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The Story Behind LEGO Toys
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Written by: Lance Jensen
Total views: 48 |
Word Count: 586 |
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 |
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For sure you have heard or played with Lego, one of the most famous toys in the word. What you may not know about is the history of this great company.
I hope you find this short history of Lego toys educational. For the best bargains you can compare on the Lego Mindstorms NXT robot go to lego mindstorms and for the largest selection of robots at prices you can compare from all the major retailers, check out buy robot
In 1916 Kirk Christiansen of Denmark, a carpenter, opened a woodworking shop. His wood shop mainly built furniture for people who lived in the area.
Business was not very good for someone who only specialized in furniture and so, in 1932, Kirk Christiansen expanded his product line to include ironing boards, stepladders, and you guessed it, toys made of wood. As Kirk's business grew, in 1934, he renamed it to "Lego". There is some speculation as to where Kirk got this name. Some say that he got it from the Danish phrase "leg godt" which means to play well. Others say that it comes from the actual Latin word "Lego" which means "I build" or "I put together".
For many years Christiansen ran his family business out of this old building. The problem with wood is that it is highly flammable as Christiansen knew all too well when a fire destroyed his wooden toy warehouse in 1960.
By 1954, Christiansen's son Godtfred had worked hard and moved up in the company to the position of managing director. Godtfred had to travel to England to meet with a purchasing agent. While they sat on a ferry, they began an in depth discussion about the toy market in both Denmark and England and where the toy market was heading.
Little did anyone know at the time that this simple discussion would lead to the invention of perhaps the world's greatest toy ever created, Lego snap together building blocks.
Change began at Lego after about 30 years. In Lego's home city of Billund, Denmark, LEGOLAND was opened in 1968.
Once again, Lego pondered the future of where the toy market was heading and came up with a snap together Lego set that had computer chips. The product they created was the Lego Mindstorms. This incredible robot is built with snap together Legos. But do not make the mistake of thinking this robot is some cheap toy. Berkeley and other cutting edge robotics departments use the Lego Mindstorms in their courses. This incredible robot can even be interfaced with a typical home PC and programmed!
The Lego Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robot with more than 500 snap together pieces to build everything from a sumo robot to a tribot, sensors which let the robot interact with the world around it via touch, sound, light, and ultrasonic waves, 3 servo motors, and even a USB cable to connect the robot with any computer.
The Lego company expanded their production lines to include lights, cameras, sensors, gears and accessory motors that compliment the Lego Mindstorms.
Unfortunately, the Lego company sometimes behaves like a monopoly and often over prices its products, counting on branch loyalty to pull them through. Lego has been losing money in recent years but still controls a large market. The LEGO company patents the stud-and-tube coupling system. This new system makes models much more stable.
Whether Lego charges too much for its toys or not, people obviously are willing to pay for the best quality toys. I know that anything I've ever bought from Lego has lasted many years. You know you are getting quality when you buy Lego plus, who does not have found memories of putting together Lego toys as a child?
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