1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: I guess what, Mango? What's that? Will? So I know 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: you're always looking for a different get rich scheme. It 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:09,319 Speaker 1: feels like every week you've got a new one in 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: the work. I'm not sure the starting a trivia magazine 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: or getting into podcasting was the right thing. Well, I 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: have finally found this. This one is definitely going to work. 7 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: And the idea here is to invest in Lego sets. Yeah, 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 1: it's true. Actually I found this analysis from a couple 9 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: of years back, and it shows that over the previous 10 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: decade and a half, Lego sets that are still in 11 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: pristine condition, I've seen a twelve percent increase in value 12 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: each year over that time. Now that growth beats gold, 13 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: which I know you like to look into a good 14 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: bit as well, that's grown nine point six percent annually, 15 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: and then D S and P five hundred, which grew 16 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: by a little more than four percent each year over 17 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: that time. And actually, if you look on eBay, some 18 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: of the returns on this are even more extreme. There's 19 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: the old Cafe Corner set which was released in two 20 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 1: thousand seven. It's worth more than three thousand dollars on 21 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: some of these eBay bids. And then there's also that 22 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: crazy Ultimate Collectors Millennium Falcon seth from that same year. 23 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: It's not worth more than four thousand dollars. So think 24 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: about that, man, Think about how much money you could 25 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: be making from this. I know I really should have 26 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: been a hoarder in the early two thousand's, But is 27 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: this better than like holding onto baseball cards or like 28 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: beanie babies? Mago? This is not a fad. Lego is 29 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: a way of life, you know, I don't actually I 30 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: don't know why I just said that or what that 31 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: even means. But we should probably do a little bit 32 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 1: more research on this. But it is really interesting to see, 33 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: and you know, seeing those stats on Lego and the 34 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: fact that millions of Lego pieces are molded every single hour, 35 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 1: it made us wonder how Lego got to be the 36 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: massive brand that it is today. You know, what are 37 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: the most amazing things to be built from Lego bricks? 38 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: How have they been used to solve real world problems? 39 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: And of course, what is the science behind the excruciating 40 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: pain brought on by stepping on one of these things? 41 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: So let's dive in. Ya Hey there, podcast listeners, Welcome 42 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,959 Speaker 1: to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always, 43 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: I'm joined by my good friend Manues Ticket and on 44 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: the other side of the soundproof glass, with only a 45 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: couple of hundred or so pieces left on his Lego 46 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: Taj Mahal, that's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil now. 47 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: Building this thing has been no small feet for Tristan 48 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: because the Taj is actually one of the biggest lego 49 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,399 Speaker 1: sets ever produced. It's just shy of six thousand pieces. 50 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: So you know, while that finished model does look pretty stunning, 51 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,799 Speaker 1: he's definitely had his work cut out for him. Yeah, 52 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: I mean, he told me the bill takes about twenty 53 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: five hours total and he's pretty much spent all week 54 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: on it. The crazy thing, though, is that the taj 55 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: Mall isn't even the biggest lego set on the market. 56 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: There's a bigger one that just came out based on 57 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: the Hogwarts Castle from Harry Potter that only has about 58 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: forty more pieces. But then there's also this Millennium Falcon 59 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: one that came out last year and it's actually the 60 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: set with the highest piece count to date. It's got 61 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: a whopping seven thousand, five one pieces, and of course, 62 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 1: if Tristan wants to make that his next challenge, I'll 63 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: have to sholl out eight hundred dollars to make it happen. 64 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: Good grief. Wow, Well, I'm guessing that's a little out 65 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: of his Lego budget. I hope it's a little out 66 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: of his Lego budget. But you know, I know, Lego 67 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: mania can be a pretty powerful thing when it takes hold, 68 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: not to mention expensive. And you know, is it by 69 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: chance that Lego has held steady as the world's most 70 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: valuable toy brand for the past several years. Now, those 71 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: little plastic pieces, you know, they give these endless opportunities 72 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: for creative play, and that flexibility is definitely captured the 73 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: imaginations of kids and adults alike for you know, more 74 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: than half a century, that's right. In fact, this year 75 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: actually marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Lego brick as 76 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: we know it, as well as the fort anniversary of 77 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: the Lego Mini figures that populated our Lego towns and 78 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: pilot our Lego spaceships. So to kind of celebrate all 79 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: those milestones, I think now is the perfect time to 80 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 1: break down the little known history behind one of the 81 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: world's most popular playthings. Well, definitely, because for as long 82 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: lived as these two figures are the Lego Brick and 83 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,559 Speaker 1: the Mini figure, the company itself is actually a fair 84 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: bit older, so today we definitely want to dig into 85 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: those early origins as well as some of the different 86 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: ways the brand has managed to reinvent itself throughout the years, 87 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: and a little bit later we'll also check out a 88 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: few of the more creative ways that Lego fans have 89 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: found to put their favorite bricks to good use. But first, Lego, 90 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: I know you wanted to give a quick note on terminology, 91 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: right yeah, And I know it's a little weird to 92 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: be a stickler about terms when discussing a kids to it, 93 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: but one of our researchers was adamant about this. I'm 94 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: going to tell you, like how you said, one of 95 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: our researchers like, we don't know, it's gay. Of course, 96 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: you know, I want to avoid another lecture from him, 97 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: so but it is kind of interesting. So the first 98 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: thing to keep in mind is that the word Lego 99 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: is actually an adjective, not a noun. And this is 100 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: something that's even reflecting the name of the company, which 101 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: isn't simply Lego but the Lego Group. And if the 102 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: company had its way no one would ever refer to 103 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: one of their pieces as a Lego, but as a 104 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: Lego brick, And of course that doesn't always happen. Lots 105 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: of people just use the word on soone when talking 106 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: about the pieces, and that little slip up usually gets 107 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: a pass from the company and its fans, so long 108 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: as you don't compound the problem by adding an s 109 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: to the word to make it plural. And