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The LEGO® Star Wars™ Adventure Continues in 2016 with Building Sets, Buildable
Figures and an Original Television Series
Fan favorites from the Star Wars saga, Star Wars Rebels™ animated series, and
an all-new cast of original Star Wars characters to receive LEGO® treatment
NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TOY FAIR
-- LEGO Systems, Inc. today announced a robust slate that will drive continued
excitement for the LEGO® Star Wars™ product line, the company’s first-ever
licensed theme collection that today is a perennial favorite among fans of all
ages. From sets based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, to those inspired by a
new original animated series, LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures to sets
based on the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue One film, the 2016 LEGO Star Wars
collection is one of the largest and most diverse since its 1999 introduction.
“For more than 16 years, children and kids at heart have recreated the Star Wars
story through LEGO play, and this year we will give them even more stories and
characters to explore,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president of licensing and
entertainment for the LEGO Group. “Our collaboration with Disney and Lucasfilm
enables us to bring fun and creative LEGO twists to the Star Wars universe,
which is why we’re so thrilled to introduce an original LEGO Star Wars
television series this year. New original characters and stories, plus two
inspired building sets, will bring fans of all ages even more reasons to build
and explore with LEGO Star Wars.”
The LEGO Group is celebrating the Saga in more ways than ever before, showcasing
how building with LEGO bricks inspires open-ended creativity and sparks
imagination. New building sets offer the chance to create the stories fans know
and love while also empowering them to create their own adventures. For the
second year running, a line of buildable LEGO figures brings new heroes and
villains to life in a unique role-play experience.
LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures
To continue inspiring imagination and storytelling, LEGO Star Wars: The
Freemaker Adventures, an original animated series, will debut later this year on
Disney XD. The show’s quirky heroes, the Freemakers, are a family of scavengers
who build and sell starships from the scoured debris of space battles strewn
throughout the galaxy. When the youngest Freemaker discovers a natural
connection to the Force through an ancient artifact, his world turns upside down
as he and his family find themselves in an epic struggle against the Empire to
restore peace and freedom to the galaxy. Throughout their adventures, the
Freemakers explore new worlds, meet new (and familiar) characters, and learn the
true value of what it means to be a family. The series combines the excitement,
action and adventure of a galaxy far, far away with a dose of brick-building
humor for which LEGO content is best known. Two building sets based on the
series – Eclipse Fighter™ ($29.99) and StarScavenger™ ($49.99) – launch this
summer.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Fans of Star Wars: The Force Awakens can bring scenes and characters from the
2015 blockbuster home with eight new film-inspired building sets. Five are
available now, one launches in March and two follow in June. More than 10
characters from the film are represented in minifigure form for the first time
through the collection, including First Order Snowtroopers (First Order
Snowspeeder), Resistance Troopers (Resistance Trooper Battle Pack), Maz Kanata
(Battle on Takodana), Admiral Ackbar and General Leia Organa (Resistance Troop
Transporter). Assortment prices range from $9.99-$79.99.
Star Wars Saga
In March, builders can expect seven new building sets based on the original Star
Wars Saga. Characters from the Dark Side and Light Side ban together in the
Rebel Alliance Battle Pack and Galactic Empire™ Battle Pack, and classic scenes
get the brick treatment in the Carbon-Freezing Chamber, Hoth™ Attack and Droid™
Escape Pod sets. Collection prices range from $24.99-$29.99.
Star Wars: Rebels
Five new LEGO construction sets inspired by the Disney XD animated series, Star
Wars Rebels, launch in March, and three more follow in June. For a quick build
loaded with action and a unique LEGO minifigure, fans can choose from The
Ghost™, TIE Advanced Prototype™, Wookiee™ Gunship or AT-DP™ building sets, or
they can build Kanan’s Speeder Bike construction toy, complete with three
minifigures. Set prices range from $9.99 - $119.99.
Buildable Figures
The debut of Star Wars buildable figures last year continues with six new
buildable figures, available now, based on the characters Rey, First Order
Stormtrooper, Poe Dameron, Finn, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma. Additional
buildable figures will be unveiled throughout the year. Figures range from
$19.99-$29.99.
LEGO Assault on Hoth™ Base, set 75098 will Challenge Even the Most Skilled Fan
Builders
Experienced builders can recreate the Rebel Force’s Echo Base from Star Wars:
Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back in an unbelievably detailed recreation of
one of the most iconic scenes in the original Star Wars trilogy. The 2,144-piece
building set inspires fans to build their own scouting missions with the
Snowspeeder, armed with twin spring-loaded shooters, and get back to base on the
speeder bike to help Luke, Han and the other Rebel heroes. The modular design
enables fans to customize their Rebel base configuration, including a Wampa cave
and Wampa figure. The set features LEGO minifigure versions of Luke Skywalker,
Han Solo, Toryn Farr, Wes Janson, Wedge Antilles, K-3PO, and more. Available
May 1 for $249.99.
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company with headquarters in
Billund, Denmark, and main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK., Shanghai,
China, and Singapore. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and based on the
iconic LEGO® brick, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play
materials.
Guided by the company spirit: “Only the best is good enough”, the company is
committed to the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the
builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO products are sold
worldwide and can be virtually explored at www.LEGO.com.
For more news from the LEGO Group, information about our financial performance
and responsibility engagement, please visit http://www.LEGO.com/aboutus.
LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Minifigure, the brick and knob configuration are
trademarks of the LEGO Group. © 2016 the LEGO Group.
STAR WARS, Star Wars: Rebels and related character names are trademarks and/or
copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or
its affiliates.
©2016. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.
SOURCE LEGO Systems, Inc.
Prnewswire.com
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LEGO® Star Wars UCS Assault on Hoth set 75098
LEGO Assault on Hoth™ Base will Challenge Even the Most Skilled Fan Builders
Experienced builders can recreate the Rebel Force’s Echo Base from Star Wars:
Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back in an unbelievably detailed recreation of
one of the most iconic scenes in the original Star Wars trilogy. The 2,144-piece
building set inspires fans to build their own scouting missions with the
Snowspeeder, armed with twin spring-loaded shooters, and get back to base on the
speeder bike to help Luke, Han and the other Rebel heroes.
The modular design enables fans to customize their Rebel base configuration,
including a Wampa cave and Wampa figure. The set features LEGO minifigure
versions of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Toryn Farr, Wes Janson, Wedge Antilles,
K-3PO, and more.
•2,144 pieces
•Available May 1, 2016 for $249.99.
Source: LEGO Systems, Inc. announced at NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TOY FAIR.
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LEGO Systems Unveils Hundreds of New Building Sets to Spark Creative Play for
Builders of All Ages and Interests
NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- LEGO Systems, Inc. will showcase its
collection of new building sets over 300 new products at this week’s North
American International Toy Fair. Among the new offerings is LEGO® NEXO
KNIGHTS™, a new original LEGO property that depicts a medieval kingdom set in a
futuristic world. New LEGO products are on display in booth #1635 in Hall 3B of
New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from February 13-16.
“The LEGO system of play empowers children of all ages and interests to be
creative, innovative and imaginative by snapping bricks together to bring their
ideas to life. Our builders are only limited by their imaginations and we are
excited to offer them more sets than ever before to inspire endless hours of
creative play,” said Søren Torp Laursen, president, LEGO Systems. “As a classic,
creative play experience, we’re energized by the opportunities to keep building
our relationships with children and their families in order to invite more
children into the LEGO brand and to keep them building during, and even beyond
their childhood years.”
Younger Builders (Ages 1½+)
LEGO DUPLO®, with bricks two times the size of a classic LEGO brick,
introduces children as young as 18 months to the world of LEGO building.
