Licensed from | The Lego Group |
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Availability | 1971–1982 |
Total sets | 32 |
Lego Homemaker was a product range of the LEGO construction toy designed to appeal primarily to girls. Introduced in 1971, the theme centered on domestic and suburban life-based settings.
Sets marketed under this theme were released until 1982. During the lifetime of the theme, 32 sets were issued for sale.
The larger sets could be assembled to build complete room settings of a house, including a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedrooms (for both adults and children). Smaller "impulse" sets could build models of other household fixtures, such as tables and chairs, a television, an armoire, a grandfather clock and a fireplace.
Suburban-themed sets included models of a school classroom, a beauty salon, a secretary's desk and a doctor's office.
Unlike later female-oriented themes, the Homemaker sets included just the colors in LEGO's then-standard color palette, including black, blue, red, white and yellow.
The sets are known for using "Homemaker" figures to represent the people in the set. Introduced in 1974, the figures were built using standard LEGO bricks, with a headpiece that could be inserted into a special 2x2 brick. The arm pieces, which attached to the same special brick, could be made of one or two lengths to represent either children or adults. Hair and other attachments were also provided to complete the figure. Starting in 1979 and continuing until the end of the series, several Homemaker sets included minifigures to represent toddlers and infants.
The "Homemaker" figures would be included in the Universal Building Set line (a range of sets that focused on building and creativity) issued in 1977.
Other product ranges that have been targeted to females have included Paradisa (1991-1997), Scala (1997–2001), Belville (1994-2009) and Friends (2012–present).
Lego is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. As of 2021, Lego was the largest toy company in the world. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears, figurines called minifigures, and various other parts. Lego pieces can be assembled and connected in many ways to construct objects, including vehicles, buildings, and working robots. Anything constructed can be taken apart again, and the pieces reused to make new things.
Lego Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex technical functions, compared to the simpler brick-building properties of normal Lego.
Lego Duplo is a core product range of the construction toy Lego by The LEGO Group, designed for children from 1+1⁄2 to 5 years old. Duplo bricks are twice the size of traditional Lego bricks, making them easier to handle and less likely to be swallowed by younger children. Despite their size, they are still compatible with traditional Lego bricks.
The history of Lego began in 1932, when Ole Kirk Christiansen founded the company in a Danish carpentry workshop, and continues into the 21st century as a popular and very profitable line of construction toys and related products and services, with a significant impact on various areas of popular culture. Despite its expansion, the company remains privately held.
A Lego minifigure, commonly referred to as a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by Danish toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide as of 2020. Minifigures are usually found within Lego sets, although they are also sold separately as collectables in blind bags, or custom-built in Lego stores. While some are named as specific characters, either licensed from film, television, and game franchises, or of Lego's own creation, many are unnamed and are designed simply to fit within a certain theme. Minifigures are collected by both children and adults. They are highly customizable, and parts from different figures can be mixed and matched, resulting in many combinations.
Lego Trains is a product range and theme of the construction toy Lego, which incorporates buildable train sets. The Lego Trains theme became a sub-theme of Lego City in 2006. Products in the range have included locomotives, tracks, rolling stock, stations, signal boxes, and other track-side buildings and accessories. The theme is popular among adult fans, as well as children, and has spawned international associations and conventions. The train system is sometimes referred to as 'L-gauge' among Lego fans, in reference to traditional model railway scales. Lego trains use a nominal gauge of 37.5 mm, based on 5-stud track centerlines gauge, corresponding with a circa 1:38 scale.
Lego Fabuland is a defunct theme and product range of the Lego construction toy, aimed at young children. Introduced in 1979, the range aimed to fill the gap between Duplo and the standard Lego product ranges. Aimed at both boys and girls, the range encouraged storytelling, and was the first theme to be extended into books, clothing, and a claymation children's television show, Edward and Friends, that aired in the UK and Canada during the 1980s. Each episode was five minutes in length.
Lego Creator is a sandbox game for Microsoft Windows, which involves building with virtual Lego elements. The game has no missions, objectives, challenges, or money constraints. The game was released on 11 November 1998.
Lego Sports was a Lego theme that was launched in 2000 and discontinued in 2007. The theme focused on a variety of sports-themed toy sets, including football, basketball and hockey.
