The amazing world of LEGO has been around for decades, giving children all over the world the ability to use their imaginations to create anything. LEGO allows kids to put sets together resembling occupations or characters from their favorite movie. They also allow kids to stretch their imaginations and create a vast world of their own characters, houses, etc. The possibilities are endless! Each LEGO set comes with directions on how to put the playset together with step-by-step instructions. Kids easily follow the directions to put these sets together. However, in more recent years, LEGO began targeting adults. Throughout this blog, we will mention the recent LEGO inflation as well as why LEGO now targets adults.
The Incredible world of LEGO increases every day. With 7 or 8 LEGO sets sold every second, and 30 every second leading up to Christmas, this company’s popularity is seen all over the world. More than 220 million LEGO sets sell around the world each year. Because the company produces many pieces, sets, and collectibles, inflation is seen and questions arise. Do kids still play with LEGOs? Why are LEGOs so expensive? Follow along with us in our blog to find out!
Join Us to See Why LEGO Now Targets Adults
Follow along in our blog with us to see why LEGO now targets adults and the LEGO inflation. Along with these, we will also dive into the origin of LEGO and the prices of LEGO sets through the decades.
Origin of LEGO
Before we dive into why LEGO now targets adults and the LEGO inflation, we will begin with the origin of the brand. In 1932, a Danish carpenter, Ole Kirk Christiansen began making toys in Billund, Denmark. He began with toys created out of wood, including yoyos and pull toys. Then, in 1934 the company took the name LEGO, based on the Danish contraction “leg godt” meaning “play well”. Christiansen created the first LEGO brick in 1936 and began making the toys out of plastic in 1947. In 1961, these imaginative, ingenuity bricks reached the United States market. Just ten years later, by 1971, LEGOs were the most popular, loved, and best-selling toys among children in the US. Still owned by the Kirk Kristiansen family today, the LEGO company remains one of the world’s largest toy manufacturers.
The company’s Danish motto, “det bedste er ikke for godt”, means “only the best is good enough” in English. The LEGO company lives up to this motto with the invention of the stud and tube principle. This principle features the studs on top of the brick and tubes on the bottom to ensure stability and endless possible combinations. With just six 2×4 LEGO bricks, a total of 915,103,765 combinations are possible. LEGO also released their Duplo bricks which featured the same loved plastic bricks on a larger scale. These geared towards younger, preschool age children with the blocks based off of things these kids see in their everyday life that are immediately recognizable to them. These beginnings for the LEGO company sparked and grew the brand’s popularity with limitless play options for decades and even more to come.
LEGO Pricing
Next up, to find out why LEGO now targets adults and the LEGO inflation, we will mention the difference in pricing. LEGO sets price anywhere from as low as $5 USD to hundreds and even thousands of dollars. In fact, the most expensive LEGO product in 2024, the San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Spider-Man, is worth up to $17,300. Only 350 of these released that year, making this LEGO collectible extremely rare and valuable. Other LEGO collectibles and sets release throughout stores all around the world. Some of these in store sets price at just a few dollars, while others reach into the hundreds.
The number of pieces also impacts the amount that the toy, collectible or set sells for. A smaller set might only cost a few dollars if it doesn’t include many pieces. Moreover, a bigger set might cost more if it includes many pieces and if the set shows a lot of detail. These LEGO sets also release at different prices due to the year of their release. Inflation causes prices to increase over the years. This may make it seem like some sets’ pricing sky rockets when it actually aligns with the inflation happening. However, this is not always the case and we will dive more into this topic in the next section.
LEGO Inflation
Now, we will dive into the LEGO inflation. In June of 2022, LEGO announced the rising of prices for their sets. Some expected the increase up to 25%, however, the average of the top sets only increased by 4.7% from late 2021 to late 2022. This widespread increase of pricing for LEGO toys and sets leaves a lot of customers feeling priced out and wondering why these sets are so expensive. The company faces rising costs of numerous things including the plastic in the bricks and shipping containers to get them to store shelves. Since the company needs to remain profitability, they pass some of this cost onto the customers which makes the pricing of their items increase. Also since the signs of bankruptcy in 2003, when the company was over $800 million in debt, the company today stands as the most profitable toy company worldwide.
Although the inflation seems like a lot to some, LEGO’s revenue increased by 13% to $4.6 billion in early 2024. LEGO sales also increased by 4% in 2023, proving the success and popularity of these toys. LEGO’s expansion in sets and age prove to be incredibly profitable to the company as a whole. With the incredible detail added into newer sets, these also increase in price with production costs. Although many sets have increased in price and continue to grow more expensive, LEGO also continues to release toys, collectibles, and sets that aren’t worth quite as much. LEGO releases a wide variety of products, with a wide variety of pricing, gearing towards a wide range of ages. This makes it easy to find a LEGO product perfect for anyone.
Why LEGO Now Targets Adults
We will now talk about why LEGO now targets adults. When these toys first released, LEGO’s main purpose were toys for kids. Now, although LEGO still releases many toys for preschoolers, younger children, and older children, they also release many products specifically for adults. LEGO products appeal to many adults due to the nostalgic factor, a relaxing activity, and diverse interests. LEGO releases many sets with a ride variety of interests, so anyone can find a set perfect for them. Adults remember playing with LEGOs as kids, thus the nostalgic factor makes these toys very popular in all different age groups. In fact, people between ages 18 and 24 make up 25% of LEGO players today. Along with this, around 11% of players belong to the 45-55 year-old age group and around 6% belong to the 55-65 year old age group.
With these stats making up almost half of total LEGO players, the clever expansion explains why LEGO now targets adults. The age requirement appears on each LEGO set, showing the age range the company recommends to each product based on it’s appropriateness. Although, these sets may say ages 9+, 18+, etc., this does not indicate the set’s difficulty. The indication of ages just lets buyers know who the products target for. LEGO’s expansion into targeting to adults increased their popularity, sales, profit, and ultimately the future for LEGO. As the company continues to create more sets for different age groups, sales will most likely continue to sky rocket. Fans all around the world will continue to put together these incredible self-building sets.
Final Thoughts
The vast world of LEGO opens us up to endless building possibilities, even from the comfort of our own homes. The increase of price depends on the specific set and partially explains why LEGO now targets adults. The more pieces included in a set, typically means the set costs more due to the details and production costs. Inflation is real in these toys but knowing the reasoning behind it and to what degree the toy costs rise may help customers in different areas. Also knowing the background behind why LEGO now targets adults, including the age suggestions and nostalgic factor can help realize the extent to how much the company profits from this. Along with this, it also explains why almost half of LEGO sales go towards adults who enjoy this creative self- building toy company.
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Made in Collaboration with:
Chris Ingledue
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Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab Pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!