apparently that's 110 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: beyond the pale for most people, because the true plural 111 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: of Lego is just lego, never legos. All right, okay, well, 112 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: we will try our best, I think. I mean, there 113 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:40,840 Speaker 1: are times where I'm just thinking, you know what, I'm 114 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: just gonna say Legos, Lego, lego, like to see how 115 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: much we can drive them crazy. But I think we'll 116 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: try to stick to those ground rules. And now that 117 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: we've gotten the semantics out of the way, let's go 118 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: back to a time before the Lego brick, and actually 119 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: before the company itself, because the family business that would 120 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: eventually become the Lego Group was actually established under a 121 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: different name. Now this was back in August of nineteen 122 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: thirty two. It's located in a rural village in Denmark, 123 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: and the business was started by this master carpenter and 124 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: woodworker named Old Kirk Christiansen. Now, in those early years, 125 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: Old Kirk made a living selling things like step ladders 126 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,679 Speaker 1: and stools, even ironing boards, but the business was slow. 127 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 1: This was you know, think about the timing. This was 128 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:23,840 Speaker 1: during the Great Depression that had been brought on by 129 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: America's stock market crash just a few years earlier, and 130 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: so few people had the money to buy these expensive 131 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: or handmade furniture pieces, and so Old Kirk was struggling 132 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 1: to turn a profit with his woodwork. So I'm just 133 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: gonna guess here, that's when he came up with this 134 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: idea for wooden building blocks. I mean, this was nineteen 135 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: thirty two, so so the wooden building blocks had been 136 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,799 Speaker 1: around for for quite some time at least by that point. 137 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: But the depression did motivate Oldkirk to seek out new 138 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: product ideas, which is what ultimately led him into the 139 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: toy business. So he thought that, you know, despite the 140 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: financial strains of the era, people were willing to indulge 141 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: their children with the occasional gift, of course, provided the 142 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: price was low enough. But that spurtle Kirk to whip 143 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: up his own batch of brightly colored wooden cars and animals, 144 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: and this was really just using the wooden scraps from 145 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: his workshop. That's pretty awesome. I love that the Great 146 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: Depression basically turned him into this like real life Geppetto. Yeah, 147 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: I definitely did, and that move it seemed like a 148 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: safe bet to Old Kirk, But sales pretty much stayed 149 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: flat for the first year, and in fact, Old Kirk 150 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: even went bankrupt at one point and had to take 151 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: a bailout loan from his siblings, but they actually insisted 152 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: one of the conditions for the loan was that their 153 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: brother would give up on toys and go back to 154 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: making furniture. But Old Kirk was pretty stubborn and he refused, 155 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: but somehow managed to get them to loan the money anyway, 156 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: and he had become convinced that toys were the future 157 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: of his company. All he needed was just a catchier name. 158 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: And you can decide whether you think he needed to 159 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: catch your name. The name of his business was the 160 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: Bill and Machine Joinery and Carpentry Business. Wait, so that's 161 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: what the shop was called after they switched to toymaking. 162 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: It feels weird, like, like why would they think that 163 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: would work. I know, well, thankfully all Kirk came up 164 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: with something much more evocative later on by truncating the 165 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: Danish expression like god, which means play well, he landed 166 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: on the word lego. So I actually took Latin in school, 167 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: and I always heard that lego was the Latin phrase 168 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: for I put together. So here's the weird thing. You're 169 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: actually right about that that is the meaning in Latin. 170 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: But that was actually just a happy accident, because apparently 171 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: all Kirk found out about this years later that this 172 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: is what it meant in Latin. But no matter what 173 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 1: he thought, it meant. That renaming effort definitely paid off 174 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: for the company, and it quickly grew from what was 175 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: a six person operation in nineteen thirty four more than 176 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: forty employees by the early forties. Now, much of that 177 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: growth was due to the national popularity of Old Kirk's 178 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: adorable line of poll toys. You've definitely seen these kinds 179 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: of things before. You know, You've got the hand painted 180 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: wooden duck on wheels that it open and closed its 181 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: beak that you know as you pulled the string, and 182 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: pretty neat to see those things. But anyway, the Lego 183 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: ducks sold for barely more than a dollar at that point. 184 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: This was when they were released in nineteen thirty five, 185 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: but as one of those earliest and most recognizable Lego products. 186 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: If you got your hands on one of these things. 187 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: These days, a single duck can fetch more than two 188 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: thousand dollars at auction. It's so funny because like, these 189 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: are things that you see in like villages in India, 190 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: these pull toys. They don't feel that special. What made 191 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: them change from like wooden ducks to plastic bricks. It 192 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: definitely wasn't overnight. It was a pretty gradual change, and 193 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: much of it was brought on by necessity. So in 194 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: Denmark they've been under German occupation during the Second World War, 195 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: and by the time the war finally ended in nineteen 196 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: many of those materials that were traditionally used for consumer goods, 197 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: you think things like steel and wood, they were tough 198 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: to come by, and so that was a problem actually 199 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: all over the globe, not just there in Denmark. Now, 200 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,200 Speaker 1: the result of the shortages was that many manufacturers started 201 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: experimenting with a new development in plastics. This was called 202 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: plastic injected molding, and this is that process where melted 203 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: plastic is shot into a precise mold of whatever it 204 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: is that you're trying to make, and then once it 205 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: cools and solidifies, you simply pop them out and you've 206 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: got your finished item. And so it was a much 207 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: cheaper and faster way to make these plastic goods compared 208 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: to earlier ways of doing this, and so this breakthrough 209 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: is really what made plastics a viable alternative for the 210 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: manufacturers at that time. So all Kirk had felt the 211 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: pinch from the lack overaw materials, so he decided that 212 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: the Lego companies should take a chance on plastic toys. 213 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 1: So you fast forward a little bit to and he 214 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: placed in order with the UK company for what ended 215 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: up being one of the first plastic injection molding machines. 