LEGO celebrates 40 years in Spain in 2014 since arriving in our country in 1974. Lego maintains the philosophy Det bedste er ikke for godt (Only the best is good enough) that marked the first generation of Danish inventors, are already in the third generation, making toys for children. In 1974 Lego put on sale the first minifigure that, in the words of César Ridruejo, General Director of LEGO Iberia, which we see below, "marked a greater emotionality according to the Mediterranean countries."
Coinciding with the celebration of this 40th anniversary Lego has invited us to its headquarters in Madrid to learn many details and information of a successful company that inspires and offers gaming and learning experiences to children and their families. They explained that the mission of Lego is inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow and the view is inventing the future of play. Although the growth rate in Spain has been sustained during the last forty years it is from 2005 when the company worked in the production and marketing of quality toys and especially focused on the lego brick maintaining a sales pace that has placed it as a leader in Spain. Lego is headquartered in Billund, Denmark, and they will create four hubs or headquarters very close to their main markets: United States, Europe (London), China (Shanghai) and Singapore. They also explained that Lego manufactures in Billund, in the Czech Republic and in Hungary in Europe. In America they are in Mexico and have plans to manufacture in China.
Among the curious data presented to us by Lego is that in 1999 they launched the product line Lego Star Wars, which is the most successful and the longest lasting. Also that the first Lego video game arrived in Spain in 1997 with Lego Island for PC. In addition, Lego is the largest producer of wheels in the world and, in Spain, in 2005 there was a milestone for the company because more Lego wheels were sold than vehicle wheels in Spain.
They also told us that the minifigure Lego, who also turns 40, was originally much larger and made entirely of bricks. The idea was of the grandson of the founder of Lego and current owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen who thought about the importance of also including role play in the different themes. Jens Nygaard Knudsen was in charge of its design and one of the characteristics of the classic minifigure is the expression of happiness. In 1989, with the launch of the Pirates line, they changed their facial expressions and differentiated between good or bad. At present, the standard minifigure is of four pieces LEGO tall.
The scenarios chosen for the arrival of the first minifigures were: a city, space and a castle. The first minifigure was a police officer, followed by a fireman, a nurse, an astronaut, a medieval knight, a gas station clerk and a construction worker. Of all the roles, the policeman is the most popular with 41 different versions. It is estimated that the population of minifigures represents the largest population in the world with more than 4,000 million people. They are three times more than China, twelve more than the United States and one hundred times the inhabitants of Spain. As you can see in the image in January 2012, the group decided to launch the most Spanish minifigure: the flamenco.
Lego offers three construction systems: System (original of LEGO bricks whose current version is 1958), Lego Duplo born in 1969 with a size twice as large as the original bricks for smaller hands and the system Technic that allows to give mobility to all creations and it was launched in 1977.
In Spain they grow a lot Lego City next to the license Lego Star Wars. Although they are also growing a lot with Lego Friends, consolidating itself as one of the most important and with the longest experience, focusing on girls. To boost their brand in Spain, they work with amateur communities. One of them is the AFOL (adult Lego fans) and among them, although there are many more, highlights ALE! to those we have seen many times.
LEGO Group It was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The company passed from father to son and currently its owner is Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, grandson of the founder. The name of LEGO is the abbreviation of two Danish words leg godt whose meaning is play good. Lego is a company very committed to the quality that knows the patterns of children's play and in which all the toys are carried out analyzes and simulations to know what a child could do with them while playing. In addition designers think of the product safety during the entire production process and there are numerous and exhaustive quality controls to ensure that it is a safe product. For example, each and every one of the designs pass a test of bite, from traction, from Pressure and of tread.
Congratulations to Lego for its forty anniversary in Spain and we thank you for having invited us to know your facilities. It is very fun to see the offices where the Lego brand is very present among all employees but also bricks are everywhere encouraging their workers to develop imagination and creativity which then moves to the kids with new ideas, new products. And it is that in Lego they have very clear the objective of offer extraordinary gaming experiences for the little ones and for all their family and we appreciate it.