Twenty-eight new DUPLO sets include classic themes such as My First Garden,
Little Plane and Baby Animals, along with favorite licensed themes and
characters including Disney’s Junior Mickey Mouse Clubhouse™ and Doc
McStuffins™. New to the DUPLO line this year is Disney’s Junior Miles from
Tomorrowland™. Sets range from $9.99 to $99.99.
Featuring modular pieces and elements, such as walls and archways, plus
step-by-step instructions to help young builders gain confidence as they get
started, LEGO Juniors is the perfect age-appropriate building experience for
builders who are new to classic LEGO bricks. Iconic themes provide a relevant
and fun building experience with sets including Police Helicopter Chase and
Batman™ & Superman™ vs. Lex Luthor™. Also new for this year is MARVEL™ Ironman
vs. Loki and Disney Princess Ariel’s Dolphin Carriage. Sets range from $9.99 to
$29.99.
Creative Building (Ages 5+)
LEGO Classic continues, offering a variety of brick collections that foster
open-ended building fun such as the new LEGO Creative Building Set for $29.99.
LEGO Creator offers vehicles, creatures and structures such as a Super Soarer,
Park Animals and Treehouse Adventures, each with 3-in-1 building options,
delivering hours of play value. Sets range from $4.99 to $69.99. Advanced
builders will love the challenge of new LEGO Technic sets such as Hydroplane
Racer and Heavy Lift Helicopter that offer technical elements like gears, beams,
pulleys, actuators and pneumatics. Sets range from $12.99 to $279.99.
Themed Building (Ages 5+)
LEGO City puts a build-and-play spotlight on real-life heroes, packed with
detailed models, exciting missions and humorous characters. Thirty-four new sets
cater to a variety of interests, anchored by four new subthemes: Fire Response,
Prisoner Island, Airport and Volcano Exploration, plus new items in the Great
Vehicles theme. Sets range from $6.99 to $119.99.
LEGO Friends offers richly detailed building and role play centered on the
adventures of five girls who reside in Heartlake City. Twenty-three building
sets in new Adventure Camp, Birthday and Amusement Park subthemes, such as
Adventure Camp Tree House, Birthday Party and Amusement Park Roller Coaster are
complemented by digital and television content that will be introduced
throughout the year. Sets range from $4.99 to $99.99.
LEGO Speed Champions lets builders create some of the fastest and most popular
supercars in the world, such as the Ford Mustang GT, Audi R8 and Chevrolet
Corvette Z06. Sets range from $14.99 to $69.99.
The second chapter of LEGO Elves features heroine Emily’s return to the
enchanted town of Elvendale to help her friends, the magical elves, save the
majestic baby dragons and return them to their mother. Ten new sets, with
accompanying digital content throughout the year, offer builders fantasy
role-play and story starters including Elvendale School of Dragons, Fire
Dragon’s Lava Cave and The Secret Market Place. Sets range from $9.99 to $99.99.
The LEGO NINJAGO™ saga continues with new television episodes on Cartoon
Network and 16 new building sets loaded with features and functions to provide
hours of building and role play fun, including Ninja Bike Chase, The Lighthouse
Seige, and Misfortune’s Keep, available in March. Sets range from $9.99 to
$119.99.
LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS™ is the newest original LEGO property that follows five
young, brave knights who ‘download’ special powers to their shields in order to
battle the royal court’s evil Jestro and a cast of monsters to restore peace.
The story comes to life through 28 new LEGO sets such as Clay’s Rumble Blade and
The Fortrex. An episodic television series on Cartoon Network and a digital
gaming app that integrates with the products and television show fuel
story-driven gameplay. Sets range from $9.99 to $119.99.
Licensed Building – The Walt Disney Company (Ages 5+)
Eight new LEGO Disney Princess™ sets encourage children to build with timeless
characters like Ariel and Jasmine or new favorites from Disney’s Frozen – Anna
and Elsa found in Arendelle Castle Celebration. Sets range from $12.99 to
$54.99.
LEGO MARVEL™ Super Heroes brings characters from comic books and new movie
releases to LEGO brick form, including sets corresponding with the 2016
theatrical release of Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War and a new collection
of sets based on Ultimate Spider-Man™. New this year are collectible MARVEL
Mighty Micros, each containing a Super Hero and a villain plus their vehicles
such as Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin. Sets range from $12.99 to $119.99.
LEGO Star Wars™ adds 25 new sets in 2016 to the best-selling building
collection. Sets are inspired by classic Star Wars films, the all new animated
television series LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures and the animated
television show Star Wars Rebels, as well as the 2015 blockbuster Star Wars: The
Force Awakens, plus scenes from the highly anticipated Star Wars: Rogue One
film, ranging in price from $9.99 to $149.99. Continuing for the second year is
a line of buildable figures for ages 6+ featuring iconic Star Wars characters,
including Rey, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma, providing a different kind of
building experience and new play possibilities. Sets range from $19.99 to
$34.99.
Licensed Building (Ages 5+)
Favorite DC Comics Super Heroes mark their 5th year in LEGO form in a new
collection of building sets. LEGO DC Comics™ Super Heroes introduces three new
Batman™ products, plus three new sets tied to Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly
anticipated new action adventure feature film Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice™ coming to theatres on March 25, 2016. New this year are collectible
Mighty Micros which each contain a DC Comics Super Hero, a DC Comics
Super-Villain and their vehicles to provide opportunities for children to build
and play with their beloved DC Comics characters in micro scale. Sets range from
$9.99 to $79.99
New LEGO The Angry Birds™ Movie line brings Red and his friends to life in
hilarious and action-packed building sets inspired by The Angry Birds Movie. Six
sets, including Piggy Pirate Ship and King Pig’s Castle, feature special
launching functions to inspire hours of play. Sets range from $12.99 to $89.99.
Building adventures of LEGO Minecraft continue to bring the creative
possibilities of the hit virtual game to physical play. Five sets feature key
moments and worlds from the game and include iconic characters and items true to
the game’s universe. Sets range from $19.99 to $109.99 and include key biomes
such as The Jungle Tree House and The Fortress.
Constraction (Ages 6+)
The original constructible LEGO action figure line, LEGO BIONICLE®, features 17
new building sets ranging from $9.99 to $24.99, including Unamarak the Hunter,
Tahu Uniter of Fire and Pohatu Uniter of Stone.
Collectibles (Ages 5+)
LEGO Minifigures™ allow LEGO fans to collect and build their own minifigure
population with 50 never-before-seen LEGO Minifigures debuting in three waves
this year. Mystery packaging includes one figure each for $3.99.
The mini character building of LEGO MIXELS inspires creativity, imagination and
hours of fun along the way. With three new series premiering this February, June
and October, fans can collect 27 characters from the Mixels content seen on
Cartoon Network. Sets are $4.99 each.
LEGO Architecture celebrates the past, present and future of architecture
through the medium of the LEGO brick. Each set contains a book featuring
step-by-step building instructions along with history, information and photos of
the world’s most iconic structures. All new Architecture city skylines feature
the iconic buildings and landmarks of metropolises such as Berlin, New York City
and Venice. Sets range from $29.99 to $59.99.
Through the online LEGO Ideas community, fans may propose their original designs
to become new LEGO sets and then vote for their favorites. Each year, several
submissions are approved, produced and sold as official LEGO sets. Available in
April, LEGO Maze ($69.99) lets fans build, customize and play a maze game.
LEGO Exclusives, available through shop.LEGO.com and LEGO Stores, give skilled
builders a more challenging and complex building experience, such as the new
LEGO Ghostbusters™ Firehouse Headquarters ($349) and LEGO Brick Bank
($169.99).