216 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: And the only problem was that the material shortage had 217 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 1: led the Danish government to ban the commercial use of 218 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 1: that machine until the following year. Fortunately they decided to 219 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,439 Speaker 1: spend their time wisely, so old Kirk and his son 220 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 1: Gottfried were we're still able to experiment with the machine 221 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 1: and kind of study the various sample products that have 222 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: been included with it, and we're really trying to see 223 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: what they could make from it. Well, one product that 224 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: they stumbled into was this set of self locking building 225 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: bricks and it was made by a British company called 226 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: Kitta Craft. So they had these colorful two by two 227 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: two by four bricks that had this special design features 228 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: that set them apart from the traditional cube shaped building 229 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: blocks of the past, because each one was hollow on 230 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: the bottom and had these four raised studs on the top. 231 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: This probably all sounds pretty familiar, and so the design 232 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: added stability to whatever structures the kids built because the 233 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: studs held each brick in place. So this is obviously 234 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: really interesting to me, but I'm not sure I like 235 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: where it's going. I feel like I'm a little worried 236 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: that you'rena telling me that Lego just didn't invent the 237 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: Lego brick, but they just kind of stole this idea, 238 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: and I'm not sure I can handle that sort of disappointment. 239 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: And I think the truth is probably somewhere in the 240 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: middle on this one, because once the Christiansen's were finally 241 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: allowed to put their machine to work, that's exactly what 242 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: they did. In fact, by nine, the Lego Company was 243 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: producing around two hundred different plastic and wooden toys, and 244 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: many of the plastic ones were simply new versions of 245 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: earlier designs, so things like the plastic planes or trains 246 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 1: or you know, different things like that. But among the 247 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: repeats was this new but somewhat familiar product called automatic 248 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: binding bricks. And as you feared, Mango, these were really 249 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: just a copy of these bricks made by Kittacraft with 250 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: a few small changes. But actually the lego version was 251 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: was honestly a bit inferior to the original the company. 252 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,440 Speaker 1: You know, they just weren't used to making such small 253 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: parts and the technology was still pretty new to them, 254 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: and so as a result of this, many of those 255 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: hollow Lego bricks were prone to cracking or shrinking, which 256 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: is weird to think about now because they just seemed 257 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: so indestructible in these days. But you know, actually sometimes 258 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: it was so bad that once the plastic had cooled, 259 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: the bricks didn't even fit together. I mean, I guess 260 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: they're always growing pains, but it does feel crazy that, like, 261 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: if you're gonna rip someone else's idea off, at least 262 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: do a good job of it, right. That's always been 263 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: my philosophy. When I try to rip people off but 264 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: you know, you put the shottiness aside. I do want 265 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: to say an old Kirk's defense that Kittacraft bricks weren't 266 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: protected by a patent in Denmark, and the company reportedly 267 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: said it was fine for them to use the design. 268 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: And one other thing. It is worth noting that the 269 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: Lego group did eventually buy the rights to the Kittacraft 270 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: bricks from the inventor's descendants, and this was sometime in 271 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 1: the early eighties. I think, oh, that's interesting, So maybe 272 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: there was like a little bit of guilty conscience in 273 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: there going on, but it's still nice to hear that 274 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: they made it right. And I am curious though, if 275 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: those automatic binding bricks were such poor quality, like what 276 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: made them such a big hit? Well, they definitely weren't 277 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: at first, and this was true the company's plastic toys 278 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: in general during the early nineteen fifties, and at that 279 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,079 Speaker 1: time roughly half of all Lego sales were still from 280 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: wooden toys, whereas you know, you look at the Lego 281 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 1: binding bricks at that time, they actually only accounted for 282 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: like five or six percent of their sales. And so 283 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: to help turn this around, the Christiansen has made a 284 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: few key changes. First, in nineteen fifty three, they ditched 285 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: that austere sounding name and actually started calling the product 286 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: Lego Merston or Lego Bricks. And so by this time 287 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: Godfried was starting to take on a much larger role 288 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: in the company. He became really interested in finding a 289 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: clear focus for the company rather than kind of spreading 290 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: those resources across so many different kinds of products. So 291 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: he eventually decided that the adaptability, that wide appeal, and 292 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: really the ease of production for something like Lego Bricks 293 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: made it the ideal choice. But still, even then, the 294 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: bricks weren't a hot seller yet, so there was obviously 295 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: room for improvement. So Godfried and his father started tinkering 296 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: with the bricks design, and in nineteen fifty seven they 297 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: really stumbled onto their winning idea. Now, this breakthrough was 298 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: to add tubes to the otherwise hollow interior of the bricks, 299 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: so that the studs had something to connect to. And 300 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: so these new studs and tubes that that kind of 301 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: allowed these bricks to snap together and hold tight and 302 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: and and of course still be able to pull apart 303 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: pretty easily when you try to pull them apart. And 304 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: so the company later called this clutch power. Sounds really strong, 305 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: doesn't it, But it's clutch power. But I mean, it 306 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: is pretty amazing how they were able to pull this off. 307 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: But sadly, old Kirk didn't get to see just how 308 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: much of a game changer this new design would be 309 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: because they actually passed away the very next year. This 310 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: was in ninety, which was also when Lego Bricks as 311 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: we know them today we're first released. So I know 312 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier that's the sixtieth anniversary for Lego Bricks, 313 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: but it is weird to think that it's the sixtieth 314 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: anniversary of the death of the company's founder as well. 315 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: I mean, that's kind of bitter sweet. Yeah, it was 316 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: definitely the end of an era for the company. And 317 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: actually just a couple of years after the US there 318 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: was a fire that broke out on the Lego warehouse 319 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: and the company lost pretty much all of their inventory 320 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: of wooden toys. So it really kind of rushed a 321 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: decision they probably would have come to anyway, and they 322 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: just decided to