Lego Creator is a Lego theme for generic models. Creator sets have few specialized bricks to create buildings, creatures, vehicles, and robots. Some sets featured instructions for three different possible builds from the bricks included and most sets in recent years have used the 3-in-1 label. Creator is also a parent theme to Lego Icons, a Lego subtheme for adolescents and adults featuring advanced building techniques and large piece counts, mostly known for Modular Buildings and detailed vehicles. Creator also has had several other subthemes such as X-Pods and mosaics.
Educational toys are objects of play, generally designed for children, which are expected to stimulate learning. They are often intended to meet an educational purpose such as helping a child develop a particular skill or teaching a child about a particular subject. They often simplify, miniaturize, or even model activities and objects used by adults.
Belville was a Lego theme designed to appeal primarily to girls. First introduced in 1994, the theme included multi-jointed doll-like characters that were larger in scale than the traditional Lego minifigure. The toy sets were produced from standard Lego bricks and larger pieces, often in a pink and purple colour scheme, and depicted scenes from fairy tales and fantasy as well as everyday life. The product line was discontinued in 2008. Belville's direct successor is Lego Friends, which was introduced in 2012. Other Lego product ranges that have been designed for girls include Homemaker (1971-1982), Paradisa (1991–1997) and Scala (1997–2001).
Modular Buildings is a series of Lego building toy sets introduced in 2007, with new sets usually being released annually. Created in response to feedback and suggestions from the Adult Fans of Lego bricks (AFOL) and Teen Fans of Lego (TFOL) communities, the sets in this series are generally intended for more advanced builders. Most sets contain more than 2,000 total pieces and make use of unorthodox building techniques not usually used in previous official Lego sets. In contrast to most Lego sets aimed at children and adolescents, the suggested age of most sets in the Modular Buildings series is 16 years or older. The Modular Buildings sets have been received with positive reviews and are considered by Lego designers and fans as "toys for adults".
Lego Atlantis was a product range of the construction toy Lego, themed around the underwater world of Atlantis. The range was launched in early 2010 and discontinued by the end of 2011. The toy sets included models of buildable underwater vehicles, as well as "heroic diver" and "shark warrior" minifigures. A ride based on the range was operated at Legoland Windsor Resort.
Lego Ninjago is a Lego theme that was created in 2011 and a flagship brand of The Lego Group. It is the first theme to be based on ninja since the discontinuation of the Lego Ninja theme in 2000. Whilst it retains some elements of the previous theme, it is based on a more detailed storyline set within a fantasy world, primarily underpinned by the computer-animated television series Ninjago.
Lego Friends is a product range of Lego construction toys designed primarily for girls. Launched in 2012, the theme introduced "mini-doll" figures, which are about the same size as traditional Lego minifigures but are more detailed and realistic. The five main characters of the theme are Andrea, Olivia, Stephanie, Mia and Emma. The Lego Friends sets depict scenes from suburban life set in the fictional town of Heartlake City and usually include one of the character's names in the titles. The sets are complemented by an animated series that premiered in 2012. The Friends product range replaced Lego's previous female-oriented theme Belville, which had been in production since 1994, and featured dolls that were much larger than both the mini-dolls and minifigures. The launch of Lego Friends in 2012 was one of Lego's biggest successes, as it not only doubled sales expectations, but also extensively widened Lego's customer base within the girls' sector. Despite receiving initial criticism relating to its representation of girls and their interests, the line has consistently performed well and has been regularly listed as one of The Lego Group's best selling themes.
Lego Legends of Chima was a Lego theme that was introduced in 2013 and discontinued in 2015. The product line was based on the storyline of Legends of Chima, a 3D animated television series, which was produced to coincide with the Lego theme. The storyline was set in the fictional realm of "Chima", a fantasy world inhabited by various warring tribes of anthropomorphic animals that battle to collect a substance called "Chi". Alongside the television series and several shorts based on Lego Legends of Chima. The theme also produced a range of associated media, including theme park attractions, video games, app and publications.
Lego Vidiyo was a Lego theme that allows children to create their own music videos and dance clips using a range of Lego toy sets and an associated app. It is licensed from Universal Music Group. The theme was first introduced in March 2021, before being discontinued by the end of January 2022 after being deemed a commercial disaster.
Lego Life of George was a Lego theme that for the first time, combined standard Lego bricks with a mobile app. The theme was first introduced in October 2011. It was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2013.
Lego FORMA was a first Lego theme released on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo but run by The Lego Group. The theme was inspired by fish. It was licensed from Indiegogo. The theme was first introduced on 1 January 2019. The theme was considered to be a development or upgrade from the 2011 Lego Muji theme. The product line was discontinued by the end of December 2019.