The LEGO Group is now taking the play and build experience a step higher. With its goal of making the LEGO system of play accessible to all, TLG today announced a new initiative that will allow children and individuals with visual impairments enjoy the experience of playing with LEGO bricks. The LEGO Audio and Braille Building Instructions utilize artificial intelligence in interpreting visual building instructions in a usable verbal and tactile format. This initiative was first developed by long-time LEGO fan Matthew Shifrin who also happens to be blind. This was later picked up by LEGO where the latter took the initiative of coming up with a soft launch of LEGO Audio Instructions.
The LEGO Audio and Braille Building Instructions are still in its early stages, with four easy-to-build sets receiving its first resources for the blind. LEGO promises to release more building instructions for the visually impaired by 2020, and for other future LEGO sets to be released with such similar free support. Just click on the following links below to know more how this is done.
If you recall, LEGO is very much intentional in making sure that all children benefit from the value of playing with LEGO bricks. Earlier this year, we saw the launch of LEGO Braille Bricks where the LEGO Group aims to develop the love for using Braille among children with visual disabilities. And having an accompanying set of LEGO audio and Braille building instructions and other resources for the blind will give children an opportunity for a new way to build, and to make playing with LEGO bricks more inclusive.
You can read the LEGO Group’s full press release right here.
Most of us are no stranger to the LEGO lifestyle. We know very well what it means to live out our love for the brick, and LEGO knows that as well. From wall hangers to minifigure-head containers, and an assortment of brick boxes, LEGO seems to be intent in making sure that the LEGO brick has conquered every nook and cranny of our everyday lives. This time around, we have a pair of LEGO Magnets to deck our fridge, designed after the most ubiquitous brick elements of all: the iconic stud, and 1×1 plate.
Tagged as set number 4010, this pair of magnetic decors comes in two-tone color schemes as listed by Room Copenhagen. They’re quite sizeable in fact, with both the round and 1×1 plate magnets measuring at 3.7×3.09×1.85 inches. Here’s a brief rundown on these new pair of decorative goodies.
Decorative and colorful magnets are shaped as round and square LEGO elements. They are ideal for display of drawings, postcards or notes. The classic design links perfectly to the creative universe of LEGO and it extends the the LEGO adventure.
Currently, they are not yet listed at LEGO Shop@Home and over at Amazon. However, while waiting for these new LEGO-inspired magnets to appear, you may want to check LEGO’s other offerings which include the LEGO 4×4 Brick Magnets (853900) that comes in new-for-2019 colors. If you’re fond of the classic colored bricks, then there’s theLEGO xtra 4×4 Magnets Classic (853915). And since we’re almost about to enter the holiday season, then you might want to pick-up the LEGO Iconic Holiday Magnet (853663) as well.
After the successful release of last year’s Newsweek Special Edition: LEGO-The Toy That Changed Our Lives, Topix Media Lab is back with another Newsweek edition that covers everything that we love about the iconic brick. Now available in newsstands and online, the Newsweek: LEGO—The World’s Favorite Toy Special Edition celebrates the LEGO brick, some of its greatest builds of all time, and the colorful history of the LEGO Group. Through interviews with some of the key persons inside the LEGO Company, this special Newsweek limited edition will also show us the direction of where LEGO is planning to go through the scouting lens of its leadership.
The Newsweek: LEGO—The World’s Favorite Toy Special Edition will retail for $12.99 USD and is now available online. Check out this quick blurb courtesy of Topix Media Lab.
Newsweek: LEGO—The World’s Favorite Toy Special Edition
Opening the box of a new LEGO set is a cultural touchstone in countries all over the world. In that moment, an adventure lies ahead before every child, every parent, as well as every grown-up finding that old inspirations can become new again. In this Official Collector’s Edition, created in concert with The LEGO Group, Newsweek explores the greatest playsets and builds in history, and reveals that perhaps the best is still yet to come.
Read exclusive interviews with members of The LEGO Group leadership team, including CEO Niels B. Christiansen and VP of Innovation William Thorogood and see where the future of the brand is headed. Plus, this issue features a special section celebrating the 20th anniversary of LEGO Star Wars, a partnership that has transformed playtime.
Around this same month last year, IKEA has announced a working partnership with the LEGO Group to come up with storage solutions that are practical, while promoting creative play at the same time. Information was a bit sparse back then on how this partnership will specifically look like, and after more than a year, IKEA has shed light on what to expect from their collaboration with LEGO. To be clear, they haven’t revealed any specific product or storage line yet that is specifically made for LEGO, save for the fact that it will be dubbed as a BYGGLEK line of LEGO-inspired products. Thankfully, the press release below will somehow point us to the direction where these developments will take IKEA and LEGO. Read on for more details about this IKEA BYGGLEK line which will launch sometime next year, 2020.
IKEA and LEGO Group to Introduce BYGGLEK for More “Yes” to Play
Playing is crucial for the well-being of both adults and children. Together, LEGO Group and IKEA explore and develop solutions to stimulate play all around the home. The collaboration will result in BYGGLEK.