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company with headquarters in
Billund, Denmark, and main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK., Shanghai,
China, and Singapore. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and based on the
iconic LEGO® brick, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play
materials.
Guided by the company spirit: “Only the best is good enough”, the company is
committed to the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the
builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO products are sold
worldwide and can be virtually explored at www.LEGO.com.
For more news from the LEGO Group, information about our financial performance
and responsibility engagement, please visit http://www.LEGO.com/aboutus.
LEGO, the LEGO logo, DUPLO, MINDSTORMS, BIONICLE, NINJAGO, the Minifigure, and
the brick and knob configuration are trademarks of the LEGO Group. © 2016 the
LEGO Group.
© 2016 MARVEL
STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United
States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © & TM
Lucasfilm Ltd.
DC Universe and all related characters are elements or trademarks of and © 2016
DC Comics. (s15)
© 2016 Mojang AB and Mojang Synergies AB. MINECRAFT is a trademark or registered
trademark of Mojang Synergies AB.
Chevrolet, Corvette, Corvette Z06, all related emblems, and vehicle body designs
are General Motors Trademarks used under license to the LEGO Group.
Ford Motor Company Trademarks and Trade Dress used under license to the LEGO
Group.
Officially Licensed by AUDI AG.
© 2016 Rovio Animation Ltd. Angry Birds and all related properties, titles,
logos and characters are trademarks of Rovio Entertainment Ltd and Rovio
Animation Ltd and are used with permission. All Rights Reserved.
© 200Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.
SOURCE LEGO Systems, Inc.
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LEGO DC Comics SUPER HEROES set 76052 Batman™ Classic TV Series
Ages 14+. 2,526 pieces.
Prices: US $269.99 - CA $329.99 - DE 249.99€ - UK £229.99 – DK 2499.00 DKK
Drive the villains out from Batman’s Batcave!
Help Batman™ and Robin™ to drive the villain intruders from the Batcave,
featuring a Bat Lab with Batcomputer, plus the Batmobile with stud shooters,
Batcopter with flick missiles and the Batcycle. This special model, based on the
classic 1960s TV show, also has a Wayne Manor section with an exterior wall to
climb on and Bruce Wayne’s study featuring the iconic Batphone and a false
bookcase that slides open to reveal the secret entrance to the Batcave. Before
spiraling down the Batpoles into the Batcave, change identity from Bruce Wayne™
and Dick Grayson™ into Batman and Robin (separate minifigures included).
• Includes 9 minifigures: Batman™, Robin™, Bruce Wayne™, Dick Grayson™, Alfred
Pennyworth™, The Joker™, Catwoman™, The Riddler™ and The Penguin™.
• This LEGO® model of the Batcave as seen in the classic 1960s TV series
features 2 Batpoles for Batman™ and Robin™ to slide down, a selection of
Bat-gadgets, helipad, plus a Batmobile and Batcopter.
• The Wayne Manor section of the model features Bruce Wayne’s study with the
iconic Batphone, a hinged Shakespeare bust with secret button underneath,
sliding false bookcase to access the Batpoles, and assorted elements including
decorated wallpaper bricks, wall lamps, framed portraits, a framed fish and
trophies. It also includes an exterior wall for climbing, with an opening roof
for easy access to the Batpoles and an aerial element.
• The Batcave incorporates a hi-tech, 2-floor Bat Lab with Batcomputer element
and a variety of detachable accessory elements, including a lie detector
machine, table, chest of drawers, Bat-gadgets and test tubes with translucent
elements. Also includes the iconic Batcave entrance for the Batmobile and a
helipad for the Batcopter.
• The Batmobile features a dual cockpit with iconic Batphone, 2 stud shooters,
an opening trunk, dual exhaust and sign stickers.
• The Batcopter has an opening cockpit for a minifigure, bat-inspired wings with
2 flick missiles, spinning rotors and a spinning propeller. A villain minifigure
can grab onto the back of the Batcopter for more aerial battle action.
• The Batcycle features a driver’s seat for Batman™, translucent headlight
element and a sidecar for Robin™.
• Also includes a cat.
• Weapons include The Joker’s TNT, Catwoman’s whip, The Riddler’s TNT and The
Penguin’s umbrella.
• Accessory elements include Batman’s 3 Batarangs, rope, grappling hook and
handcuffs.
• Includes separate minifigures for Batman™ and Robin’s alter-egos, so enter the
secret doorway as Bruce and Dick, and slide down the Batpoles as LEGO® DC Super
Heroes!
• Batcave measures over 18” (46cm) high, 22” (56cm) wide and 7” (20cm) deep.
• Batmobile measures over 2” (6cm) high, 8” (21cm) long and 2” (7cm) wide.
• Batcopter measures over 2” (7cm) high, 8” (22cm) long and 7” (19cm) wide.
• Batcycle measures over 1” (4cm) high, 3” (8cm) long and 1” (4cm) wide.
Available for LEGO VIP members early on February 15-29, 2016 and to the general
public on March 1, 2016.
LEGO Channel Video: Batcave Designer
YouTube.com
Source: LEGO
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Egon Zehnder in interview with LEGO CEO Jørgen Knudstorp
The LEGO Group, the world’s most renowned toy company and arguably the world’s
most famous brand, has been providing children with a source of fun and wonder
for 83 years now. Founded by a Danish carpenter in the midst of the Great
Depression, the company has gone from manufacturing wooden toys to producing a
whole array of plastic construction toys, based on the famous interlocking
bricks. Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, CEO since 2004, talks with THE FOCUS about the
family-owned business, the soul of the company and his own unique personal
trajectory.
THE FOCUS: Under your leadership, over the past decade the LEGO Group has gone
from the brink of insolvency to being the world’s most successful toy company,
with record sales and profits. Only yesterday, your company announced 15 percent
global sales growth year-on-year (DKK 28.6 billion). How do you feel about
this?
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp: I feel very proud and also very privileged. I don’t think
many CEOs get ten consecutive years of pure organic growth. I also feel
extremely humble because this shows us the global strength and appeal of the
brand.
What’s the secret x factor?
I think the x factor relates to the fundamental question of “Why do we exist?”
Too many companies have a poor answer for that, or, at best, a complex one. The
LEGO Group has a very simple answer. We strongly believe that play is vital for
a child’s development, just as food, love and good health are. So we exist to
make a material that no one else can make so well, something that sticks firmly
together but is pliable enough for a two-year-old to take apart. And we’ve
transformed this very simple idea into an integrated global business system and
optimized it.
How do you resist complacency to keep your corporate culture alive?
Every year we throw away the trophies, we throw away any sense of
self-congratulation, and we start all over again. We ask ourselves: “How can we
make the LEGO playing material we put in children’s hands even more exciting?”
The answer to that is by re-inventing ourselves every year and then executing
the system again.
I feel a huge urgency to constantly be raising our game. One way of doing that
is to focus less on our financial performance and more on how motivated and
creative our employees feel and, of course, how our retail customers feel. To
what extent are children putting our products at the top of their wish lists and
talking to their friends about playing with LEGO? Which leads us to a broader
question: “What kind of reputation do we have? Are we a trusted company?”
Because if we are trusted by the public, children recommend our products to
other children, and our employees feel engaged, we are sure to succeed. So it’s
by thinking in these terms that we remove the complacency and keep our corporate
culture alive.
When you assumed the position of CEO in very difficult times, you said that the
LEGO Group had lost its soul. What exactly had been lost and how would you
describe the soul of the company today?
