Why Lego won

The competition looked identical. So how did Lego pull it off?

More info and sources at bottom.

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He mentions that the replica isn't exact — that's why I shied away from really strong specific claims on my model's performance vs. LEGO. But I think you can totally see the difference and get a feel for Kiddicraft bricks.

My favorite book by Sarah Herman. It gets into a bunch of modern LEGO stuff I didn't read, but the early chronology was helpful. (affiliate link)

Overview of LEGO patent scandals and stuff like that. I didn't get into the Kiddicraft lawsuit — seemed like a bit of a nothingburger to me, based on the size of the reward. But I'm not a lawyer, so read up for yourself if you disagree.

Brick by Brick - book covers the same ground, gets into business-book-land, but sometimes that's fine.

There are obviously millions of LEGO websites filled with arcana, but this one on LEGO evolution was great:

[MisterBrickalew]

The fact my Lego, from when I was a kid, still fit and work with my kids new Lego sets, is a testament to the engineering.

[BBROPHOTO]

Their consistent manufacturing tolerances over decades is what sets LEGO apart from basically everyone. You can use bricks from the 80s that still click in place with bricks from 2023. It's insane. Their moulding process and moulds are some of their highest guarded secrets for that reason. Not just that, but their customer service is NEXT LEVEL. If you ever have a missing piece in your set (which is also incredibly unlikely) they will ship a new piece out to you for free straight away.

[dejanzie]

If you want an example of timelessness of Lego sets... We just got our old 12V train set working again, the 1979 train now runs from a 1990s Lego train station to the 2017 Lego Frozen castle, passing by the 2020 Lego Friends waterslide park. Not going to lie, I was emotional when it all clicked together (sorry).

[pootisbirb]

As a kid stepping on Legos was a pain like no other. Now that I'm an adult taking care of my niece and nephews, stepping on legos got more painful when stepped on. Idk how but they improved the pain. I didn't know you CAN improve pain.

[ej]

It's the tubes, definitely the tubes.

I occasionally used cheap, tube free bricks when I was a kid and they sucked.

Also, I'm not an adult Lego lover but my daughter is not making it easy for me to avoid becoming one. As a kid I was really into Legos and did a lot of world building. They were so dear to me that when my siblings were mad at me instead of punching me, they destroyed my builds. Truly evil stuff.

[chaoslord]

The thing about LEGO that really impresses me is how a lot of seemingly unrelated parts and connections fit together perfectly. Like how the flat pieces (plates) fit vertically between the pegs, and how the wheel axle stud pieces fit inside those tubes. A lot of little details are made to be the same size by design, and they all manage to work together.

[EcoAcid]

LEGO and 'affordable' can't go together outside of the sentence: "LEGO is absolutely, without a doubt, NOT affordable"

[froklsnt]

The importance of Lego's engineering quality is absolutely critical. Not just the tubes in the middle, but just how tight their manufacturing tolerances were and are. They are some of the best plastic manufacturing engineers in the world.

[paleoph]

There's this short animated film by Lego called "The Lego Story" that tells the story of the company and the brick. It's really good, I highly recommend those who haven't seen it to watch it, even you Phil. :D

[EliotHochberg]

All I can say is that as a kid, I remember liking Legos for both what they said you could do, and what I knew you could do. So even if I didn’t end up liking the toy I made on the box, the more pieces I had, the more things I could make with them. So every box was a win no matter what was inside. I always wanted a box of Legos along with everything else I might get, because I could always use more.

[simonfrost]

Love the Mad Men vibe. Also, I see that Lego quickly gave up on 'rule' no. 2: Affordability. At least in the UK, Lego has always been a premium, expensive product, from my childhood to now.

[akrecu]

I can't stress enough how Lego influenced my creativity, adaptability and the understanding that even the smallest of parts can play a big role in your creation.

[devoarco]

I think an other important thing was the introduction of the minifigure. It's iconic, good looking and today the main thing that separates them from other brick manufacturers.

[Hylanos]

A couple months ago, LEGO did a promotion at LEGO stores where you could build a celebratory red LEGO brick for their 90th anniversary. The only thing was, it had that slot in the side. When I asked why, none of the employees knew, so I had to go home and research.

[wendyheatherwood]

Something to add, Hilary Page, the founder and chief designer at Kiddicraft died in 1957, before a lot of the technical improvements in plastic production Lego have benefitted from, and Lego kept clear of countries where Kiddicraft did business until after his death. According to his widow he never found out that Lego had copied his work and it seems his successor at the company had no interest in developing or protecting the rights to the design. The original Kiddicraft brick line died with its creator.

[maquez]

I have a degree in precision machining. In my first year, we where tasked to find lego bricks at home (the standard 2x8), preferably as old as possible. We then did tests on connection strength and dimensional accuracy on bricks from the 70's up to today, and they are so, so insanely consistent that it's almost scary. Injection molding is hard to get precise, and Lego has absolutely mastered the art of making precise and consistent bricks, and that's what makes Lego so good.

[jmd]

The engineering is important because we now have lego bricks from a few generations being handed down to the next generation, if the original design was stuck with then the individual pieces would be worn out & not passed down.

[bluebellflamesx]

Pulled out the duplo at my parents' house and spent hours playing with my 3 year old niece. The plastic hadn't degraded. Easy to wash. We need more mats :)

[GraeHall]

I love the fact that when your son is old enough to understand he'll see this video and be thrilled that his dad made it because of him

[Mackinstyle]

My son got a lot of Lego for Christmas, including a Chinese knock-off "Minecraft" Lego. I helped him build them all. Wow was that experience educational. The physical quality is day and night. How many times have you seen Lego pieces get that white "stretch mark" just by interlocking two normal bricks? And the instructions... wow. Lego puts so much effort into instructions that people don't really notice. And I built some of my kits from 30 years ago too, and the instructions were still good, but they've gotten amazing since then. Lego is one of those toys where you're paying extra for incredible quality in lots of "hidden" places.