PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Hello everyone, it’s Connor with Global Transmission. Before we begin, I want to express just how much I enjoy making these podcasts. They are tedious at times, but it feels so good to share them with the community and have an audience. Anyway, LEGO is one of the most iconic toys to this day. The company itself is worth about $13 billion, and the variety of toys they release is amazing. While it’s all centered around a building block, there are tie-in movies, video games, books, board games, and even a social media app. So how did a humble company turn into the creative behemoth it is today?
LEGO began in Billund, Denmark when a man named Ole Kirk Kristiansen had to lay off every worker at his carpentry company, as they had gone bankrupt. Shortly after, his wife passed away. He turned to making toys with the skills he had from the carpentry, with the help of his son Godtfred. These did not sell very well. By 1934, the name LEGO came to be, and they began to sell better under this name. It means “I put together” in Latin, which is ironic considering it wasn’t a building toy yet. That change didn’t come about until 1949, when they launched their “Automatic Binding Bricks” after their wood department burned down. With the sales, they were able to hire people and they opened a new factory and store outside of Billund, which focused on quality control of the plastics. By 1953, they were producing molds in Billund as well. In this same year, Godtfred prepared to sell products outside of Denmark. However, strict regulations on imports after World War 2 made this quite difficult, but they eventually managed to distribute to bordering countries. In the early 1960s, the first modern Lego theme was released, and it was City. City still exists today. The company was expanding fast, giving the public many advancements quickly. 1974 made the toy available overseas. In 1976, there were Minifigures that lacked arms. But by 1979, the most iconic part of LEGO was born – the modern Minifigure. The themes started pumping out fast. The 70’s gave us Space and Castle, while we got Pirates in the 80’s. LEGO got their first licensed sets in 1999 – Star Wars.
While the first Star Wars film came out in 1977, these 1999 LEGO System sets corresponded with the release of The Phantom Menace. Star Wars is still their most popular and best selling theme of toys. There have been animated TV shows, short movies, and a few video games based on Lego Star Wars alone. It’s really impressive. In modern times, most Lego products are licensed in some way, although they continue to release themes like City, Creator, Ninjago, and Friends (not to be confused with the sitcom, which they have made a set for). There have been two mainline Lego movies, one Lego Ninjago movie that corresponds with the long-running TV show, a Lego Batman movie, and countless 30 minute TV specials. The video games have their own following, which was kickstarted with Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. This game lets you play movies one through six in Lego form. Other notable franchises with video games include Batman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Marvel, Jurassic Park, and others. There was also a video game titled Lego Dimensions, which was a toys-to-life game involving figures with codes to unlock content when placed on the accessory. The crossovers in this game were out of left field, including Portal, Sonic the Hedgehog, Beetlejuice, Back to the Future, The Simpsons, Ghostbusters, and The Powerpuff Girls. Finally, there is a social media app called Lego Life. [EDIT: Lego Life no longer exists, and it has transitioned to an app called Lego Play. I couldn’t find my old account, but my current account is called “MostYawningWig”.] It’s moderated very heavily and is meant for children to post photos of their creations.
Although it had a rocky start, LEGO has grown to be a leading toy company. They make sets for a variety of demographics, and most products sell very well. I definitely recommend them, even though many are overpriced. The call to action today is to do something fun. Play around a little bit, and bring back a memory from when you were younger. Thank you all for listening. I’m Connor with The Globe, and I’ll see you all next week.