There are several different elements. One of them I already mentioned – the
belief in play as a vital part of a child’s development. Then we have an owner
who says: “What I really care about is the product – and children’s
development.” So while we need to make money, the LEGO Group has a deeper
purpose than that. Our purpose is to make a difference in children’s lives by
giving them wonderful play experiences, and bringing this experience to every
child on the planet. Money is like oxygen to a body, but none of us sit in this
room to breathe the air; we sit in this room to fulfill a purpose with our
lives. Making money is the entry ticket to fulfilling that purpose. In the past
we had “religious” people, if you like, who believed in the purpose of what we
did, but we also had “realists” who saw this purely as a business. I wanted to
combine the two in individuals – people who could succeed in the marketplace and
also reflect the spirit, purpose and energy of the company. This goes to the
soul of our company.
“The job defines my life. I have my family at home and my family here at LEGO,
and that’s where I spend all my time.”
So maybe the soul of your company reflects the sense of wonder that comes
naturally to children …
We know from neuroscience that children are naturally curious, creative and
imaginative, attributes we tend to lose as adults. So we teach children
essential skills like executive functioning – how to manage themselves and their
resources – and spatial awareness. We help them learn to think systematically,
scientifically and with a sense of structure. That’s why Google’s co-founder
Larry Page said that LEGO bricks constituted the most important technology he’d
ever encountered. By learning to build anything out of a simple material,
children can combine rightbrain creativity, storytelling and design thinking
with left-brain scientific structure and logical analysis. For me that’s where
the soul of the company begins.
How has the identity of the LEGO Group changed over the past ten years?
It has changed a lot. We used to be seen as a bit of a basket case. Our
competitors were ten years ahead of us. Now we’ve passed them. We’ve redefined
the industry benchmark by learning, in part, from other industries.
Globalization and digitization have fundamentally changed the face of business
and of the LEGO Group in particular. We have taken a very global approach to
branding, product, processes, operations and HR, so that we’re now the most
trusted brand in North America and the number two in Europe. Also the issue of
responsibility and sustainability has helped shape us, because this is
intrinsically related to trust and authenticity. When I look back at those
crisis years I think it was actually our failure to globalize and digitize fast
enough that held us back. In our own industry we are now leading the way in both
digitization and globalization.
How does digitization fit in with your back-to-basics focus on the brick as the
LEGO Group’s premium product?
It is still all about the brick. If the LEGO Group defines itself as a purely
digital player, then we’re just another fish in the ocean. But if we can combine
bricks and digitization in new ways, that’s what we will do – uniquely.
The combination of physical and digital play has been tried in the past without
much success. What makes you think it can succeed?
The vital question here is: Do children want to play physically in the future?
I’m one hundred percent convinced they do. If human beings don’t move about,
their brains simply stop growing. Children can’t sit still in school because
their brains are telling them to move. In terms of the purely digital space we
know now that the most successful and popular online game ever created is a game
where people appear to be building with LEGO bricks. So is there a meaningful
combination here? I think there is. Gutenberg helped establish a revolution 600
years ago with the printing press. Today, it’s all about creative coding, which
is not unlike building with LEGO bricks. And the LEGO Group is helping to
pioneer systems that allow people to view coding as putting bricks together on a
screen.
How do you ensure that your 14,000 employees on three continents share the same
passion for education and play?
As companies like ours continue to penetrate global markets we face a
fundamental choice: Either we stay together as an integrated and unified whole
or we divisionalize. We wanted to stay together as one company because we think
we are one of those brands like Apple or Audi, where the product is much the
same in every geography. We’re not trying to be the best local competitor,
rather the best global competitor. That’s the fundamental strategic choice and
from that choice follows an organizational model of global integration. This
requires leaders who can think like CEOs at the top level, because they need to
see the full context. They don’t just manage their piece of their world. They
see that they’re part of a whole.
What qualities do you look for in your leaders to take you in this direction?
They need to understand that they work in a system with very high
interdependency. So, if you as an individual seek to be independent, you’ll
struggle in this system because you’re highly dependent and you need to
recognize that interdependency and thrive on it. So you need to be a person who
values synergy. You need to be able to listen to others and integrate their
perspectives, but also to be confident enough to state your own position. You
need to be what some people call an integrative thinker. It’s a very tough call
for a leader who may be accustomed to a different system.
What are the non-negotiable parts of your organizational culture?
What is non-negotiable is people who are willing to deal with the complexities
of globalization and the interdependencies that follow from that. They need to
be collaborative. They need to stick together as a group. They need to be
willing to scale fast and be adaptable, because that’s how this company
survives. And last but not least they must live the LEGO culture and spirit
through their everyday working lives.
In building the LEGO Group of the future, how does diversity help deliver on
your objectives?
Diversity is extremely important for two reasons: One is seeking globalization
while having our roots and culture firmly based in Denmark. Because obviously if
you want to succeed in a number of countries where you don’t understand the
culture, you don’t speak the language, you can’t read the newspapers or the
Internet, then you need more diversity in the workforce. But also when you run a
coherent integrated system you need to respect functional diversity where no
function is more important than any other. A professor of globalization at IMD
once told me that “the most difficult diversity to introduce in any leadership
is gender diversity, and if you succeed with gender diversity, it is also easier
to handle other types of diversity.” So we’ve worked very hard on that over the
last three years and we’ve actually made very good progress. If you want this
system of integrative thinking to work, you need to be able to see things
differently so you can synergize.
“If you come in as a non-family CEO and you’re not willing to listen, you will
get into trouble fast.”
The LEGO Group is still family-owned. Family firms seem to be characterized by
a powerful corporate ethos, a “family gravity” that can make life hard for a
non-family CEO. How do you deal with that?
Family firms potentially have special advantages that relate to the authenticity
of their value statement. Because when you have an owner who is active,
everybody knows that what the owner wants is what really matters. You speak with
more authenticity as an owner. So when I talk to my staff I often liken our
situation to Denmark where we have purportedly the oldest monarchy in the world,
but a constitutionally elected government as well. The King and Queen are the
owners, whereas governments come and go.
To take up that metaphor, do the monarchy and the people have faith in their
elected government?
In my case I think I was chosen for the job because our fundamental values align
very well. I’ve become like a spokesperson for the family and sometimes join
with the family to articulate where the future of the family ownership lies. So
it’s a very symbiotic relationship. And that’s what I think you need to buy into
as CEO of a family-owned business, the fact that families are not ordinary
shareholders. They are not always primarily concerned with the traditional
notion of shareholder value. What really matters might not be a financial
question, it might be other less tangible things. So if you come in as a
nonfamily CEO and you’re not willing to listen, or you come in saying: “Well,
I’ve read the book of good corporate governance and I want to be independent
from the dominant shareholder,” you will get into trouble fast. If, on the other
hand, you can enter a dialogue with – or even challenge – the owning family,
while at the same time being a good representative for the company, which is
what the owners want, then you can have a wonderful interaction and leverage a
lot of advantages from family ownership.
You spoke earlier about purpose as a core asset of the LEGO Group. How much of
this is due to being a familyowned company?
I think there’s a unique spirit here thanks to family ownership, not least
because of the long-term approach this implies. In our case, the family
continues to be willing to take a very long-term view on certain decisions.
Their view is: “Well, if we need to invest in something because we believe it’s
essential for our long-term future, we will just do it because we think it is
the right thing to do.”
What is also important in a family-owned company is to respect the elected
management team and in my case, again, I’ve been extremely fortunate that I took
over from a family member – Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen – who was secure enough in
himself not to spend the next ten years of his life trying to argue why he
didn’t do anything wrong. Quite the opposite. He called me only last night,
exuberant, saying: “Congratulations on everything you have achieved.” And I’m
thinking: “It’s actually of your making. You invented the whole thing.”