close the books on the wooden toys 323 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: and really place all their bets on the future of 324 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: these plastic toys. That's pretty well so I know, Godfrey 325 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: took over after old Kirk's passing, and he definitely took 326 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: care of his father's legacy, like he helped the company 327 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: find a core product with that new style of bricks, 328 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: and the design was such a sound one that it 329 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: stayed exactly the same for sixty years now. So you 330 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: can actually go out and buy a Lego set today 331 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: and the bricks would all interlock perfectly with the ones 332 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: released or any years since then. And this connected quote 333 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: system of play as they call it. You know, it 334 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: was really revolutionary and it's still the driving force behind, 335 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: you know, the appeal of Lego products, not to mention 336 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: the retail success, and it's hard to think of any 337 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: other company that had been creating products, you know, fifties 338 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: sixty years ago, oh that would still be usable in 339 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: any way with something that they're making now. So it's 340 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: pretty remarkable. But you know, apart from being in a 341 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: related there, there's another big appeal of Lego bricks, and 342 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,199 Speaker 1: that's their durability, because it turns out that a typical 343 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: two by four Lego brick can be put together and 344 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: taken apart more than thirty seven thousand times before they 345 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,600 Speaker 1: lose that clutch that we talked about before, But we 346 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: know this thanks to a software developer named Philippe Canton. 347 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: So a few years back, he built this stress test 348 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: machine that would continuously assemble and disassemble to Lego bricks, 349 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,160 Speaker 1: and this happened for ten days straight. Then finally, after 350 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: thirty seven thousand, one and twelve rounds of this, Canton 351 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: found that the bricks, studs, and tubes had become so 352 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: worn out that they no longer held together. So it 353 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: is possible to wear out your Lego bricks, but unless 354 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 1: you have a really bizarre sense of fun, I don't 355 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: think it's going to happen anytime soon. So I definitely 356 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: hadn't heard about that experiment before, but I did come 357 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: across this other stunt test where this group of engineer 358 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: is trying to figure out exactly how much weight a 359 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,679 Speaker 1: two by two Lego brick can endure before it finally breaks, 360 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: which obviously sounds like a very worthy endeavor for these engineers, 361 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: But they basically took this hydraulic ram and used it 362 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: to apply different levels of force to the brick, and 363 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: in the end, a single two by two Lego brick 364 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: was able to withstand a staggering four thousand, two hundred 365 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 1: forty Newton's of force, which is equal to about nine 366 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: hundred fifty pounds. It's not astounding, But the coolest part 367 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: is that once the team had that figured out, they 368 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: were able to work out the number of Lego bricks 369 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,879 Speaker 1: you could safely stack before they just collapse under their 370 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,639 Speaker 1: own weight. And when you do the math, it turns 371 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: out that a single Lego bricks should be able to 372 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: support a whopping three hundred seventy five thousand other bricks. 373 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,200 Speaker 1: And if you somehow managed to stack that many bricks 374 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: straight up, you'd wind up with a tower that's over 375 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: two miles tall. You know, look at Tristan's face right now. 376 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: It seemed like he'd been ignoring us this whole time, 377 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: working on his kaj mahal. But once he hears this, 378 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: I know this is going to be his next challenge. 379 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,680 Speaker 1: That is little miles you are. But you know, I 380 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: do think that now we've talked about just how much 381 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: abuse Lego bricks can handle, it, it feels only fair 382 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 1: to mention the kind of punishment they can dole out, 383 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,359 Speaker 1: especially when they're you know, strown across the floor of 384 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,159 Speaker 1: a darkened bedroom, as we both know this experience of 385 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: parents of of of younger children. Yeah, I mean, it 386 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 1: definitely sounds like you've got a story there, and I 387 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: want to hear it. But before we do that, let's 388 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 1: take a quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius 389 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: and we're talking about Lego now, Mango. If playing with 390 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,400 Speaker 1: Lego bricks is a rite of passage for kids, then 391 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: stepping on Lego bricks is probably the equivalent for parents, 392 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:53,360 Speaker 1: wouldn't you think, Yeah, definitely. I mean, forget first steps, 393 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: forget first words. I feel like the real parental milestone 394 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 1: is the first time you use the bathroom in the 395 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:00,440 Speaker 1: middle of the night and you wind up with little 396 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: plastic cube just lodged into your barefoot. Yeah, and then 397 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: your kids get to hear some of those first words 398 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 1: with your first steps on those Lego toys. I mean, 399 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: it's it's a special kind of pain. I feel like 400 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: it's just so much worse than these other minor injuries 401 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 1: like stubbing your toe or something like that. And actually, 402 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: it turns out there's actually a scientific explanation for why 403 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: stepping on Lego pieces tends to hurt so badly. Now, 404 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: part of it comes down to our own biology. I mean, 405 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: we have tons of nerve endings and the soles of 406 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: our feet to help keep us balanced, and this makes 407 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: the bottom of our feet so incredibly sensitive. But lego 408 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: pieces are especially aggravating for a couple of reasons. So 409 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: the first is, you know, they obviously have these sharp 410 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: corners and race studs, which are painful enough in themselves. 411 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 1: But the second one, and this goes back to what 412 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: we were talking about before about their strength and their 413 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 1: ability to withstand nine fifty pounds of pressure. So when 414 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: you step on one of these lego pieces, you simply 415 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: don't weigh enough to compress it, so it's out of 416 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 1: the force of your step being absorbed by the piece, 417 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: it actually transmits that force right back into the soles 418 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: of your feet, and all those delicate nerve endings that 419 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: are there really feel that pain intense. So I guess 420 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,680 Speaker 1: all that durability is kind of a double edged sword, right, Yeah, 421 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: And it's a pretty well known one at that because 422 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,159 Speaker 1: I had not known about this previously. But in two 423 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: thousand fifteen, the company even released their own branded slippers 424 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: with extra padding to help deal with the problem, which 425 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: seems a little bit absurved. I'm not sure why you 426 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: could just get some other slippers, and you know, only 427 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: about fifteen hundred pairs were produced. I guess we'll have 428 