One year ago, IKEA and LEGO Group partnered up to be creative, exchange knowledge and experiment together with the ambition to develop new solutions to facilitate play in every corner of the home. Research from IKEA and LEGO Group has shown that there’s a demand among children for more playtime with their parents. At the same time, parents believe that playing is essential to their children’s well-being and happiness. Despite this, children and adults encounter several barriers and challenges when it comes to making play happen. Busy schedules and homework are a couple of obstacles, other restrictions like finding the space to play are more evident for adults than for children.
“There’s a conflict between how grown-ups look at organising and how children look at the creative play. Every grown-up has stepped on a LEGO brick at night time. But organising LEGO bricks the grown-up way also means ending the play sometimes. Adults sort by typology – socks going into one drawer and belts into another. Kids sort by story, clustering it into different pieces, where you can have a half-built space ship. And in that, you can find the one piece that you need. What if we could turn that perceived mess into something wonderful?”, says Rasmus Buch Løgstrup, designer at LEGO Group.
The different perspectives might lead to that children experience rules, carried out by their parents, stops them from being as creative and playful as they wish. Parents, on the other hand, feel that playing can be a bit too messy at home, making it harder to fulfil other commitments of the everyday. The overlaying ambition between the collaboration between LEGO Group and IKEA is to overcome these kinds of obstacles. The hope is to move away from “no” to “yes” to play, and at the same time show respect to duties of the everyday.
“To do this, systematic thinking becomes key. We know that children continue the story building in their minds long after they have stopped playing with their toys. So we asked ourselves, couldn’t pause and play be a way to enable quick play? We know that children are playing with screens because it’s easy to get started. So what if we could make the LEGO play continue? That would make quick play easier and then build on the play that is continuing in the child’s mind anyway”, says Andreas Fredriksson, designer at IKEA.
To enable playing throughout the home with pauses, a solution across generations is needed. Also, different rooms need different solutions that can change after different phases in life.
“Bringing people together over play and enable more play are things that are key for both us and LEGO Group based on our respective visions, missions and values. That is why we want to explore what can happen when we work together, trying to get more of the many people to say yes to play”, says Andreas Fredriksson, designer at IKEA.
The aim is to sale start the first BYGGLEK products during 2020.
First there was the wall hangers shaped like LEGO studs. Then we had the storage boxes and drawers shaped like LEGO bricks. What other household organizers are we going to see LEGO-fied? True to form the answer can be found in Amazon. How about minifigure-head containers? Indeed, Amazon again has a sale going on for LEGO household organizers, in this case, the minifigure-head containers. They come in two sizes, small and large. Also, depending on size there are two (large) or four (small) variants with different facial expressions. These storage containers each have a removable cover to put stuff inside the head (but it’s not watertight).
Regarding the Amazon discounts for these LEGO head containers, the Large Girl Head’s got the best deal. Normally priced at $35.99, it’s down 35% to only $23.48 now. That’s great but unfortunately, there’s no discount made for the Large Boy version, because it’s out of stock.
For the Small versions, it’s the Small Boy that has the Amazon discount. Formerly $14.69, it’s now only $12.55 thanks to a 15% discount. All LEGO Storage Heads are made of plastic polypropylene without PVC. The Small Head actually can fit its bottom to the top pegs of the LEGO Brick storage boxes. Now that’s compatibility.
Just as April was ending, we reported on a most uncommon limited edition LEGO set in Singapore. A LEGO build of the Istana presidential palace was commissioned by the country’s president to celebrate the complex’s 150th anniversary. The set was launched at Istana’s open-house this May 1, with its limited numbers snapped up by collectors.
Visitors to the Singapore Istana this Wednesday could avail of the LEGO-brick version by donating $70 to the President’s Challenge community outreach. But there were only 500 sets prepared, in small plastic bags with inserted building instructions. They were gone in two hours. That’s that.
Or at least, that’s how it should’ve been as a one-day special tie-in. But some of those who bought the LEGO Istana mini-set were simply interested in reselling them online. Several listings of the special-edition set on eBay and Carousell have mind-boggling prizes of $100-300.
There have been attempts by other LEGO fans to simply replicate the official Istana build on their own. Builders on Facebook such as Artisan Bricks and the SG AFOL Brick Marketplace have put forth their interpretations of Singapore’s presidential residence. In case of the latter, they’ve sold complete sets of their version for S$42, lesser than the official set price. Their sets used bricks sourced from Bricklink and Brickfinder; they sold out quite fast too.
As expected, the design for the limited-edition LEGO Istana commissioned by the Office of Singapore President Halimah Yacob was developed by a LEGO Certified Professional. In her speech during the set’s unveiling this May 1 she said, “The Istana is an iconic landmark in Singapore, having been an important part of our history and national identity. I hope Singaporeans will appreciate this special and unique keepsake, and through it, look back to our journey together as a nation with pride.”
