Happy 50th Birthday, LEGO!

Apparently, today at 1:58 PM (er 32 minutes ago), LEGO turned fifty! I'm not sure how they pegged an exact time on the creation on arguably the most successful toy in history, but someone did. Check out this article on gizmodo.com about the last fifty years of LEGO. Click the timeline above for a bigger (more readable) version.
It's funny, we get lots of people who come in and ask what happened to the big bulk boxes (or tubs) of LEGO that didn't make just one model. LEGO still makes 'em, but only a couple. 99% of their sets go to make a specific model nowadays.
As many people who come in looking for the old fashioned bulk sets, we get at least twice as many looking for specific sets - usually Star Wars. Since Star Wars I, LEGO jumped into the licensed toy arena. As mentioned on this blog, you can now get Indiana Jones LEGO as well as Batman, Spongebob Squarepants and of course Star Wars LEGO.
Regardless of whether LEGO is in the form of a set that makes a specific toy or a bulk box, the beauty of LEGO (and all construction toys, really) is that the kids can tear it apart and make whatever comes to mind. Keep that in mind if you buy a kit to make one model, challenge your child to take that model apart and make something entirely different. It's one way to help them learn creative thinking.

Indy, Anyone?

So, back when Star Wars Episode I came out, Lego jumped into the licensed toy market by making a bunch of Lego Star Wars sets. We jumped on em and had tons in stock. Guess what? They didn't sell so well. They weren't as bad as lots of the other Star Wars toys that came out, but sales for them weren't so great. Lego whittled down the collection and moved on.

End of story, right?

Guess again. For the past several years, demand for the Lego Star Wars toys has increased dramatically. Each year, we've been sold out of stuff early into the Holiday season and have not had an ability to reorder due to overwhelming demand. Why? My guess is the interest was driven by the hugely successful Lego Star Wars video games that emerged the last couple of years. The games let kids play using the Lego sets and in the form of the Lego Star Wars characters.

So, now Lego has just released sets to accompany this year's release of the latest Indiana Jones movie. The movie is set to come out on May 22nd. Those LucasArts folks aren't dummies - there's a video game set to come out as well with Lego Indy Jones (video game trailer below). We're stocking the Indy Lego stuff (it has yet to arrive), so we'll see if the demand for Indy Lego matches that for Star Wars Lego.