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:36,879 Speaker 1: to have to make our own. Yeah, But now that 429 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:38,880 Speaker 1: we've given the brickets, do I do want to shift 430 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: gears and talk about the other Lego milestone for this year, 431 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: which is the birth of the Lego Mini figure. And 432 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 1: we are so used to seeing these little yellow guys 433 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: at the company's marketing and in just about all the 434 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: sets they produced that it's tough to imagine the brand 435 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: without them. But in reality, the mini figures we know 436 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: didn't exist until so for twenty years, I mean, the 437 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,719 Speaker 1: company had been building these you know, houses and cars 438 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: and all of this stuff, but no characters to put 439 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: inside them. It feels like a pretty long running oversight, 440 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,920 Speaker 1: don't you think. Yeah. So, the company had tried making 441 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,679 Speaker 1: Lego people once before in the early seventies, and this 442 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: is when they rolled out a line of homemaker sets 443 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,760 Speaker 1: and it let the kids build rooms and furnishings for 444 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 1: their own Lego houses. But these proto mini figures, they 445 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 1: were designed to be built with existing Lego pieces, which 446 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: meant they lacked like proper arms, feet, and as a result, 447 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: they just looked like pretty abstract I guess, and they 448 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 1: certainly weren't that fun to play with. Okay, well that 449 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: makes sense, So so how did the change come about? 450 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: It was actually the idea of this designer who pretty 451 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: much took on the task singlehandedly. He went through more 452 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: than I think fifty different versions until he finally landed 453 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,200 Speaker 1: on what he considered to be the perfect blend of 454 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 1: blocky aesthetics and human like interactions. So, for example, his 455 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 1: figures had movable arms and legs, as well as the 456 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:58,920 Speaker 1: hands to grip these other lego accessories, but they also 457 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,120 Speaker 1: had holes in their eat so they could be attached 458 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: to a brick. And The first of these newly designed 459 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: mini figures to hit the market was a police Officer. 460 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: It was released in nineteen seventy eight. But this is 461 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:11,719 Speaker 1: the strange part. Despite the redesign and the fact that 462 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,400 Speaker 1: the figure came packaged with a buildable police car, there 463 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: was still no way to actually put the figure inside 464 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: the car. But thankfully, over the next few years the 465 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: company refined the concept. They eventually got the hang of 466 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: how to scale the figures and vehicles so that they 467 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: all worked together. It seems like a smart move. And 468 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 1: actually this is also kind of random, but I read 469 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,880 Speaker 1: that since nineteen seventy eight, more than four billion Lego 470 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,679 Speaker 1: Mini figures have been produced. That's pretty wild. So if 471 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: you if you wrangled all those many figures together, gave 472 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,360 Speaker 1: them their own nation, they would actually constitute the largest 473 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: population in the whole world Mango, I mean, if they 474 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: were humans. Let's let's not get hung up on technicalities. 475 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: It's a big number, but are you know the one 476 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: thing I always wondered about these Lego Mini figures is 477 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: why they're yellow? Mass has always been the rule, and 478 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,200 Speaker 1: is there a reason why they went with yellow in 479 00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,880 Speaker 1: the first place. Yellow is the default for Lego people 480 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: even before the mini figure design was finalized, and according 481 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: to the company, there's a good reason for that. So 482 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: the designers wanted the figures to appeal to as many 483 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: children as possible, and they didn't want the kid's imaginations 484 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: to be limited by perceptions of the figures race. So 485 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: early on, the team decided that yellow was the most 486 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: racially neutral color to use for a skin tone, and 487 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: that's what they had stuck with ever since, which is, 488 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: you know, until the companies started getting into the licensing game. 489 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: This was in the early two thousands, and once characters 490 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: from franchises like Star Wars or Harry Potter's started getting 491 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: the mini figure treatment, the company kind of relaxed their 492 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: stance and they started using the real world skin tones 493 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: to better match the source material. Yeah, and I feel 494 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,880 Speaker 1: like I remember this being somewhat controversial when they decided 495 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: to make this shift. But I mean, unless they're based 496 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: on real people, all the mini figures are still yellow, 497 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: So I'm not I'm not sure what the big deal is. Well, 498 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: I think a lot of the people just objected to 499 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 1: seeing Lego partnering with these outside brands, like they were purists. 500 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 1: They worried that the company was losing sight of what 501 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: made it so special in the first And if you 502 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,680 Speaker 1: think about it, like the company's specialty had always been 503 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,600 Speaker 1: these blank canvas products that kids could use to dream 504 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,239 Speaker 1: up whatever stories they wanted. But once these floodgates were 505 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: open to things like Star Wars or SpongeBob or Batman, like, 506 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: suddenly Lego sets came with these stories and characters that 507 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:20,640 Speaker 1: were already pre baked into the properties. Okay, well, so 508 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: it was kind of seen as a loss of innocence 509 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: type thing for the company, I guess. But now that's 510 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,679 Speaker 1: been a decade or so since that licensing began. What 511 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: would you say is the consensus now because the moves 512 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: still seen as the company selling its soul, or has 513 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: it turned out to be not that big of a 514 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: deal or what? Yeah, it depends on. On the one hand, 515 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: that kind of license sets that we've been talking about 516 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: have made Lego really successful. In two thousands seventeen, the 517 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 1: company report the highest earnings in its eighty six year history, 518 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: and it's currently valued at nearly eight billion dollars. But 519 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: then you've got other people who say that success is 520 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: kind of cost the company a lot of its credibility. 