Tag Archives: The LEGO Group

The LEGO Group unveils host of new products at LEGO CON

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The LEGO Group has launched its 90th anniversary summer celebrations with the virtual and free to attend LEGO CON. Designed specifically for brick-loving families, the two-hour live show, hosted by Vick Hope, Joel McHale and Melvin Odoom, gave LEGO fans a sneak peak into a new range of exciting products, including a host of sets celebrating the world’s biggest movie, sport and gaming franchises.

Among the new products revealed, fans were treated to an exclusive look at the brand-new LEGO Avatar product range celebrating the overall franchise to-date in advance of Avatar: The Way of Water premiering this December. The newly revealed set features the LEGO Avatar Toruk Makto & Tree of Souls that lets fans recreate the moment from the first film when Jake, as Toruk Makto, rallies the Omatikaya Clan to defend not only one of their most sacred sites, the Tree of Souls, but all of Pandora.

Another big reveal saw viewers given an exclusive first look at new LEGO Star Wars sets. LEGO Star Wars The Justifier and LEGO Star Wars AT-TE Walker will offer fans the chance to recreate the epic Star Wars: The Bad Batch stories with the incredible model of bounty hunter Cad Bane’s starship, The Justifier, or power into battle against the Separatist Droid Army with the AT-TE.

Fans of LEGO Marvel, meanwhile, were treated to a first look at a new Doctor Strange set showcasing the Sanctum Sanctorum as featured in a number of films, giving them a chance to open up their very own multiverses. LEGO Minecraft builders were spoilt with two brand new sets to add to their collection: LEGO Minecraft The Abandoned Village and LEGO Minecraft The Skeleton Dungeon.

Lovers of LEGO Super Mario were given a glimpse at the brand-new Character Packs that will be introduced to the LEGO Super Mario universe, with fun characters including Nabbit, a Purple Toad, Hammer Bro, Waddlewing, Toady, Baby Yoshi, Red Yoshi and Blue Shy Guy joining the fun. They were also shown how new and existing characters alike can interact with the LEGO Mario, LEGO Luigi and LEGO Peach Starter Courses.

There was also a preview of a new sporty range of LEGO Brickheadz, allowing fans to become a FC Barcelona player in LEGO BrickHeadz form. Viewers were the first to be shown the very latest LEGO Minifigures collection that will be joining the LEGO range later this year.

To top the many product reveals and sessions, the jam-packed show was also full of opportunities for fans to immerse themselves in live building activities and conversations with experts from around the globe.

Event highlights included a creative masterclass from inside Pixar Animation Studios, given by the director of Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear, Angus MacLane. LEGO Harry Potter fans, meanwhile, were given the chance to see how movie sets are turned into LEGO sets through a magical building tour of the Warner Bros. Studios London – The making of Harry Potter, with Harry Potter film actress Evanna Lynch and LEGO designer Marcos Bessa giving audiences tips and magic tricks for building their very own creations along the way.

LEGO CON 2022 is now available to stream for free in full at www.LEGO.com/LEGOCON or on the LEGO YouTube channel  http://youtube.com/LEGO.

 

 

LEGO and Hasbro unite for first time for Transformers collab

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The LEGO Group and Hasbro have united for the first time to bring the iconic Transformers Autobot, Optimus Prime, to life in LEGO form – complete with alt mode.

The new LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime set is a tribute to the heroic Autobot leader with over 1,500 detailed LEGO pieces. Once assembled, the figure features 19 points of articulation that allow fans to convert from robot to truck alt mode and back again. This is one of the first times a LEGO set has been able to convert between two models, without the need to rebuild.

The new LEGO set will transport fans back to 1984 to when Transformers first exploded into popular culture with the original toy line and animated TV series. Modeled after the G1 Optimus Prime character, the new LEGO set includes remarkable attention to detail and features such as the ion blaster, Energon axe, an Energon Cube and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership which can be stored in the chest chamber.

