The building blocks of life are things which interlock and intermingle. And much like the building blocks of life, there are other building blocks in the world. Some are cement, some are solid stone, and some are plastic. Yes, the plastic building blocks do sound very interesting; those are what will be focused on in this paper. Lego blocks have been a part of children’s lives for a very long time, but very few know the real history behind it.

Lego bricks could be considered an integrated part of childhood, but they weren’t always like that. In 1932 a carpenter in Billund, Denmark, named Ole Kirk Christiansen began carving wooden toys. Two years later, in 1934, they began marketing the toys as Lego toys. Then, in the years 1947 and 1949, The Lego Company took a big leap and started creating plastic toys. Soon enough, the interlocking bricks that are loved by children everywhere came into existence. (Wikipedia)

Lego bricks have had their share of good experiences and bad ones. But no matter what, their playability and interesting functions is what makes them so loveable. Lego has had many very popular themes over the years. Two of the most popular themes, however, are Lego Star Wars and Bionicle. Both have a very interesting story to tell.

In 1997, The Lego Company was having a very difficult time. They couldn’t find very interesting sets to sell and they were losing their grip on the attention of young children. Kids were begging for interesting things that they could put together and build as part of an ellaborate storyline and still make their own universe out of it. And so, the birth of Lego Star Wars came out strong. In 1999 these sets alone nearly took the company out of the red zone. However, since the Star Wars theme was owned by a company called Lucasfilm, many royalties had to be paid to this company. (BZPOWER)

Around the same time, the Lego toyline called Throwbots made a surprise hit and was fairly popular amoung children. These sets were semi-focused on six main elements (fire, ice, air, water, earth, and stone) which were later incorporated into the Bionicle toys. They also featured many of the same pieces which are still current in the Bionicle toy line. These pieces include the following: axles, joints, small swords, and disks. After this, Lego RoboRaiders were introduced. These sets were much like the Throwbots, but were a failure in most ways. It was a step toward Bionicle, however, as they limited the number of main sets from twelve to six and incorporated some things into the world of the internet. (BZPOWER)

Then, in 1999, The Lego Company got an idea. What if they could create a toy line that they made on their own; without any help from an outside company such as Lucasfilm. And so, Bionicle was created. It was a first for the company, seeing as that they had never really made a full-on story all on their own for their sets. They did surprisingly well, however, and Bionicle was a success. In it were six heroes fighting for control of an island from an evil force. Adventure, fighting, magical masks, and mystery: everything a boy could hope for. The toys were first released in Europe and were accepted with great enthusiasm. Six months later, Bionicle was introduced in the United States and became one of the major points for The Lego Company even today. (BZPOWER)

Bionicle has had a strong following for many years. Because of it, many children have formed online sites about it. One of the storyline planners and the book writer for the story is a member on two of the larger sites. One of these sites has gained over 34,000 members since they opened in 2001. Book author Greg Farshtey says that this is only a small fraction of the following that Bionicle has created. This shows how popular the toys are across the world. The storyline of Bionicle has been planned on through 2009. Whether it will continue past that point has not been revealed to the public yet.

In 2000, The Lego Company attempted their hand at an original story once again. They tried out using a theme called Knights’ Kingdom, featuring a castle set and some other smaller sets. Small minifigure knights and kings (along with a wizard, princess, and queen) were included in the sets. However, after 2000 the Knights’ Kingdom sets just weren’t that interesting to kids anymore. (WIKIPEDIA)

In 2004, Knights’ Kingdom II was created. Instead of using small minifigures as the main characters, however, they created giant action figure-sized sets. In the background, the settings and smaller conflicts in the story were turned into minifigure sets (which were not received as well as the larger sets). This story continued on through 2006 and was very popular among younger children. However, a new type of knight storyline was planned, and so they were discontinued at the end of 2006. (WIKIPEDIA)

In 2001 The Lego Company once again came up with their own storyline; this storyline was original and interesting. It included a secret organization called Alpha Team who fought against the main villian (Ogel) to save the world. The word Ogel is Lego spelled backwards. In a Lego Magazine, it was said that this was done intentionally because the villian Ogel stands for everything Lego doesn’t, and is thus the reverse of Lego. The story for Lego Alpha Team was highly anticipated from year to year. It was released in three different types of sets which are the following: the original Alpha Team (2001), Alpha Team Mission Deep Sea (2002), and Alpha Team Mission Deep Freeze (2004). After 2004 these sets were no longer produced and the story was left on a cliff hanger, leaving the possibility for a continuation of the line at one point. (WIKIPEDIA)

And so, now it is clearly visible the struggle and interesting things that The Lego Company has done to survive for nearly seven decades. And as the life and times of the world change, Lego toys will change too. But they will always be the loveable, addicting toys that so many people grew up with, and will continue to love always.