521 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 1: Lego products are often held up as these wonderful educational 522 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,160 Speaker 1: tools and and these great examples of stem or steam toys, 523 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,199 Speaker 1: and there's no doubt that they are in a lot 524 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,120 Speaker 1: of cases. But as licensed properties become more and more 525 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: of the company's output, you have to wonder how much 526 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: longer that public goodwill is going to last. Yeah, I mean, 527 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: it does seem like it's a pretty tricky balancing act 528 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: at this stage in the company's history, and it'll be 529 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: interesting to see how all of this evolves. But there 530 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: is no denying that over the years, Lego toys have 531 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,920 Speaker 1: proven a fantastic way for educators and their students to 532 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,879 Speaker 1: get involved in everything from math to engineering. And you know, 533 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 1: I know we were talking about this before the show here, 534 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,959 Speaker 1: but there's a specialty line called Lego mind Storms, and 535 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 1: it's basically a way to combine Lego bricks with sensors 536 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: and motors and micro processors and all sorts of cool 537 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,640 Speaker 1: stuff like that, so that you know, kids can build 538 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:46,359 Speaker 1: everything from like a simple conveyor bell to you know, 539 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: seeing photos of a walking robot, tricerah tops and they 540 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: can do this even if they don't know anything about 541 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: computer programming. Yeah, mind Storms are pretty awesome. It was 542 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: developed in partnership with m I T Media Lab. And 543 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,160 Speaker 1: this isn't the late eighties. It's really taken off since 544 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: launching in the early nineties. Like there's this whole online 545 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: community of makers now, and and schools even have these 546 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: tournaments where students compete to design and build and program 547 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,640 Speaker 1: their own Lego robots. And it really isn't niche either. 548 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: I I read this article in Smithsonian that said, uh, 549 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: half of all middle schools in America and about a 550 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: quarter of elementary schools and high schools have worked with 551 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: mind storms and kind of put them into the curriculum 552 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: in one way or another. And I feel like that's 553 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 1: a pretty amazing achievement for a toy line. Oh definitely. 554 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,399 Speaker 1: And those kinds of school programs are really just the 555 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact 556 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,199 Speaker 1: Lego products have had on the world of academics. And 557 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 1: you know, even see plenty of adults and steam fields 558 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 1: that have found some really interesting ways to use Lego bricks, 559 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,439 Speaker 1: and I want to make sure that we highlight at 560 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 1: least a few of those before we call it a day. 561 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: What do you say, Well, I'm definitely for that, But 562 00:27:47,880 --> 00:28:05,120 Speaker 1: let's take another break. First, welcome back to Part Time 563 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: Genius where we're talking Lego. So will I know you 564 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,439 Speaker 1: want to showcase some of the more inspired ways to 565 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: use Lego products, and I think I have the perfect example. So, 566 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: first of all, have you ever heard of the superhero 567 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: Cyborg camp? I have not, but it sounds pretty awesome 568 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: just with those words. Yeah. So it's this week long 569 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: design education event that's organized by San Francisco nonprofit called 570 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: kid Mob and they've been doing it every year since 571 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,720 Speaker 1: two thousand and twelve, so I guess now it's called 572 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: the Superhero Boost Body Mod Workshop. And anyway, it still 573 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 1: sounds awesome. But ideas for kids who are dealing with 574 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 1: different forms of upper limb loss to come to this 575 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: camp and learn a bunch of new design skills and 576 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: then they can put what they've learned to use and 577 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: actually design and build a new arm with its own 578 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 1: set of superpowers. Oh that does sound really cool. So 579 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: are you're about to tell me that someone actually built 580 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: a prosthetic arm out of Lego bricks? So not exactly, 581 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: but people have paired Lego X with these servo motors 582 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: to create press like arms as well as legs, and 583 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: it's super impressive to see them in action. But in 584 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: this case, this nine year old named Aiden Robinson made 585 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: a different kind of Lego hand. So while attending the 586 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: Superhero Camp in two thousand thirteen, Aiden used old toys 587 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: and spare parts from a hardware store to fashion a 588 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,880 Speaker 1: threaded metal rod into which you could attach different parts. So, 589 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: for example, one attachment had a we remote built into 590 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: it and another one had to built in fork. But 591 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: the coolest one by far was this life sized version 592 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: of the yellow claw like hands you could find on 593 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: a Lego mini figure. I don't know how practical that 594 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: is exactly, but it would definitely be a fun way 595 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: for holding burritos and corrects, I guess, just burritos. I mean, 596 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: I do like the idea of having all these different 597 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: attachments that you can swap around, including the a few 598 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: that would just be for fun, like that yellow claw hand, 599 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: but I mean, honestly, like, why not do that exactly? 600 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: And one of the best parts is that one of 601 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 1: the artists at the camp was so impressed with Aiden's 602 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: creation that he actually helped him refine the concept and 603 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: build a working version later that year. And not only that, 604 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: the two of them also brain storing these other specialty arms, 605 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: Like there was one with this bow attachment so Aiden 606 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: could actually play the violin in his school orchestra, and 607 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,800 Speaker 1: they built one with a super socer arm, which is 608 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: just so awesome. I mean, you really want me over 609 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: once you've said this about the super soaker, I could 610 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: have definitely used one of those this past summer. But 611 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: all right, Well, here's another example of how Lego pieces 612 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,520 Speaker 1: have been making people's lives easier. Back in two thousand fifteen, 613 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: the Natural History Museum in London took up a really 614 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: unique and honestly daunting challenge that over the course of 615 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: the next five years, they wanted to digitize their entire 616 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: collection of more than twenty million pins specimens. Now, to 617 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: do this, they would need to take pictures of every 618 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 1: kind of insect imaginable, and of course they wanted to 619 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: be able to capture the fine details of each of 620 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,120 Speaker 1: these things, like leg hairs and wing tips, and so 621 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: the photos would need to be taken from all different angles. 622 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: This is easier said than done because some of these 623 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: specimens are over three hundred years old and incredibly fragile. 624 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:09,680 Speaker 1: Anytime you're picking up one of these things, you're definitely 625 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: running the risk of breaking off an antenna or a 626 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: leg or some other truly fragile part of these So 627 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: I am curious how lego figures into this, because I mean, 628 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: it does seem like entomologists have been handling pinned insects 629 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: for centuries and photographing them, So don't they have their 630 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 1: own like specialty tools that exist already, Like why use legos? Well, 631 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: that's the thing I mean those kinds of devices do exist, 632 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: but most of them are pretty unwieldy and and actually 633 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: really expensive too, And that's why one of the museum's entomologists, 634 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: this Danish guy named Steen DuPont, he started looking for 635 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: an alternative solution. I was looking at this article in 636 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 1: The Atlantic about this, and as they described it, DuPont 637 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: wanted something quote cheap, portable, and customizable so that he 638 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: could observe the wings of his moths easier. And since 639 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: he'd been born and raised in Denmark, he naturally thought 640 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: that his favorite childhood toy might be the right tool 641 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: for the job, and he was right. So I used 642 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 1: a bunch of those black and gray building blocks and 643 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,280 Speaker 1: a handful of connector pieces, and in doing this he 644 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: was able to fashion, you know, several of these insect 645 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: manipulators that can easily position and even rotate these pen specimens. 