“It has been an honour and a joy to work together with Hasbro to develop a LEGO version of Optimus Prime,” says Senior Designer at the LEGO Group, Joseph Patrick Kyde. “I am excited to see these two toy companies come together for the first time to celebrate the leader of the Autobots. Optimus Prime has become a pop culture symbol of courage, selflessness, and great leadership as well as an awesome toy that embodies the problem-solving and creativity skills that both companies value so much. It’s been a wonderful and challenging task to bring him to life using LEGO bricks, especially making sure that he can shift modes without disassembly and stay true to his signature look and style.”

Casey Collins, Head of Licensed Consumer Products and Business Development at Hasbro, adds: “We’re excited to bring two of the world’s greatest play and entertainment companies together to celebrate this larger-than-life, iconic character – Optimus Prime. We know fans everywhere will be thrilled by this collaboration as it enables fans and families of all ages to create memories as they work together to build the LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime.”

Once complete building this 1,508-piece model, fans can admire their build with pride by adding the display plaque to pay tribute to the iconic Transformers character.

The LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime set will be available globally from LEGO.com/optimus and in LEGO stores from June 1 priced at £149.99 / 169,99 USD/EUR.

LEGO Group debuts Star Wars Luke Skywalker Landspeeder set

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The LEGO Group has announced the new LEGO Star Wars Luke Skywalker Landspeeder set – the latest in the LEGO Ultimate Collector Series (UCS). A faithful recreation of Luke’s battered vehicle, the new 1,890-piece model is designed to appeal to Star Wars and LEGO fans alike.

In the Star Wars universe, X-34 Landspeeders are typical civilian transports, designed to withstand the roughest terrains. The Landspeeder was first seen in Star Wars: A New Hope, where Luke used the vehicle extensively as part of his farm work, travelling across Tatooine’s harsh deserts. Accompanied by C-3PO, Luke used the Landspeeder to locate R2-D2, when he was discovered by Obi-Wan Kenobi.  It was also the vehicle they were travelling in when Obi-Wan used a Jedi mind trick to get past stormtroopers guarding entry into Mos Eisley. Eventually Luke sold the Landspeeder to pay for his transport to the planet Alderaan.

The LEGO Star Wars Luke Skywalker Landspeeder building set is 49cm long when complete and features the two-seater cockpit, the turbine engine without a cover, the iconic curved cockpit windscreen and an exclusive C-3PO minifigure (with 2K moulded legs and a side print) and Luke minifigure – complete with lightsaber.

The new set forms part of the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series sets, which also include the Millennium Falcon, the A-Wing, the Republic Gunship, and the recently released AT-AT.

The Landspeeder building set has been created by LEGO set designer César Carvalhosa Soares, who says: “It’s been an amazing adventure creating Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder in LEGO brick form. It is such an iconic vehicle in the Star Wars saga. We’ve ensured no detail has been forgotten and have even included some of the scratches.  The finished product makes an incredible display and is the perfect addition to the UCS collection.”

The LEGO Star Wars Landspeeder set is available for LEGO VIPs (LEGO.com/VIP) from 1 May 2022 and everyone from 4 May 2022 from LEGO Stores and at LEGO.com/star-wars, at the recommended retail price of $199.99 / £174.99 / € 199.99.

BLE EXCLUSIVE: Sine Klitgaard Møller on the LEGO Group’s sustainability initiatives

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The LEGO Group is participating in the BLE Sustainability Activation in partnership with Products of Change at Brand Licensing Europe 2021. The event runs in person from 17-19 November with follow-up online content launching 22 November and online networking taking place 30 November – 1 December. Registration is free at www.brandlicensing.eu

Ahead of the event, Sine Klitgaard Møller, Director Licensing & Extended Line Sustainability Transformation, the LEGO Group, outlines the measures the company has implemented to reduce its environmental impact.

The LEGO Group is being praised for pushing the sustainability agenda in the toy sector. Tell us what you’ve done and still plan to do.

At the LEGO Group, we want to play our part in building a sustainable future and creating a brighter world for children to inherit. We are guided by our Planet Promise, an approach built on the idea of leaving a positive impact.