So that is also something a family owner needs to think about: How do they give
the team that they bring in the room they need to actually run the business in
the best possible way? It’s delicate but I think in our case we’ve landed in a
very good place.
You’ve been CEO for ten years. How do you stay motivated?
For me the motivation most days is that I’m thinking: “I should pay to be in
this job.” There are so many fun moments with fans and children, plus I love the
global aspect of the job – meeting people from many different cultures, going
deep into China, for example, and visiting a household to see how it plays.
That’s just supermotivating. The intellectual, organizational and leadership
challenge is huge. But it’s also my relationship with the owner. I don’t waste a
second of my day thinking about whether I’m trusted. I don’t feel that people
are suspicious of me. I feel like I have a genuine personal relationship with
all of my reports. I just brought in some new members in my management team and
some younger people who help us function on a daily basis. They’ve come from
other big global corporations, and they say: “Wow, I’ve never seen a management
team that works together like this. It looks like you’re friends!” And that just
makes for a tremendously satisfying daily personal environment.
And how have you changed personally over the past decade?
I think I’ve grown up in this job. There were a lot of things I was naive about
and didn’t see when I first arrived. I also realize how much of a life-choice
this has been. When I started I was thinking: “I’ll be lucky if I survive here
for three years, but I’ll learn a lot; then I’ll work out what to do with the
rest of my life.” Now, of course, the job defines my life. This is what I’ll be
known for. It has certain consequences in terms of what you can – and what you
cannot – do. I have my family at home and my family here at the LEGO Group, and
that’s where I spend all my time. So don’t talk to me about soccer results or
playing golf because I don’t have any outside hobbies. There’s just no time. And
that has changed me, because that is not where I thought I would be at the age
of 46.
The next question has to be: Where did you think you would be at the age of
46?
(Laughs) I had many crazy dreams. When I was a child or a young man, I wanted to
be an astronaut, and I famously said to my family: “If I can be the first to go
to Jupiter and never return, I’ll do it!” Then I wanted to become a movie
director because I love movies. And when I finally left university almost at the
age of 30, I wanted to pursue an academic career. I loved the learning, the
intellectual curiosity, and I loved teaching. Students would crowd my lectures
and seek me out. I still hear from many of them and the careers they pursued
afterwards. And then I went into management consulting and found out that I was
not an analyst, I was a people leader. So I ended up at the LEGO Group – because
I loved playing with LEGO as a child – and here I found out I was a business
leader. So if you ask me about discovering your purpose in life, I’d say you
don’t really know what it is until you’re there.
You’re also known to have recommended the work of the Danish philosopher Søren
Kierkegaard to your students. What were the key lessons?
Well, there are many. For example I spoke about his insight that if you think
you haven’t chosen a path, you already have chosen a path. I believe that’s one
of the big things – that not making a choice is also making a choice and you’d
better be very conscious of that.
Kierkegaard also spoke about three stages of human existence: the aesthetic
stage, the ethical stage and the religious stage. The aesthetic stage is not
about being aesthetic, it’s about pursuing pleasure and avoiding commitment.
It’s about being hedonistic, egotistical and fragmented. The aesthetic stage
then gives way to the ethical stage, which is about sense of duty, of working
for family and society, of making firm commitments and showing a capacity for
self-examination. The religious stage is about faith in one’s true purpose and a
response to a higher calling, to God if you like. I think when you look at a
business, or you look at a person, we can modernize Kierkegaard a little and
speak of four dimensions: The physical, the social, the mental, and the
spiritual.
How do these dimensions relate to the world of business? What were you trying
to tell your students?
For a company the physical is – in Kierkegaard’s terms – the aesthetic: It’s the
animal in all of us, the unreflective part, and in a company this is the
financial performance. The social dimension in a company is its culture. It’s
about the relationships that are fostered within the corporate culture. How we
get along with each other? Do we trust each other? Do we speak openly? Do we
give each other room? This is very important because this is our family, these
are our friends. That’s what Kierkegaard would call your ethical life.
The mental dimension in a company is its capabilities. In a person, it’s your
intellectual life: “How do you think about issues?” Finally, the spiritual
translates into what Kierkegaard called the religious dimension, which is: “What
do you believe in? That’s a company’s purpose. What’s your direction? How do you
scrutinize your own actions and take responsibility? What is your higher
calling?”
We all have these dimensions inside ourselves and students of business need to
see themselves in this multi-dimensional away. If they only see themselves as a
finance person they’re not going to be successful in business because they’re
not a whole human being.
You talked about making choices that defined you. After ten years as a business
leader, what choices will you be making for your own future in the next decade?
I think the journey that the company’s owner and employees are on is so long
that the agenda is already set out. Making the LEGO Group a truly global leading
player in the business of play, and at the same time integrating and fully
digitizing the business system to expand the purpose of the LEGO brick … that’s
what I’m going to be doing for the next ten years.
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp
Born in Frederica, Denmark in 1968, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp studied Economics and
East Asian Studies at Aarhus University before gaining an MBA in the UK and his
doctorate from MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He began his career in 1998 with
McKinsey and, three years later, joined the Strategy Department at the LEGO
Group. In 2004, at the age of 35, he was appointed CEO of the company. Known for
his modesty and playful nature, Knudstorp learnt early on how to listen to
children when he worked part-time in a nursery school. Today he has four
children aged between 7 and 12, two boys and two girls, whom he describes as his
own “personal market research team.”
The LEGO Group
The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 as a manufacturer of wooden toys by Ole Kirk
Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. The LEGO brick was first
patented in 1958 and caught the imagination of children and adults alike. After
70 years of virtually uninterrupted success, in 2003 the company began to slide
towards bankruptcy after trying to ride the growing wave of computer games. In a
bold move, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the grandson of the founder, stepped down in
2004 and appointed Jørgen Vig Knudstorp as the second non-family CEO. Over the
ensuing decade, Knudstorp refocused the company on its core business – the
colored bricks and the imaginary world they create – resulting in a rapid return
to growth. Today the LEGO Group is the world’s second-largest toy company in
terms of sales and in 2014 manufactured more than 60 billion LEGO bricks.
Source:
Egonzehnder.com 2016 Egon Zehnder International, Inc.
Interview was done in 2015.
-end of report-
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Given that this is what, the third year in a row we have seen this sort of
release from the Mothership, I am starting to question whether this is gross
incompetence in the planning department or a Machiavellian maneuver orchestrated
by the marketing department.
Either way, it kinda pisses me off.
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LEGO factories hit brick wall as Christmas worries build
Date October 20, 2015.
‘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
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.
TheGuardian.com
-end of report-
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In lugnet.mediawatch, “Abner” amf70@aol.com wrote:
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DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and William Demant Celebrate the Inauguration of
BorkumRiffgrund 1 Offshore Wind Farm in Germany
NORDDEICH, Germany, October 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
With great excitement, the three partners: DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and
William Demant, celebrate the inauguration of the offshore wind farm
BorkumRiffgrund 1 which can provide clean electricity for 320,000 households.
The joint announcement by top management from DONG Energy, market leader in
planning, constructing and operating offshore wind farms, the LEGO Group
(KIRKBI A/S), makers of the iconic LEGO® brick, and William Demant,
specialists in personal hearing aid products, is made in the presence of His
Royal Highness, Prince Joachim of Denmark, who officially opens the wind
farm.
Thomas Thune Andersen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DONG Energy,
welcomes the guests in Norden-Norddeich, located in the Northwest of Germany,
from where the wind farm will be operated:
“BorkumRiffgrund 1 is our first operational project in Germany and I’m very
satisfied with the fact that we can now harvest the fruits of the investment
we have put into this project. I’m also very pleased with the confidence that
our joint venture partners have shown us by investing in this project.
