Throughout our childhoods, we all heard of LEGOs. The famous building toy that would sometimes end up in a failed attempt at a building. Despite that, they always remained very fun to play with and cool to own, especially the big sets. 

LEGOs certainly live up to their name. The name ‘LEGO’ is actually an abbreviation of the Danish words “leg godt” that mean “play well”. The world knows we certainly did that!

Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the development of LEGOs has definitely changed throughout the 90 years. They originate from a small village in Billund, Denmark, and were originally from a small carpenter workshop. That means that LEGOs were made from wood originally, instead of the bright plastic colors we know today.

One of the things that has remained the same is that the Kirk Kristiansen family still owns the company.

However, the original Legos aren’t the bricks we know of today. In fact, Kirk Kristiansen saw Kiddiecraft, another fellow toy company that was making bricks as toys. That led to Kirk Kristiansen doing his own version of them, LEGOs, after seeing their great potential to sell well, and got famous for them. 

The LEGO brick that we know of to this day was first launched in 1958. After a strange fire destroyed the warehouse of wooden toys that LEGO owns, they discontinued their wooden toys and focused solely on the bricks. Which went great for the company.

LEGO became so popular and successful that they even won “Toy of the Century” twice.

Along with that, LEGO initiated a visionary partnership, in 1989, with MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, where they added “intelligence and behavior” to LEGO Play. 

Throughout recent years, LEGOs have also become more popular among adults. The LEGO flower bouquets have become a very common gift or activity for couples to build together, and big LEGO sets have become a very common family activity. Social media has also increased in popularity as it is also a way to show what activities one can afford or the fun that they are having with LEGOs.

The price of LEGOs is often an issue with many of us fans. For a small set, the prices have increased, but so has the quality. According to Latericius, the reason the prices are so high is because “LEGO’s engineering standards are very high. The material used is an ultra-strong and durable thermoplastic, and the colors do not fade over time (theoretically). The company uses a package of software to maintain the sizes of the bricks within a tolerance of 0.0005 inches.”

Using these reasons, I personally do understand the prices. Yes, the smaller sets are definitely overpriced, but I definitely think that it is also to compensate for the engineering and the small details of the bigger sets. As someone who owns two big sets (both worth 500 dollars –Harry Potter: Hogwarts Castle and the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Express–) I understand because in the bigger sets there are a lot of different engineering techniques that are either new or not commonly used in the sets to give it a little extra spice. 

There are also very small references, since they tend to be based on other things that are included. Like in the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Castle, the paintings from the movies are replicated in the staircases, which move!

For hardcore LEGO fans, like me, those are things that we appreciate and consider when buying a set. Knowing how many months or years it took for the engineers and company to put the sets out and the efforts are something that many buyers appreciate. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find a job so I can afford the Lord of the Rings: Rivendell set next.