When it comes to the environment, the LEGO Group is working to minimise the environmental impact of our operations and to make our products and packaging from more sustainable materials. In 2018, we launched our first bio-based elements made from sustainably sourced sugar cane. In 2020, we revealed and started piloting our new paper bags that will hold LEGO bricks in product sets. And earlier this year, we unveiled a LEGO prototype brick made from recycled plastic.

Within our licensing function, we’re working closely with the licensing partners on sustainability initiatives. Our big focus right now is to make our packaging more sustainable and to remove all single-use plastic. One example is the development of packaging guides for our partners, which include material guidelines, inspiration and ideas on how to remove plastic from designs.

We started looking at our licensing portfolio in 2019. We spent a lot of time educating ourselves and hiring experts. Understanding what our environmental impacts were and their magnitude was the first step we took. We then had to prioritise our efforts, as the list of potential projects kept growing, and ultimately, we built a strategy.

Today, we’re at a point where our understanding is deep, and we have created a systematic approach to sustainabiltiy in our licensing portfolio. And we are bringing our partners along on the journey with us. For example, we’re asking them to report through CDP as part of the LEGO Group’s supplier Engage-to-Reduce programme. We are also looking to create more playbooks to help guide our partners on, for example, their product materials challenges.

Do you have key performance indicators that you can share with us?

The targets that are most relevant to my work are firstly, our ambition to remove single-use plastic and transition to more sustainable packaging by end 2025, and secondly, our science-based CO2 target to reduce emissions by 37% by 2032, compared with 2019, which not only covers our own operations but also the supply chain – and includes all of our licensing partners.

What can other brands, manufacturers and retailers learn from LEGO Group’s experience when it comes to sustainability?

I think we can all learn from each other, as it is such a complex agenda to grasp. One thing is for sure, no one can ignore the climate crisis and carry on with business as usual. We must each be open to learning new ways and challenge ourselves to find solutions to the changes we must implement.

My biggest learnings personally came through educating myself on climate change and circular economy principles and understanding the need to partner with environmental experts on my projects. I’m also lucky to work for a creative brand where creative thinking is baked into the way we work.

What will visitors to Brand Licensing Europe see from the LEGO Group in the Sustainability Activation? 

We are excited to share the first brown reduced-print ADIDAS x LEGO shoebox, LEGO CITY bedding with no single-use plastic and a reduced-print packaging card, made by Character World for JYSK, and a LEGO Brick Backpack made from recycled PET plastic bottles, by Carry Gear Solution.

What’s the one message you’d like the licensing industry to take away from visiting you at BLE? 

We want to inspire others to get started on their sustainability journey if they have not already done so. We also want to encourage our peers to join forces and work together, so that we can all learn from one another. Sustainability will be the licence to operate and a requirement of how we do business in the future, which is why it’s so important for us to act now.

What’s the one message you’re sharing with kids – big and small – about sustainability through the LEGO Group? 

The LEGO Group have a responsibility to take urgent action and protect the world that children will inherit. And we’re working hard to play our part in building a sustainable future.

We also believe that children’s voices on sustainability need to be heard, and we want to help give children a greater platform. For example, at COP26, the LEGO Group shared Building Instructions for a Better World with decision makers, informing leaders what young people believe need to happen if we’re to tackle the climate crisis and create a more sustainable future.

 

The LEGO Group announces UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 partnership

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Today the LEGO Group announces a new partnership as National sponsor of the UEFA Women’s EURO England 2022. The partnership will see the LEGO Group sponsor the tournament hosted in England next summer and forms part of the company’s ‘Ready for Girls’ campaign that celebrates girls who are rebuilding the world through creative problem solving and challenging outdated gender stereotypes.

As a National sponsor of the tournament, the LEGO Group is planning a series of initiatives in the run-up to the tournament that will provide fun, interactive ways for fans to get involved. More details will be revealed in early 2022.

The tournament is due to be the biggest women’s European sport event in history and takes place from 6 July – 31 July 2022 in 10 stadiums, across nine cities in England. There will be over 700,000 tickets available, with extensive coverage of every game of the tournament on free-to-air television, radio and online. As part of its legacy, the tournament aims to inspire long-term, sustainable positive change in women’s and girls’ football.

