LEGO® Background
Facts About LEGO
by Mark Hughes
The
Name
LEGO means to play well. It comes from the combination and
abbreviation of two words in Danish "leg godt". LEGO should always be written in capital letters. LEGO should
never appear by itself, but should be paired with a noun: LEGO piece, LEGO
set, LEGO universe.
Toy of the Century
The LEGO brick was
named "Toy of the Century" by Fortune magazine and the British
Association of Toy Retailers.
How Many Different Types of LEGO
Elements Exist?
2,200 different elements—or types of
pieces
How Many LEGO Elements Are Manufactured?
Approximately
19 billion each year
or, 2 million per hour
or, 36,000 per
minute
LEGO Elements Come in How Many Colors?
55
Where
Are LEGO Bricks Made?
Billund, Denmark
How Are LEGO Bricks
Made?
- Plastic is heated to 232˚C until it becomes like dough.
- The plastic is then injected into molds at a pressure of
25–150 tons, depending on what type of element is being
created.
- Seven seconds in the mold is as long as it takes for the plastic to
cool.
- Voilà, the cooled brick is finished and removed from the
mould.
Are Any Bricks Ever Rejected?
A LEGO element is rejected
if is does not meet the company's standards. LEGO estimates that out of
every one million elements that are produced, only 18 end up being
rejected.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
