Lego is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colourful 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 Mindstorms is a hardware software platform produced by Lego for the development of programmable robots based on Lego building blocks. Each version of the system includes an intelligent brick computer that controls the system, a set of modular sensors and motors, and Lego parts from the Technic line to create the mechanical systems.
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.
Legoland Windsor Resort, also known as Legoland Windsor, is a child-oriented theme park and resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 17 March 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park site as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. In common with the other Legolands across the world, the park's attractions consist of a mixture of Lego-themed rides, models, and building workshops. The park was acquired by Merlin Entertainments in 2005, which now operates the park, with the Lego Group retaining part ownership (30%). The facilities are mainly targeted at children between three and twelve.
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 become hugely successful, with over 3.7 billion produced world wide Minifigures are usually found within Lego sets, although they are also sold separately 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 a large number of 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. 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 fans, in reference to traditional model railway scales. Lego trains use a nominal gauge of 37.5mm, 5.5mm wider than O gauge, derived from a centreline gauge of 40mm.
Lego pneumatics is a variety of Lego bricks which use air pressure and specialised components to perform various actions using the principles of pneumatics.
Lego City is a theme under which Lego building sets are released. As the name suggests, Lego City sets are based on city life, with the models depicting city and emergency services, airport, train, construction, and civilian services.
LEGO Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robotics kit released by Lego in late July 2006.
It replaced the first-generation Lego Mindstorms kit, which was called the Robotics Invention System. The base kit ships in two versions: the Retail Version and the Education Base Set. It comes with the NXT-G programming software, or optionally LabVIEW for Lego Mindstorms. A variety of unofficial languages exist, such as NXC, NBC, leJOS NXJ, and RobotC. The second generation of the set, the Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, was released on August 1, 2009, featuring a color sensor and other upgraded capabilities. The third generation, the EV3, was released in September 2013.
Znap is a Lego theme that was produced from 1998-1999. It is similar to K'nex and can also be used to build objects in a frame-like way. The plastic it is made of is slightly flexible yet strong. The back page of some instructions feature a small boy sitting inside a large Formula One racing car made from Znap.
Lego Creator: Knights' Kingdom is a construction simulation video game for Microsoft Windows. It allows players to use virtual Lego pieces, first to build a medieval kingdom, and then to use the kingdom in a battle against the character Cedric the Bull. It is a stand-alone sequel to the 1998 game Lego Creator, and is based on the first incarnation of Lego's Knights' Kingdom theme.
Lego Design byME was a service connected with the construction toy Lego. Using this service, people could design their own Lego models using a computer program, then upload them to the Lego website, design their own box design, and order them for actual delivery. The brand also covers a small selection of products that have been designed by Lego fans, and which were available to purchase as a set.
LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) is a freeware computer program produced by the Lego Group as a part of LEGO Design byME. It is available for macOS and Windows. The program allows users to build models using virtual Lego bricks, in a computer-aided design like manner. Until January 16, 2012, these could be uploaded, along with instructions and a box design, to the Lego Design byME website, from where the models could be ordered for delivery as a real, packaged set. Users can also take screenshots of their models and store the models on their computer in an .LXF file.
FIRST LEGO League Jr. is a non-competitive robotics program designed for children ages six to ten. It is one of the programs established by FIRST.
The Millennium Falcon is a fictional starship in the Star Wars franchise. The modified YT-1300 Corellian light freighter is primarily commanded by Corellian smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca. Designed by the Corellian Engineering Corporation (CEC), the highly modified YT-1300 is durable and modular, and is stated as being the second-fastest vessel in the Star Wars canon.
Lego Architecture is a sub-brand and product range of the Lego construction toy, which aims to “celebrate the past, present and future of architecture through the Lego Brick”. The brand includes a series of Lego sets designed by ‘Architectural Artist’ Adam Reed Tucker, and each contain the pieces and instructions to build a model of a famous architectural building in micro-scale.
Lego Racers was a product line of the construction toy Lego. The range was first introduced in 1975 with a Formula 1 car model. However, the brand only really started to become a core theme in 2001, with the release of a series of mini racecars. Made from only a small number of large bricks, these toys were designed more as racing car toys than a construction toy, and included a launcher element that could be used to propel the vehicles.
BrickFair is a Lego convention and exhibition held annually in the Eastern United States. It was first held in 2008 at Tysons Corner, Virginia by Todd Webb, and in subsequent years, the Virginia convention has been held in Chantilly, typically during the first weekend of August. BrickFair is a four-day event, operating generally Thursday through Sunday. The convention displays Lego models, displays and trains, most often covering more than 100,000 square feet of convention space. BrickFair conventions are also held in New England and the Southeastern United States, with the advent of BrickFair Alabama in 2012 and BrickFair New England in 2013. BrickFair operates in every season and in four East Coast states. BrickFair is believed to be the largest Lego convention in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The Virginia convention has had up to 22,500 attendees in its public hours.