A recent study from the LEGO Group and Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that girls feel less restrained by typical gender biases than boys when it comes to creative play (74% of boys vs. 62% of girls believe that some activities are just meant for girls, while others are meant for boys), and they are more open towards different types of creative play compared to what their parents and society typically encourage. For example, 82% of girls believe it’s OK for girls to play football and boys to practice ballet, compared to only 71% of boys. However, despite the progress made in girls brushing off prejudice at an early age, general attitudes surrounding play and creative careers remain unequal and restrictive, according to the research.

Parents from this study are almost five times as likely to encourage girls over boys to engage in dance (81% vs. 19%) and dress-up (83% vs. 17%) activities.  Adversely, they are almost four times as likely to encourage boys over girls to engage in program games (80% vs. 20%) and sports (76% vs. 24%) and over twice as likely to do the same when it comes to coding toys (71% vs. 29%).

Speaking ahead of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Finals draw, Isabel Graham, Head of Marketing, the LEGO Group UK and Ireland says: “We know that different types of play are still heavily judged as being gender specific which is why we are committed to championing inclusive play and ensuring that children’s creative ambitions – both now in the future – are not limited by gender stereotypes. It’s fantastic to see the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 tournament getting more and more prominence and we’re proud to help support this by being a National sponsor for 2022.”

“We are delighted to have the LEGO Group join us as one of the first national partners of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022,” says Guy-Laurent Epstein, Director of Marketing at UEFA. “The addition of this major brand is further proof of the scale of this event and our ambition to make it the biggest women’s European sport event ever. It is important for us to have partners on board who share the same values, working together collectively to deliver what is set to be a record breaking tournament that further grows the women’s game.”

The Final Draw Show for UEFA Women’s EURO England 2022 takes place this Thursday, 28 October Live on BBC One from 16.30 when the groups and resulting fixtures will be drawn.

 

 

LEGO launches its first experiential pop-up retail and activity tour of the UK

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The LEGO Group is hitting the road with the launch of its first experiential pop-up tour of the UK this summer, hitting major cities including Southampton, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Bristol.

Called the LEGO Pop & Play Tour, the out of store experiential activation with set up ‘shop’ within major shopping centres around the UK, each hosted by LEGO Retail stores and their store associates. The free family event will encourage kids and families to unleash their creativity through a range of play experiences.

Visitors will be able to take part in a number of activity stations, including cupcake decoration with LEGO DOTS, vehicle building with LEGO City, embarking on a scavenger hunt to spot balloons and horses with LEGO Friends, and creating their own beat with the LEGO VIDIYO studio.

After completing each station, families will receive a rosette and by simply collecting two, can head to a local LEGO store in the area to collect a free gift.

Alison Wood, retail director of UK LEGO Stores, said: “We’re looking forward to taking our first ever LEGO Pop & Play Tour around the UK. Summer 2020 was disappointing for many families, so we hope this free, family event helps make up for it and gives them the chance to unleash their creativity.

“With LEGO City, Friends, DOTS and VIDIYO, we’ve ensured there’s something for all interests, whether that be arts and crafts, vehicles or music. With a free gift up for grabs for every family, taking part is a no-brainer.”

The LEGO Pop & Play Tour includes the following locations and tickets are available at here:

Southampton 7th & 8th August, Bargate

Liverpool 14th & 15th August, Liverpool Onn

Edinburgh 28th & 29th August, St James Quarter

Birmingham 4th & 5th September, Bullring

Bristol 11th & 12th September, Cabot Circus

LEGO and Volkswagen launch latest version of the LEGO VW T2 Camper Van

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The LEGO Group has struck up a partnership with the German car manufacturer Volkswagen to launch the latest version of the ubiquitous LEGO Volkswagen T2 Camper Van, expanding upon its portfolio of cult vehicle LEGO builds.

The new LEGO Volkswagen T2 Camper Van is based on its namesake of the late 1960s and ’70s and succeeds the previous LEGO Creator Expert Volkswagen T1 Camper Van, adding a whole host of new features, including a scaled up build and a new paint colour, sliding doors, as well as the trademark T2 wraparound baywindow front windscreen.