646 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:21,040 Speaker 1: And so the devices range in size from like thirty pieces, 647 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,400 Speaker 1: some of them have more than a hundred and fifty pieces. 648 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 1: But even the biggest of these designs only takes about 649 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: ten minutes to build, and all of them cost less 650 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: than twenty bucks, which you know, is a lot less 651 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 1: expensive than most of the scientific equipment people would have 652 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 1: been using. But the best part is that Dupump put 653 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,920 Speaker 1: all the designs and building instructions up online for free, 654 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 1: so professional and amateur entomologists across the globe can now 655 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: piece together their very own insect manipulators. I mean, the 656 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: crazy thing is it's not even the first time I've 657 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: heard of museum workers using lego bricks to jerry rake 658 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 1: these solutions. Like, uh, there was this other museum in 659 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: England that had this three thousand year old sarcophagus. But 660 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: the as the air is so damp and chili there, 661 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,720 Speaker 1: the relics face and the chest eventually caved in on 662 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: itself and the museum just stuck the whole thing in 663 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: the basement for decades. So why couldn't they just repair 664 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 1: it them? Museums restore artifacts all the time, right, Yeah, 665 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 1: But because the sarcophagus was made from this paper mache 666 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,720 Speaker 1: like material, repairing it would involve wetting the case so 667 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 1: they could be reshaped. But there's a strong chance the 668 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 1: relic would have gotten even more damage in that process. 669 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: But thankfully this Cambridge grad the student named David Knowles, 670 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:32,040 Speaker 1: came up with this pretty clever workaround. He built these 671 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: six adjustable Lego platforms, or mummy jacks as he called them, 672 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,640 Speaker 1: and they basically propped up the collapsing parts of the 673 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: sarcophagus and this liminated that concern, you know, over these 674 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: further cave ins, and it allowed the team to get 675 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: in there. They moistened and reshaped the Mommy back into 676 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: this original shafe and it was really simple and low 677 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: tech and perfect for what was this really complex problem. 678 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like that kind of sums up 679 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 1: Lego toys pretty perfectly, don't you think. I mean, you've 680 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: got the toy that's deceptively simple on the surface, just 681 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 1: a bunch of plastic blocks that snapped together, and they're 682 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: not super detail. There's no elaborate backstory or eye catching 683 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:12,600 Speaker 1: gimmick to this, and it with just a handful of 684 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,479 Speaker 1: these bricks, you can create literally anything you can think of. Yeah, 685 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,920 Speaker 1: and you're absolutely right that a handful of bricks is 686 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 1: really all it takes. And in fact, there's this mathematician 687 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: named sar And Eilers, and he helped Lego group determine 688 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,279 Speaker 1: exactly how many possible structures you could make from just 689 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,680 Speaker 1: six standard Lego bricks. Wow, and what kind of piece 690 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:32,840 Speaker 1: was he using for this, Uh, he was using a 691 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 1: four by tube brick, which you know is rectangular. And 692 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: after writing this computer program that modeled every possible combination 693 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: of six of these bricks, Tilers ended up with a 694 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: truly massive number because it turns out that with just 695 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: six of these bricks you can make over nine million 696 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,839 Speaker 1: different combinations. Oh wow. I mean, maybe that's not an 697 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: endless area possibilities, but that's pretty That's a big number. 698 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:00,080 Speaker 1: And I would have to imagine though, like as you 699 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: continued adding bricks, that number of combinations would just spiral 700 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,640 Speaker 1: out of control pretty quickly. Yeah. I under said that 701 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:08,879 Speaker 1: if you wanted his program to calculate nine or ten 702 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,799 Speaker 1: bricks like it would probably take years and maybe even 703 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:15,239 Speaker 1: hundreds of years. Sometimes math just doesn't make any sense. 704 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,959 Speaker 1: I don't notice that. It's just we're heard. Well, let's 705 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,880 Speaker 1: leave that challenge for the next generation of lego maniacs 706 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:22,799 Speaker 1: to take up, and I'm sure there won't be any 707 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,360 Speaker 1: shortage of them in the future. But in the meantime, 708 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 1: what do you say we pieced together a few of 709 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,799 Speaker 1: the stray facts we couldn't fit in today's episode, and 710 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: maybe see what kind of fact off, we can build 711 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:42,719 Speaker 1: with him, sounds good to me. Well, you may have 712 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,800 Speaker 1: seen this story, but sometime last year in Fort Worth, Texas, 713 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,720 Speaker 1: there was an off duty police officer that was visiting 714 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: a children's hospital there and he would go there pretty regularly. 715 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:55,120 Speaker 1: He would dress up as certain superheroes. On this day, 716 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,239 Speaker 1: he was dressed as Batman, and obviously there to try 717 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: to put smiles on the kid's face, says, and it's 718 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 1: just pretty neat that he does this. But after one 719 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 1: of his visits, he was in a local walmart and 720 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,400 Speaker 1: he noticed the man's shoplifting. It turns out one of 721 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,279 Speaker 1: the movies this guy was shoplifting was Lego Batman. He 722 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,200 Speaker 1: was a big fan of both Batman and Lego, and 723 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: so he was probably a little thrown off when you know, 724 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:23,040 Speaker 1: this surreal experience happened of Batman coming up and threatening 725 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,279 Speaker 1: to arrest him, and he apologized, of course, but then 726 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 1: asked to take a selfie with Batman. That is bold. 727 00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:33,879 Speaker 1: So I think we might have shared this at some point, 728 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,280 Speaker 1: but I still think it's funny that the world's largest 729 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:40,720 Speaker 1: tire manufacturer is not Michelin or Goodyear or Firestone, but Lego, 730 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:45,719 Speaker 1: who produces nearly four billion units. It's pretty unbelieve. I 731 00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,160 Speaker 1: don't think any of those other competitors, I guess you 732 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:52,000 Speaker 1: could say, going to catch them anytime soon. My son 733 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,120 Speaker 1: William and I spent lots of time checking out the 734 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:57,160 Speaker 1: photos on NASA's Juno probe that they would send back 735 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,279 Speaker 1: from its trips around Jupiter. But one of the I 736 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,560 Speaker 1: thought was fun was that there were a few Lego 737 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:06,399 Speaker 1: mini figures along for the ride. And that's because they 738 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,839 Speaker 1: were thinking back to its history of the exploration and 739 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,920 Speaker 1: and kind of observation of Jupiter, and looking back to 740 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,239 Speaker 1: the time when Galileo was the first to observe and 741 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:19,600 Speaker 1: report on Jupiter's four largest moons. This was way back 742 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,760 Speaker 1: in sixteen ten. So the team who planned the mission 743 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:26,000 Speaker 1: felt it was appropriate to allow Galileo to finally make 744 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: the trip to Jupiter as a Lego figure at least. 