America’s favorite toy, LEGO had a humble beginning. Lego which in Danish means “let’s play” was started by Ole Kirk Christiansen. He started off constructing houses and furniture for the people of Billund in Denmark. Later, in 1932 he started making toys. The name LEGO was coined in 1934. It is fabled that only later did the LEGO group find out, to their pleasant surprise that LEGO loosely meant “I assemble” in Latin. An Apt name for interlocking plastic bricks with countless combinations. It was introduced to North America in 1962. Today approximately nineteen billion LEGO elements are produced every year. That’s a whopping thirty six thousand every minute. LEGO is sold in over 130 countries.

Moving beyond simple bricks that can be locked together, LEGO has created several toy sets that range from all different periods of history and the future. Those that love medieval times can enjoy gigantic castle sets, while those who have a taste for the future can enjoy robot themed LEGOs. Fans of the American west can even enjoy wild west themed LEGOs. LEGO hasn’t limited itself to these basic themes either. They have also based many LEGO sets on movie franchises such as Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars.

Of course, one of the most popular LEGO themes to ever hit the market is Lego Star Wars. In 1999 Star Wars became the first intellectual property to be licensed in the history of the Lego group. Their first installment in this series was the Lego X-wing Star fighter–the famous star fighter that Luke Skywalker defeated the Death Star in. Soon afterwards, this was followed by several sets based on the original trilogy, and more recently based on the prequel trilogy. Lego also released an Ultimate Collector’s Series, which was released in a limited quantity and includes items from both the original and the prequel trilogy, from the Millennium Falcon to General Grievous. They have also produced three Lego Star Wars video games that incorporate the entire saga.

One of the most popular LEGO Star Wars toys released yet is the LEGO Star Wars Anakin’s Fighter (Set 7669), which comes from the new Clone Wars TV Series. This ship is a customized Jedi starfighter that has flick-firing missles, an ejection button for R2-D2, and retractable landing gear. And of course, it includes Anakin Skywalker and R2-D2 figurines. At only 153 pieces, it’s simple enough for kids around 8-10 years old, but it’s cool enjoy for a Star Wars Enthusiast of any age to enjoy. This ship can be the beginning of an entire collection of LEGO Star Wars Toys.

The Star Wars themed LEGO system will be around for many years to come and fans young and old will enjoy Star Wars LEGOs for a long time.

Petro enjoys collecting hard to find LEGOs Star Wars Figures and loves his LEGO Jango Fett mini figure.

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Filed under: Hobbies

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