Under the hood, the set also features working steering. The LEGO Volkswagen T2 Camper Van’s detailed camping interior is also fully equipped for the open road, with opening cabinets, fridge, sink and a gas stove with a teapot. The set even comes with a set of folding chairs and a surfboard.

Volkswagen Campers are of course synonymous with customisation, and the LEGO Volkswagen T2 Camper Van set is fully prepared for personalisation, with a sticker set including retro decals and a choice of German or US number plates.

LEGO Designer Sven Franic, said: “The Volkswagen Camper is a rare breed of vehicle that commands affection like few others, and we know the LEGO version will bring a lot of fun to people who’ve been lucky enough to have or go camping in one, or always wanted one.

“Though the Volkswagen Camper is no stranger to our LEGO cars collection, this latest iteration brings even more delights for LEGO builders. The meticulously kitted out interior is sure to charm seasoned campers and adventurers alike, while the eye-catching exterior with pop-up roof is a feat of engineering just like the original.”

The LEGO Volkswagen T2 Camper Van goes on sale on August 1st 2021 from LEGO stores and on LEGO.com at RRP 159.99 EUR / 179.99 USD / 149.99 GBP.

LEGO has revamped its ‘retail entertainment’ with New York City flagship LEGO Store

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The LEGO Group has opened the doors of an immersive new LEGO Store in New York City, setting up shop in a two-storey location on Fifth Avenue as the first flagship store to feature new retail formats.

Elements of the innovative new store will be introduced to more than 100 stores worldwide in the coming year, the toy maker has stated, as it highlights a new format designed to ‘create an immersive world of LEGO bricks’ by blending digital and physical experiences.

The New York City flagship has been developed as part of the company’s strategy to innovate its stores in line with consumer demands for more personalised and interactive retail offerings, as well as recognition of the role that brick and mortar stores play in strengthening connections with the brand, despite the surge in online shopping.

Colette Burke, chief commercial officer at The LEGO Group, said: “For a number of years we’ve seen the trend towards people visiting stores for high-quality, entertaining brand experiences. Over the past year our fans have missed personal and tactile interactions with the brand and we can’t wait to welcome them back.”

The LEGO Group spent two years developing the new retail concept and researching what shoppers and children want from a LEGO store visit. They found that people were keen for more opportunities to play with bricks, participate in brick-inspired activities, personalise their experience and have fun.

As a result, LEGO has unveiled a suite of impactful features in the New York City Store, including an experience that immerses people and their LEGO builds in a virtual world. Called Brick Lab, the in-store technology brings walls, floors, and ceiling to life with light, sound, and music for an interactive build and play experience.

Meanwhile, an interactive Tree of Discovery is made from 880,000 LEGO elements and acts as the store’s centrepiece. It stands as ‘an expression of the LEGO Group’s commitment to being inclusive and having a positive impact on society and the planet.’

An interactive Storytelling Table has been designed with adult fans of LEGO in mind, enabling them to bring the stories behind sets available in store to life. It shows early product designs and prototypes, lifts the lid on the development process and allow fans to virtually ‘meet’ the LEGO designers.

The store’s Personalisation Studio invites visitors to make a memento of their visit. In it, they can reimagine themselves in LEGO form, either as a portrait from the Mosaic Maker or a Minifigure from the LEGO Minifigure Factory.

Elsewhere, with LEGO Expression, visitors can have fun with LEGO Minifigures who mimic their facial expressions, while the new Fifth Avenue store will also include larger than life builds of icons of the city, such as a taxicab to sit in, an Empire State Buyilding and One World Trade skyscraper, the lights and billboards of Broadway and Time Square, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Thor, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and Captain America, and the Ghostbusters Firehouse and crew.

The new store format has been designed to be flexible so that it can work in LEGO stores of all sizes, as well as in third-party retail partners’ stores. It will be introduced to over 100 LEGO stores around the world during the coming year, as well as select global partner retailers.

The LEGO Group currently has around 731  branded stores in 50 countries around the world and plans to open 120 new stores during 2021. In addition to investing in brick and mortar, the LEGO Group will continue to invest in building its e-commerce capabilities.