745 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:31,640 Speaker 1: And he was made of aluminum, you know, to protect 746 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,360 Speaker 1: him from the radiation from Jupiter. And he was joined 747 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,360 Speaker 1: by two other figures, the mini Juno Queen of the 748 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,839 Speaker 1: Gods and the god Jupiter. I like that they sent 749 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,800 Speaker 1: this crew up there, like Galileo and who was killed 750 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:49,839 Speaker 1: of heresy, right, And so you remember from the Lego 751 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,280 Speaker 1: movie that there was lots to talk about master builders, 752 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,839 Speaker 1: and Wild Style of course was the coolest. But there 753 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,800 Speaker 1: are actually master builders who work at Lego. The company 754 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:01,399 Speaker 1: employees about fifty of him, and they call him Master 755 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,760 Speaker 1: model Builders, and they actually get paid to build with Legos. 756 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,040 Speaker 1: So if you've ever been to a Lego Land location, 757 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 1: these are the people who build all the incredible mini 758 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:11,399 Speaker 1: worlds and sculptures that you see all over the park. 759 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:13,759 Speaker 1: And I was reading an interview with one of the 760 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:15,919 Speaker 1: master builders and he explained that to get the job, 761 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:18,640 Speaker 1: obviously you've got to share your incredible portfolio of all 762 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,360 Speaker 1: the things you've already built, but they also have this 763 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:23,759 Speaker 1: test while you're there, and applicants get an hour to 764 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:28,080 Speaker 1: build something that represents themselves. Wow, that's pretty cool. Well, 765 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:30,120 Speaker 1: given that Lego bricks are made of plastic and that 766 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 1: they are literally billions of them in existence, I know 767 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:35,840 Speaker 1: many of us have wondered whether the company would eventually 768 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,480 Speaker 1: find a way to produce more sustainable pieces, and it 769 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,799 Speaker 1: turns out the company does have a goal to make 770 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,120 Speaker 1: all of its bricks from sustainable materials. This is not 771 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:47,760 Speaker 1: until twenty thirty that they hope to realize this goal 772 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:51,200 Speaker 1: in full. And so they've invested in a sustainability center 773 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,759 Speaker 1: at their headquarters in Denmark and have hired dozens of 774 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,440 Speaker 1: employees to focus on this. And we're talking about chemical 775 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:00,560 Speaker 1: engineers and product designers and there to asked with trying 776 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 1: to figure out how to make these incredibly durable pieces 777 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,399 Speaker 1: out of more sustainable material So it definitely won't be 778 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,839 Speaker 1: uneasy task. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Yeah, 779 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:13,040 Speaker 1: it's pretty fascinating. So I like reading the answers that 780 00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 1: the company actually provides to fans who submit questions about 781 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,799 Speaker 1: the future plans for the company, And one of them 782 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,640 Speaker 1: that comes up fairly regularly is are there any plans 783 00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:23,839 Speaker 1: to sell real life brick sized Lego pieces? Because I 784 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,920 Speaker 1: want to build an actual house, And the company replied, 785 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:28,839 Speaker 1: we have no plans at this time to sell real 786 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:31,120 Speaker 1: life brick sized lego pieces. You'll just have to build 787 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:35,080 Speaker 1: your home from normal materials at the time being. But actually, 788 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 1: in two thousand nine, men in Great Britain actually did 789 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,480 Speaker 1: build the world's first full sized lego house. It took 790 00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:45,200 Speaker 1: him three point three million bricks and it had a 791 00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:48,200 Speaker 1: working toilet and a bed, and it was all mid 792 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:50,520 Speaker 1: a Lego, and there was talk for a while of 793 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:52,600 Speaker 1: Lego Land actually helping to move the house to the 794 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:56,480 Speaker 1: nearest theme park, but it proved too expensive, and so 795 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,879 Speaker 1: it's kind of sad, you know, it ended the way 796 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,319 Speaker 1: most Lego creative and ended with the whole thing getting demolished. 797 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:05,960 Speaker 1: Oh man, three point three million bricks worth of work 798 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:09,160 Speaker 1: all demolished. That is pretty sad. All right, Well, did 799 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,160 Speaker 1: you know that Lego used to celebrate employees who had 800 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,240 Speaker 1: worked for twenty five years with the company by giving 801 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:16,480 Speaker 1: them a gold Lego brick. It was just a solid 802 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,320 Speaker 1: two by four gold Lego piece that was worth about 803 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,440 Speaker 1: fifteen thousand dollars at the time. Actually, that's really sweet. 804 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 1: I like the But if you look over there, it 805 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:27,080 Speaker 1: looks like Tristan just put the final block on his 806 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,960 Speaker 1: taj Mahalan. He's got what is it like half the 807 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:32,200 Speaker 1: office end ground and patting him on the back. It's 808 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,319 Speaker 1: pretty impressive. I'm actually a little bit worried he might 809 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:37,960 Speaker 1: have forgotten to hit record because he's been so distracted. 810 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:40,960 Speaker 1: But by the off chance that he did manage to 811 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:44,919 Speaker 1: record this episode, I feel like Tristan deserves the trophy today. Yeah, 812 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,160 Speaker 1: I'm good with that and listeners, we'd love to hear 813 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:50,040 Speaker 1: stories about Lego, the most incredible things you've built or 814 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:52,680 Speaker 1: seen build, or any other facts you want to share 815 00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:54,400 Speaker 1: with us. You can send those two part Time Genius 816 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:56,839 Speaker 1: at how stuff Works dot com, where always you can 817 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:00,840 Speaker 1: hit us up at Facebook or Twitter. But from Will gave, Tristan, 818 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:02,640 Speaker 1: Me and the rest of the gang at Farttime Genius. 819 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. Thanks again for listening. Fartime 820 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:20,880 Speaker 1: Genius is a production of How Stuff Works and wouldn't 821 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: be possible without several brilliant people who do the important 822 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:26,799 Speaker 1: things we couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan McNeil does 823 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:29,080 Speaker 1: the editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme song and 824 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:32,040 Speaker 1: does the MIXI mixy sound thing. Jerry Rowland does the 825 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: exact producer thing. Gave Bluesier is our lead researcher, with 826 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,279 Speaker 1: support from the research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown 827 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:40,560 Speaker 1: and Lucas Adams and Eve. Jeff Cook gets the show 828 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 1: to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like what 829 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:44,760 Speaker 1: you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if you really 830 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:46,560 Speaker 1: really like what you've heard, maybe you could leave a 831 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:48,920 Speaker 1: good review for US. Do we do we forget Jason? 832 00:41:49,200 --> 00:42:00,640 Speaker 1: Jason who