Our journey in Germany is far from over: We are currently building another
two offshore wind projects and have a number of other projects in our
pipeline that will allow us to demonstrate the skills and competences we have
gained and will allow us to continue to show the trust we have in the German
offshore wind market.”
Renewable energy for 320,000 German households
With a nominal power per turbine of 4.0 MW, the 78 wind turbines will produce
enough environmentally friendly electricity to supply 320,000 German
households each year. The planning of the offshore wind farm BorkumRiffgrund
1 began with the final investment decision in 2011. In August 2013, the
construction of the wind farm started with the installation of the offshore
substation, which is the heart of the wind farm.
The wind farm is located 37 kilometres north of the German island Borkum and
54 kilometres from the German coast. The 78 wind turbines have a total
nominal power of 312 MW. Thus, BorkumRiffgrund 1 contributes considerably to
the aim of the German government to install a total of 6.5 GW of offshore
wind energy until the year 2020. Almost 3 GW have been installed in the
German North and Baltic Sea so far.
Source: DONG Energy Deutschland
Prnewswire.com
-end of report-
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From The LEGO Group and DONG Energy. Video link:
The LEGO Group
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DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and William Demant Celebrate the Inauguration of
BorkumRiffgrund 1 Offshore Wind Farm in Germany
NORDDEICH, Germany, October 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
With great excitement, the three partners: DONG Energy, the LEGO Group and
William Demant, celebrate the inauguration of the offshore wind farm
BorkumRiffgrund 1 which can provide clean electricity for 320,000 households.
The joint announcement by top management from DONG Energy, market leader in
planning, constructing and operating offshore wind farms, the LEGO Group (KIRKBI
A/S), makers of the iconic LEGO® brick, and William Demant, specialists in
personal hearing aid products, is made in the presence of His Royal Highness,
Prince Joachim of Denmark, who officially opens the wind farm.
Thomas Thune Andersen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DONG Energy,
welcomes the guests in Norden-Norddeich, located in the Northwest of Germany,
from where the wind farm will be operated:
“BorkumRiffgrund 1 is our first operational project in Germany and I’m very
satisfied with the fact that we can now harvest the fruits of the investment we
have put into this project. I’m also very pleased with the confidence that our
joint venture partners have shown us by investing in this project.
Our journey in Germany is far from over: We are currently building another two
offshore wind projects and have a number of other projects in our pipeline that
will allow us to demonstrate the skills and competences we have gained and will
allow us to continue to show the trust we have in the German offshore wind
market.”
Renewable energy for 320,000 German households
With a nominal power per turbine of 4.0 MW, the 78 wind turbines will produce
enough environmentally friendly electricity to supply 320,000 German households
each year. The planning of the offshore wind farm BorkumRiffgrund 1 began with
the final investment decision in 2011. In August 2013, the construction of the
wind farm started with the installation of the offshore substation, which is the
heart of the wind farm.
The wind farm is located 37 kilometres north of the German island Borkum and 54
kilometres from the German coast. The 78 wind turbines have a total nominal
power of 312 MW. Thus, BorkumRiffgrund 1 contributes considerably to the aim of
the German government to install a total of 6.5 GW of offshore wind energy until
the year 2020. Almost 3 GW have been installed in the German North and Baltic
Sea so far.
Source: DONG Energy Deutschland
Prnewswire.com
-end of report-
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LEGO Creator Modular Brick Bank set 10251
10251 Brick Bank
Ages 16+. 2,380 pieces.
Price: US $169.99 – CA $219.99 – DE 149.99€ – UK £119.99 – DK 1399.00 DKK
• Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional
pricing.
Make a safe deposit at the Brick Bank!
Make a secure deposit at the highly respected Brick Bank, featuring an array of
intricate details and hidden surprises. Easy-to-remove building sections provide
access to the detailed interior, comprising a bank with an atrium foyer, tiled
floor, arched windows, ornate chandelier, lockable vault and a transaction
counter with security glass; a laundromat with printed window, tiled floor and 4
laundry machines; plus 2 second-floor offices with an array of detailed
furniture, fixtures and accessories. The exterior of the building features a
detailed sidewalk and an elaborate façade with carving and statue décor,
decorative roofline, large arched windows, central balcony, clock and an
accessible roof terrace featuring a large skylight.
• Includes 5 minifigures: a bank manager, secretary, teller, and a mom and
child.
• The Brick Bank features a bank, secretary’s office, bank manager’s office,
laundromat and a detailed façade and sidewalk.
• Bank features an atrium foyer with wide, arched entrance, triangular-patterned
floor tiling, ornate chandelier, oxidized-copper colored skylight, transaction
counter with hidden alarm buttons and security glass, and a bank vault with safe
deposit boxes and a large round door.
• Laundromat features a printed window, tiled floor and 4 laundry machines.
• Secretary’s office features a wall clock, desk, typewriter, cabinet with
opening drawers, fireplace and an espresso machine.
• Bank manager’s office features a large desk with banker’s lamp and approval
stamp, leather-look chair, printed portrait, statue and a cabinet.
• Accessory elements include a mug, document, camera, candy, blank white paper,
chrome-golden coins, 1 chrome- golden bar and banknotes.
• Remove the building sections to access the detailed interior.
• Unlock the bank vault to access the safe deposit boxes.
• Visit the laundromat for a spot of laundering.
• Stack coins with the coin counting machine.
• Special elements include a printed prize check, printed ground-floor windows,
a special printed portrait in the bank manager’s office, plus rare, sand-blue
and dark-green bricks, and sand-green window frames.
• Collect and build an entire town with the LEGO® Creator Expert Modular
Building series 10243 Parisian Restaurant and 10246 Detective’s Office.
• Brick Bank measures over 10” (26cm) high, 10” (25cm) wide and 10” (25cm) deep.
Available January 2016 released.
Source: The LEGO Group
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Read and listen to the NPR story
HERE.
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Europe court rules LEGO figures are ‘protected shape’
June 16, 2015. From the European Union (EU) and BBC.com.
The shape of LEGO’s figures (minifigures) is a protected trademark and
therefore cannot be copied, an EU court has ruled.
Competitor Best-Lock, who makes similar toys, had challenged LEGO’s attempt to
protect the shape of its human figures.
But the appeal was dismissed on Tuesday by the General Court of the European
Union.
LEGO, the world’s second biggest toy maker, had registered the
“three-dimensional trademark” in 2000.
Best-Lock tried to argue that the shape of LEGO’s little men and women was
determined by the fact that they were part of a toy that involved “interlocking
building blocks for play purposes”.
This would have made the trademark invalid.
But the EU court ruled that the essential elements of LEGO’s figures had nothing
to do with their ability to join them to other building blocks.
Characteristics such as holes in the feet and legs did not obviously have a
“technical function”, it said in a statement.
The court therefore upheld LEGO’s registration of the shape as a protected
trademark.
This is not the first time that LEGO has been challenged in an EU courtroom.
In 2010, Canadian competitor Mega Bloks won its case and prevented LEGO from
registering a red toy building brick as a trademark.
Source: BBC.com
Press release from the General Court of the European Union
Curia.Europa.EU
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Europe court rules LEGO figures are ‘protected shape’
June 16, 2015. From European Union (EU) court.
LEGO registered the trademark in 2000 but it has been challenged by it
competitors
The shape of LEGO’s figures (minifigures) is a protected trademark and therefore
cannot be copied, an EU court has ruled.