In 2020, the number of visitors to its LEGO.com online store doubled to a quarter of a billion and this growth has continued in 2021.

Colette said: “We’re seeing significant growth across e-commerce channels, but we also understand the distinct and important role that each of our retail channels plays in building the brand. We will continue to invest in innovating across all our channels to create compelling experiences online, in-store and with our retail partners.”

Check it out

The Brick Lab

Designed exclusively for LEGO flagship stores, the 20-minute themed experience uses innovative technology to bring walls, floors, and ceilings to life with interactive animated content, lighting, sound, and music to invite kids (and grown-ups) to play in a virtual world that plays right along with them.

Each visitor will have the opportunity to meet the characters on screen and let their imaginations run wild as they build their own creation, scan their build and then watch it become a living part of the Brick Lab in seconds so they can play both physically and virtually.

The Tree of Discovery

The tree, which took 1,900 hours to construct and is made of over 880,000 LEGO bricks, symbolises the LEGO Group’s commitment to having a positive impact on society and the planet.

A key feature is its bright rainbow trunk which houses a whole host of wonderful hidden details and secrets for shoppers to discover such as mini-scenes, kaleidoscopes and picture viewers from DUPLO, Technic and the LEGO System in Play bricks.

The Mosaic Maker

Which captures your image and creates your own personalized LEGO mosaic portrait in just a few minutes.

The LEGO Minifigure Factory

Allows you to design and create a unique LEGO Minifigure (complete with a brick with your name and a special box) – the perfect souvenir for your visit or gift for someone else.

LEGO Expressions

Ever wanted a LEGO Minifigure to copy your every move?  Well now you can with the magical LEGO Expressions.  Simply stand in front of the screen and Lady Liberty and her NYC pals will copy every facial expression you make.

Exclusive NYC inspired LEGO models

Highlights include a talking Statue of Liberty Minifigure, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes such as Thor, Spiderman, Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America who’s standing on top of an iconic yellow NYC taxi cab, a New York cityscape, a wall featuring LEGO recreations of famous Broadway show and Movie LEGO posters, the Ghostbusters Firehouse featuring the full Ghostbusters crew, Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man and Slimer.

 

LEGO unveils prototype brick made from recycled plastic in ‘first step on long journey’

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A prototype LEGO brick made from recycled plastic has become the latest advance made by the Danish toy maker in its ongoing journey towards better sustainability and its ‘ambitious goal’ of becoming 100 per cent sustainable by 2030.

It’s taken a team of more than 150 engineers three years to work on sustainable solutions for LEGO products and test 250 variations of PET materials and hundreds of other plastic formulations. The result is a new prototype, which uses PET plastic from discarded bottles, and the first solution to meet the firm’s strict quality and safety requirements.

Materials testing spanned a spectrum of prototypes, from bricks that didn’t clutch sufficiently, to some that wouldn’t separate throughout what The LEGO Group’s vice president of environmental responsibility, Tim Brooks, has billed ‘as the biggest challenge in the company’s sustainability journey.’

“We are super excited about this breakthrough,” said Brooks in a press release. “The biggest challenge on our sustainability journey is rethinking and innovating new materials that are as durable, strong, and high quality as our existing bricks – and fit with LEGO elements made over the past 60 years.

“With this prototype, we are able to showcase the progress we’re making.”

It will however, be some time before bricks made from a recycled material appear in LEGO products on shelf and in-store, LEGO has admitted. A further testing and development of the PET formulation phase is expected to take at least another year, before the company can assess whether to move to pilot production.

“Experimentation and failing is an important part of learning and innovation. Just as kids build, unbuild and rebuild with LEGO bricks at home, we’re doing the same in our lab,” said Brooks.

At a LEGO Fan Media roundtable interview this week, Brooks revealed that despite the unveiling of the first recycled LEGO brick, Brooks acknowledged the ‘big, big challenges’ still faced by the company in reaching its ‘ambitious target’ of achieving 100 per cent sustainability by 2030.

Speaking to Brick Fanatics, he said: “For the safety, the quality, the colur, the durability, the shininess – and it’s the same we see on the packaging as well, getting paper bags to perform in a strong way and not be punctured and all the rest of it. They’re all big, big challenges.