As everyone who reads LEGO news knows, Billund in Denmark is LEGO-topia. The corporate town is the heart of the global toy brand, with related tourist attractions (LEGOLAND and LEGO House) alongside the headquarters and offices of The LEGO Group. It’s also, like other communities, a work in constant progress.
By that we mean that LEGO is currently overseeing the construction of a new office campus for their Billund workforce. They also seem to be following the convention of major companies with their new campuses, like Apple, in making sure the structure and facilities have a theme tying things together.
Senior LEGO Model Designer Mark Stafford cheekily shared details on the décor for the new LEGO Billund campus. On his Twitter page he posted the image of a truck hauling what appears to be a massive yellow 1×4 LEGO brick. However it might be installed on the buildings, set to open 2020, it’ll catch many eyes.
It’s just like The LEGO Group to design their workplaces to be fun tourist attractions themselves. The most recent place where they’ve done this is with their new Middle East offices in Dubai. Opened just this February, the place looks like a museum-playground, a place to work and have fun.
The rise and fall of Toys R Us as a US toy retailer was big news a year ago. Following some hiccups and hurdles, the reorganized TRU Kids licensing company is ready to re-launch TRU stateside again. But those who remember the massive Toys R US of the past might be surprised at the changes.
In a move of supreme confidence, TRU Kids announced their intentions to open several Toys R Us stores in the US before the Holidays. But citing the evolution of toy retail from their heyday, the company’s looking to dial down in terms of store size.
Where former TRU stores ranged in floor area between 20,000 to 50,000 square feet, the new ones that TRU Kids plan to open will only be around 10,000 by comparison. This decision was in response to the perceived decline in warehouse-style retail stores these days.
TRU Kids CEO Richard Barry noted the scaled-down nature of the company that was once a toy retail giant. He compares their present organization to a “startup firm.” That explains their earlier move in making the Geoffrey’s Toy Box store-within-a-store announced in October 2018. These Toy Boxes opened in 600 Kroger stores across the country.
Further details about the US return of Toys R Us will have to wait until June to be announced, according to TRU Kids. Analysts believe the very first new stores might be opened in New Jersey and Long Island, not far from the company’s headquarters.
Ask any knowledgeable LEGO collector what the global brand’s most notorious copycat might be, and one of the top answers would be Lepin of China. This brand in particular was a priority target of The LEGO Group in establishing their presence in a major Asian market. Already a major lawsuit has ended in victory for LEGO, cancelling Lepin trademarks in China and also the UK.
But the climax of this LEGO-Lepin struggle in China took place just last week. Police in Shanghai launched a raid on Lepin factories and warehouses in the city. Several people, including Lepin’s boss, were arrested.
The Shanghai Police related the events on their official page on Chinese social network Weibo. They posted a lot of photos too. Images consist of dingy warehouses with dusty Lepin boxes, crates of unattached minifigure heads and more. As stated, the head of Lepin, known only by his surname Li, was arrested with three others.
With assistance from police departments in Shantou and Shenzhen, Shanghai law enforcement uncovered 10 Lepin production lines, 90 brick molds, 630,000 finished Lepin sets, and 200,000 instruction sheets. The local authorities calculate the boxed Lepin sets to be worth 200 million Yuan/$30 million if they ever got successfully shipped out.
Lepin had not only been aping official LEGO sets these past years, they also are notorious for taking online-posted fan MOCs and turning them into their own “official” products. But with the Shanghai production raid, the nails are now getting hammered into Lepin’s figurative coffin. This great LEGO copycat could eventually become a sad memory.
As many of our past articles can attest, LEGO’s an old hand at designing toys and play experiences that are not only fun and educational, but also accessible. One of their current projects has been developing a product that can be used by visually impaired people. The results are inspiring.
LEGO released a press statement on Wednesday, April 24, where they announced LEGO Braille Bricks to the public. The first physical units of the new product was then unveiled in Paris at the Sustainable Brands Conference. Braille Bricks was a collaborative effort by The LEGO Group, LEGO Foundation and various associations for the blind worldwide.
As seen in the images LEGO shared, the Braille Bricks are LEGO bricks that have only a set number of pegs on top, arranged in the dot format of the braille alphabet for the blind. As braille letters and numerals occupy only two columns and three rows max, a regular 4×2 LEGO brick turned into a Braille Brick can have the braille symbol and the letter equivalent in one piece.
LEGO’s push for Braille Bricks is in response to the perceived increasing dependence of blind people and instructors on audio media. By injecting LEGO-style fun into the braille learning experience, visually impaired children and grown-ups can once again help popularize this long-running blind communication medium.
The LEGO Braille Bricks sets, comprising multicolored braille bricks and placemats, are currently being tested in several institutes for the blind in Europe. The actual production version of this product isn’t expected to hit theaters until 2020. Even then, only select blind educational institutions who partner with LEGO might get Braille Bricks for their students.