Competitor Best-Lock, who makes similar toys, had challenged LEGO’s attempt to
protect the shape of its human figures.
But the appeal was dismissed on Tuesday by the General Court of the European
Union.
LEGO, the world’s second biggest toy maker, had registered the
“three-dimensional trademark” in 2000.
Best-Lock tried to argue that the shape of LEGO’s little men and women was
determined by the fact that they were part of a toy that involved “interlocking
building blocks for play purposes”.
This would have made the trademark invalid.
But the EU court ruled that the essential elements of LEGO’s figures had nothing
to do with their ability to join them to other building blocks.
Characteristics such as holes in the feet and legs did not obviously have a
“technical function”, it said in a statement.
The court therefore upheld LEGO’s registration of the shape as a protected
trademark.
This is not the first time that LEGO has been challenged in an EU courtroom.
In 2010, Canadian competitor Mega Bloks won its case and prevented Lego from
registering a red toy building brick as a trademark.
Source: BBC.com
Press release from the General Court of the European
Union.Curia.Europa.eu
-end of report-
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Europe court rules LEGO figures are ‘protected shape’
June, 16, 2015 from BBC.com and European Union (EU) Court.
The shape of LEGO’s figures (minifigures) is a protected trademark and
therefore cannot be copied, an EU court has ruled.
Competitor Best-Lock, who makes similar toys, had challenged LEGO’s attempt to
protect the shape of its human figures.
But the appeal was dismissed on Tuesday by the General Court of the European
Union.
LEGO, the world’s second biggest toy maker, had registered the
“three-dimensional trademark” in 2000.
Best-Lock tried to argue that the shape of LEGO’s little men and women was
determined by the fact that they were part of a toy that involved “interlocking
building blocks for play purposes”.
This would have made the trademark invalid.
But the EU court ruled that the essential elements of LEGO’s figures had nothing
to do with their ability to join them to other building blocks.
Characteristics such as holes in the feet and legs did not obviously have a
“technical function”, it said in a statement.
The court therefore upheld Lego’s registration of the shape as a protected
trademark.
This is not the first time that LEGO has been challenged in an EU courtroom.
In 2010, Canadian competitor Mega Bloks won its case and prevented LEGO from
registering a red toy building brick as a trademark.
Source: BBC.com
-end of report-
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LEGO to launch Angry Birds building sets
Rovio has announced a partnership with The LEGO Group to develop a line of
Angry Birds construction toys.
The toys will be available in spring 2016 to coincide with the release of The
Angry Birds Movie.
Pekka Rantala, chief executive officer of Rovio, commented: “The LEGO brand has
an unparalleled ability to connect with people through products that spark
creativity and imagination. We’re really excited to build experiences together
with this amazing best-in-class partner.”
Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment, The LEGO Group,
added: “We are excited to bring Angry Birds to life in LEGO form, given the
popularity of the game and its characters with fans of all ages. We seek
partnership with globally relevant properties that offer a unique and rewarding
play experience to our fans, and our designers are having fun developing
building sets that leverage the engaging play and deconstruction found in the
Angry Birds game.”
Further details about the collection, available in spring 2016, are yet to be
unveiled.
Source: ToyWorldMag.co.uk
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Mini LEGOLAND set to open in Shanghai
2016 will welcome China’s first bricktastic ‘Discovery Centre’
Published on April 24, 2015
While we are currently raising a generation of alarmingly tech-savvy children,
who memorise their parents’ iPad pin codes before the letters of the alphabet
and can thrash you at Candy Crush Saga while they’re still being potty trained,
there was of course a time when computers didn’t rule the roost. This was LEGO
golden era, preceding a slump of almost ten years - which it is now emerging
from, thanks to the surprising critical and commercial success of The LEGO
Movie. Everyone thought it would be shit, because it sounded like it would be
shit, but it wasn’t. It was really very good.
This success, along with the popularity of the latest centre which opened in
Tokyo (pictured) last year, has presumably helped to bankroll Shanghai’s very
own LEGO Discovery Centre – a mini version of LEGOLAND proper – set to open some
time next year at the Parkside Plaza in Putuo district. Works are underway on a
3,000sqm space by production company Merlin Entertainment, who say it will be
the first of many attractions in the area. Costing 100 millionRMB, it is likely
to include all of the Discovery Center hallmarks: a brick pool, factory tour,
car racing area, a (hopefully sturdy) LEGO ride, master classes from the LEGO
master model builder, and the famous Miniland exhibition, which will include
replicas of all of Shanghai’s most famous landmarks. It is of course arguable
that a city has really made it once it has its own LEGO replica. Shanghai, we’ve
arrived! Behold us in all our LEGO glory.
The opening will be part of a slew of other theme park-related openings – last
year’s Hello Kitty, and next year’s Disneyland.
Source:
TimeOutShanghai.com
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Behind the Scenes: LEGO® Star Wars Droid Tales
A look into the creative process behind LEGO Star Wars animated content with
Michael Price, Michael Donovan, Anthony Daniels and Jason Cosler. Panel
discussion originally held at Star Wars Celebration 2015.
YouTube Channel: LEGO
Video Link: YouTube.com
Note: It’s a long video.
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Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment Launch DC Super Hero Girls, LEGO Is Involved
Warner Bros. And DC Entertainment In Partnership With Mattel Launch DC Super
Hero Girls, A New Super Hero Universe Designed Just For Girls, Slated For Fall
2015
BURBANK, Calif., April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Beginning in Fall 2015, DC
Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Mattel
join forces to launchDC Super Hero Girls, an exciting new universe of Super
Heroic storytelling that helps build character and confidence, and empowers
girls to discover their true potential. Featuring DC Comics’ most powerful and
diverse line-up of female characters as relatable teens,DC Super Hero Girls will
play out across multiple entertainment content platforms and product categories
to create an immersive world.
Developed for girls aged 6-12, DC Super Hero Girls centers on the female Super
Heroes and Super-Villains of the DC Comics universe during their formative
years—prior to discovering their full super power potential. Featuring a
completely new artistic style and aesthetic, DC Comics’ icons such as Wonder
Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl,Harley Quinn, Bumble Bee, Poison Ivy, Katana and many
more make their unprecedented teenaged introduction. Each character has her own
storyline that explores what teen life is like as a Super Hero, including
discovering her unique abilities, nurturing her remarkable powers and mastering
the fundamentals of being a hero.
“DC Entertainment is home to the most iconic and well-known Super Heroes
including Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batgirl,” saidDiane Nelson, President of
DC Entertainment. “DC Super Hero Girls represents the embodiment of our
long-term strategy to harness the power of our diverse female characters. I am
so pleased that we are able to offer relatable and strong role models in a
unique way, just for girls.”
The initial launch of DC Super Hero Girls in Fall 2015 will include an immersive
digital experience, original digital content and digital publishing—providing
opportunities for girls to interact with characters, learn about the storylines,
and engage in customizable play. TV specials, made-for-videos, toys, apparel,
books and other product categories will begin to rollout in 2016.
“Developing a Super Hero franchise exclusively for girls that includes all of
the key components of a comprehensive entertainment experience—from content to
consumer products—is something we are excited to be doing in conjunction with
our great partners,” said Brad Globe, President of Warner Bros. Consumer
Products. “It’s really an honor to be part of this cultural moment and to be
delivering a concept so rooted in a relatable and empowered theme that the
characters of DC Comics are uniquely able to present.”
As master toy licensee, Mattel is collaborating with DC Entertainment, Warner
Bros. Animation and Warner Bros. Consumer Products onDC Super Hero Girls’
narrative creation, interactive digital activations and ultimately a toy line
launching in 2016. Mattel category-leading firsts include a line of characters
for the action figure category, an area of the industry that has been primarily
developed with boys in mind, and fashion dolls featuring strong, athletic bodies
that stand on their own in heroic poses.
