LEGO

LEGO is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. In 2021, Lego was the largest toy company. The company's flagship product, the plastic building block construction toy, can be assembled and connected to create various different things, such as objects, vehicles, buildings, robots, and more. And the blocks can be taken apart and reassembled to construct almost anything.

Early wooden LEGO blocks.

The product's parent company, the Lego Group, manufactured the first interlocking toy bricks in 1949, originally using wooden blocks to connect. The first plastic bricks were launched in 1958, making the product easier to manufacture and more readily available as a toy. The toys have since spawned movies, games, competitions, and Legoland amusement parks.

The name "LEGO" comes from an abbreviation of two Danish words, "leg godt" which means "play well." This name continues to inform the decisions of the parent company, which was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and it has been passed down as a family-owned business since.

LEGO bricks were originally sold in packages of bricks only. Since then, the company has shifted to selling the bricks as sets that tend to have themes and specific theme-based brands they built around, such as LEGO Construction, LEGO Town, LEGO Technic, and LEGO Pirates. These sets have since extended to licensed themes, with one of the most popular themes being LEGO Star Wars.

Example of a LEGO Architecture set, aimed towards older users.

Themes have different timelines, depending on whether the theme is popular and sells well, or if the licensed material is maintained to continue allowing LEGO to build the themes. And the themes have extended to advanced sets, such as the Creator Expert, as children growing up with LEGO have continued to enjoy building the sets into adulthood.

In 2022, LEGO themes include the following:

• Architecture
• Batman
• BOOST
• BrickHeadz
• Brick Sketches
• City
• Classic
• Creator 3-in-1
• Creator Expert
• DC
• Disney
• Disney Mickey and Friends
• DOTS
• DUPLO
• Friends
• Frozen
• Harry Potter
• Ideas
• Jurassic World
• LEGO Art
• LEGO Education
• LEGO Originals
• LEGO Super Mario
• Marvel
• MINDSTORMS
• Minecraft
• Minifigures
• Minions
• Monkie Kid
• NINJAGO
• Power Functions
• Powered Up
• SERIOUS PLAY
• Speed Champions
• Spider-Man
• Star Wars
• Stranger Things
• Technic
• VIDIYO
• Xtra

The LEGO Millennium Falcon set.

These sets have gone on to be popular, and rarer sets have been since sold for much more than the original price on a secondary market. Some of the most expensive of these include the #10179 LEGO Ultimate Collector's Series Millennium Flacon, which has sold for $15,000. This is a first edition version of this kit, and is considered the most valuable LEGO set ever produced, often selling from $3,400 to $5,700. Although the valuation has since decreased with LEGO re-releasing the set.

The second most expensive LEGO set that has competed with the Millennium Falcon set is the #10189 LEGO Taj Mahal First Edition. This set has seen the highest resale price of $3,864 and often sells between $450 to $3,000.

LEGO's Roller Coaster kit, considered by some the hardest to build LEGO kit.

With the growth of LEGO and popularity with older users, LEGO has developed more complex and difficult kits. Often these kits coincide with higher price points, but they are aimed at LEGO "experts" who feel confident building sets of well over 1000 pieces. This includes some kits, which have been ranked by so-called LEGO "experts" as some of the hardest to build, including the #42083 Bugatti Chiron set with 3,599 pieces, the #10214 Tower Bridge set with 4,295 pieces, the #75827 Firehouse Headquarters with 4,634 pieces, the #75192 Millennium Falcon (not the same set as mentioned above) with 7,541 pieces (and weighing 32.6 pounds completed), and the #10261 Roller Coaster set with 4,124 pieces and includes a chain-lift to allow it work as a rollercoaster.