hold the record for the world's largest population (if they were humans, of course). The first minifigure was created in 1978, and since then, four billion have been made. Here are Prince William, Duchess Kate and Baby George in LEGO form: 6. Someone built a real house made entirely of LEGO.
In 2009, a man named James May in Surrey, Great Britain, constructed the world's first full-size LEGO house, using 3.3 million bricks. The house contained a working toilet and shower and a bed... all made out of LEGO. Legoland offered to take the house and put in their Windsor, Berkshire theme park, but took back the deal after deciding it would be too expensive to move it. They also criticized May for not asking for their help when building the house. 7. LEGO Duplo bricks (the large ones for little kids) can connect with regular LEGO bricks. Even though they are eight times the size of regular bricks, the DUPLO LEGOs connect perfectly with the regular ones. Here's a 150,000-piece LEGO creation of Helm's Deep, from "Lord of the Rings": 8. The world's largest LEGO tower contains over 500,000 bricks. Students at John Dickinson High School in Delaware built this tower in August 2013. It stands 112 feet and 11 stories high. 9. There are artists who sculpt exclusively from Legos.
You may have heard of Nathan Sawaya, a New York-based artist, who makes art out of unlikely materials. He was the first artist to ever take LEGO into the art world and currently has a touring exhibition called "The Art Of The Brick." Fellow artist, Sean Kenney, has also made a career of creating "contemporary sculpture" made out of Legos for clients and corporations worldwide. Kenney, who calls himself a "professional kid," says he likes to work with Legos because "unlike traditional art, kids love it; it gets them excited and creative. And seeing that makes it all worth while." This sculpture is part of Kenney's touring exhibit, "Big Leagues Little Bricks," which is "celebrating the beauty and lore of baseball as a part of Americana." Kenney's six-foot long map of Iowa that was displayed at the Iowa State Fair in 2013. 10. The largest commercially produced LEGO set is the Taj Majal. The set contains over 5,900 pieces. 11. This amazing kid created a Braille printer with his LEGO set.