“Partnering with the best and being the best partner is of paramount
importance,” saidRichard Dickson, President, Chief Operating Officer, Mattel.
“Together with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, theDC Super Hero Girls
franchise will further expand our already powerful girls portfolio. We know
Super Hero is a culturally relevant theme and theDC Super Hero Girls franchise
will engage and inspire girls, providing cues to explore heroic acts through
play and into real life.”
The Random House Books for Young Readers imprint of Random House Children’s
Books has been appointed the master publishing partner for the franchise and
will be creating a portfolio of books that will bring theDC Super Hero Girls
world to life, beginning in Spring 2016. Random House’s publishing program will
be complemented by a series of original graphic novels from DC Entertainment.
The LEGO Group will also be key to building theDC Super Hero Girlsfranchise,
leveraging their experience and success engaging girls in creative construction
play to bolster this universe through an array of LEGO® building sets designed
to inspire girls’ imaginations. Additionally, consumer products partners around
the world will be engaged in creating a merchandise line dedicated toDC Super
Hero Girls across all key categories.
About Warner Bros. Consumer ProductsWarner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner
Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail
merchandising organizations in the world.
About DC EntertainmentDC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics
(Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman,
Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating
its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment
works in concert with Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and
characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television,
consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing
thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC
Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.
About Warner Bros. AnimationWarner Bros. Animation (WBA) is one of the leading
producers of animation in the entertainment industry, producing and developing
both CG and traditionally animated projects for multiple platforms, both
domestically and internationally. For TV, WBA produces series such as Teen
Titans Go!, The Tom andJerry Show and the upcoming Be Cool Scooby-Doo! and
Wabbit – A Looney Tunes Production for Cartoon Network, as well as Mike Tyson
Mysteries for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. As the home of the iconic animated
characters from the DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Looney Tunes libraries,
WBA also produces highly successful animated films — including the DC Universe
Animated Original Movies — for DVD. One of the most-honored animation studios in
history, WBA has won six Academy Awards®, 35 Emmy® Awards, theGeorge Foster
Peabody Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents’ Choice Award, the
HUMANITAS Prize, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards (honoring excellence in
animation).
About MattelThe Mattel family of companies (Nasdaq: MAT) is the worldwide
leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products.
Mattel’s portfolio of best-selling brands includes Barbie®, the most popular
fashion doll ever produced, Hot Wheels®, Monster High®, American Girl®, Thomas &
Friends® and Fisher-Price® brands, including Little People® and Power Wheels®,
MEGA® Brands, including MEGA BLOKS® and RoseArt®, as well as a wide array of
entertainment-inspired toy lines. In 2013, Mattel was named one of the “World’s
Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere Magazine and in 2014 ranked No. 5 on
Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list. With
worldwide headquarters inEl Segundo, Calif., Mattel’s companies employ nearly
30,000 people in 40 countries and territories and sell products in more than 150
nations. At Mattel, we are Creating the Future of Play. Visit us
atwww.mattel.com , www.facebook.com/mattel or www.twitter.com/mattel .
About Random House Children’s BooksRandom House Children’s Books is the
world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books
for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to
activity books to picture books, novels, ebooks, and apps, the imprints of
Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and
illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series.
The company’s website, Kids @ Random (www.randomhousekids.com ) offers an array
of activities, games, and resources for children, teens, parents, and educators.
Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin
Random House Company.
About The LEGO Group The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company
with headquarters in Billund,Denmark, and main offices in the U.S., UK, China,
and Singapore. Founded in 1932 byOle Kirk Kristiansen, and based on the iconic
LEGO brick, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials.
Guided by the spirit of its founder: “Only the best is good enough”, the company
is committed to the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the
builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO products are sold
worldwide and can be virtually explored atwww.LEGO.com .
LEGO, its logo, the brick & knob configuration and the Minifigure are trademarks
of The LEGO Group. ©2015 The LEGO Group.
Source:
ComicBookResources.com
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In lugnet.mediawatch, “Abner” amf70@aol.com wrote:
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The ITC commissioners sided with LEGO, voting March 11 to let the case
proceed. It will be tried by an administrative law judge, and could result in
an import ban on the infringing products.
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But this one might actually have teeth.
Although I don’t believe that a knowledgeable consumer will readily mistake the
two products, I can see how the shared shelf space might create brand confusion.
Also, I have a coworker whose daughter is crazy about the Friends line, and when
I showed him one of the My Life As minidolls he couldn’t tell them apart.
Whoops.
My Life As is a limited line exclusive to Walmart, and the sets include no
unique pieces other than packaging, decals & the minidolls themselves. I
suspect that the product line involved little front-end outlay, so even if a
hard ban is enforced, it won’t have too great an impact on Mega Brands. LEGO
will have a hard time demonstrating that they’ve suffered losses or damages,
too.
We’ll see how it plays out. Both sides have made interesting arguments, so I’m
curious to see it move forward.
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LEGO Sues to Block Imports in Patent Fight Over Toy Dolls
March 11, 2015
By Jenna Greene, The National Law Journal
The U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday gave a green light to toy
maker LEGO A/S to bring a patent and copyright infringement case against three
competitors that are seeking to appeal more to girls.
In January 2012, LEGO launched its “Friends” line—little LEGO dolls named Mia,
Olivia, Emma, Andrea and Stephanie, who live in the imaginary world of Heartlake
City.
The company started its Friends line—which includes the Heartlake Shopping Mall
and dolls with “a multitude of shoe styles”—to make “Lego play more interesting
for girls,” according to Lego’s complaint. Lego said it found in studies that 91
percent of its primary users are boys.
LEGO sued three competitors: LaRose Industries of Randolph, N.J.; Mega Brands
Inc. of Montreal; and Best-Lock Construction Toys Inc. of Miami.
The competitors are attempting “to capitalize on LEGO’s success by copying its
innovations and products and preying on the vulnerability of LEGO’s youthful
consuming population, instead of developing their own product lines,” LEGO
counsel Elizabeth Alquist and Eric TeVelde of Day Pitney wrote. The company is
also represented by and Tom Schaumberg and Michael Doane of Adduci, Mastriani &
Schaumberg.
The product won “Toy of the Year” for the best toy overall at the 2013
International Toy Fair in New York, and with sales that more than doubled LEGO’s
initial projections.
Mega Brands, which was bought by Mattel Inc. last year, tried to persuade the
International Trade Commission (ITC) to knock out the complaint early. The
company argued that LEGO did not meet the domestic-industry requirement. LEGO’s
“global headquarters are in Denmark and its manufacturing of its products takes
place outside the United States, primarily in China. As such, there is a real
and serious question about its ability to meet the domestic-industry requirement
under Section 337,” wrote Mega Brands counsel Gary Hnath, a partner at Mayer
Brown. He asked the ITC to evaluate the case under a new fast-track pilot
program.
LEGO argued that it conducts “substantial licensing, research and development,
and technical activities within the United States,” fulfilling the
domestic-industry prerequisite.
Hnath countered that even if that’s the case, LEGO has to show “whether the
purported licensing activities relate to the design patents and copyrights
asserted in this investigation.” (Italics in the original).
The ITC commissioners sided with LEGO, voting March 11 to let the case proceed.
It will be tried by an administrative law judge, and could result in an import
ban on the infringing products.
Parallel patent infringement litigation is also pending in U.S. district court
in Connecticut.
From:
NationalLawJournal.com
United States International Trade Commission: Link of the
case.ITCblog.com
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