“I can’t say whether we’ll make it or not. I can definitely say it’s our aim to make it, and we’re putting as much effort as we can behind it. We’ve put significant resources behind it, both financially and people.”

Efforts and resources include a $400 million investment over three years into finding new, sustainable materials to replace traditional ABS. The announcement this week of the first prototype LEGO brick made from recycled plastic bottles is the first step on that journey.

The prototype is made from recycled PET sourced from suppliers in the United States that use US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved processes to ensure quality. On average, a one-litre plastic PET bottle provides enough raw material for ten 2 x 4 LEGO bricks.

In 2018, LEGO began producing elements from bio-polyethylene (bio-PE), made from sustainably sourced sugarcane. Many LEGO sets contain elements made from bio-PE, ideal for making smaller, softer pieces such as trees, branches, leaves and accessories for minifigures.

Bio-PE is not currently suitable for making harder, stronger elements such as LEGO bricks.

“We’re committed to playing our part in building a sustainable future for generations of children,” continued Brooks. “We want our products to have a positive impact on the planet, not just with the play they inspire, but also with the materials we use. We still have a long way to go on our journey but are pleased with the progress we’re making.”

LEGO launches first Adidas Originals Superstar buildable trainer in latest brand extension

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The LEGO Group has launched its first buildable sneaker, a LEGO brick building set based on the popular Adidas sneaker model, the Superstar. The move, a first in both the toy and streetwear space, is the latest development in the ongoing partnership between the Danish toy maker and Adidas Originals.

The set launches in celebration of an extended collaboration between the two global brands that also witnesses the launch of a new series of Adidas Originals LEGO Superstar sneakers that melds the archival aesthetics of the Adidas Originals Superstar with LEGO’s recognisable styling.

Playfully reimagining the iconic silhouette, the LEGO Superstar sneaker in adult sizing features a classic white and black leather construction that is elevated with custom three stripes, shelltoe, and heel tab, which have been crafted to emulate the LEGO brick pattern. 

The adult version of the shoe is complimented in kids sizing, this time bringing a colourful and playful LEGO take on the Superstar and rounding out options for the whole family.

Meanwhile, the never-before-seen LEGO sneaker offering will allow fans to recreate the iconic Adidas sneaker from LEGO elements to build their own collectable display piece.

The LEGO version of the sneaker includes the Adidas Originals Superstar graphics, shell toe shape, trefoil logo and serrated three stripes mark. This set includes 17 extra LEGO elements, allowing fans to build either the right-foot or left-foot sneaker. For extra realism, it even has shoelaces and comes in an authentic shoe box.

The model measures over 12 cm high, 27cm long and 9cm wide and with a display stand and plaque.

 To celebrate the creativity and spirit of reinvention that’s inherent to the LEGO adidas Originals Superstar model, the LEGO Group asked six inspiring and diverse creatives to customize their own version of the brick-built sneaker, and now invites all fans to do the same, uploading their personal expressions on social media using the hashtag #builtbyoriginals.

“As a kid of the ’80s and growing up in the ’90s, the Superstar sneaker with its rich street art culture was such an iconic item, and that’s also when I got my first pair,” said Florian Müller, senior designer, LEGO Group.

“So when the collaboration with Adidas started I was super excited to work on this model. As shoes represent very organic objects, made from flexible material that also look different on every person, it was a fun challenge to translate this into the LEGO System in Play, which by nature is square and blocky.

“Thanks to the Superstar team at adidas Originals it’s been a super collaborative process with valuable insights shared about the art of shoe making, and now we just look forward to seeing how fans will take to the model, customizing it in their own unique and wonderful ways.”

 The Adidas Originals and the LEGO Group collaborative Superstar LEGO sneaker arrives on July 1st and is available in adult and junior sizing through adidas.com/LEGO, and select retailers. 

 The LEGO® adidas Originals Superstar 10282 model also launches on July 1st and will be exclusively available at www.lego.com/adidas-superstar, LEGO stores, adidas.com and Adidas stores globally. The recommend retail price is £79.99.