LEGO Didn’t Invent Plastic Bricks—Design Tweaks It Made To Be #1 On The Block

When you think of toy bricks—or even just toys, for that matter—LEGO would likely be the first to spring to mind. However, the early LEGO, and most of its structure today, was nearly identical to another plastic design on the market. Eventually, the company played around and landed on the perfect formula.

It was Hilary “Harry” Fisher Page, an English toymaker who founded the Kiddicraft toy company, who invented Self-Locking Building Blocks. Page was granted a British patent for his invention in 1940. He imagined the pieces as literal building blocks that snapped into place to create toy fire stations and cafés, among other things.

At the time, LEGO was still crafting wooden toys (a trade it was forced to reconsider after suffering three fires).

An eye-opening video by YouTuber Phil Edwards reveals how the Danish toymaker built its way up the plastic brick kingdom.

LEGO’s original plastic mold, in fact, was the very same one adopted by Kiddicraft. This meant that it was also not perfect. Flip both the Kiddicraft block and first LEGO over and you’ll discover their hollow undersides, which made them less adherent than the modern LEGO.

While both LEGO and Kiddicraft bricks were nearly identical to one another, by LEGO’s account, this didn’t irk Page.

“In the late 1950s, the LEGO Group contacts Kiddicraft to ask whether they object to the LEGO brick. They do not,” the company recounts. “On the contrary, they wish the company good luck with the bricks, as they have not enjoyed much success with their product.”

The early designs also had slots at the side to help the blocks flex as they were secured into place. LEGO removed them in the 1950s, as well as added those iconic tubes at the bottom for “clutch power.”

With the new reinforcements, the improved LEGO bricks were more effective at connecting to their base and other pieces. The elements made the LEGO unique enough for the company to finally patent an original design.

In Edwards’ view, the refined clicking mechanism, coupled with good marketing, was what led to the brand’s enduring success.

Kiddicraft also manufactured a diverse range of toys, while LEGO set its sights on automatic binding bricks. LEGO won “because they never stopped building,” the YouTuber concludes.

Founder Ole Kirk Christiansen had pictured the LEGO system to work together like a town, a vision that the firm continues to live up to.

Today, it’s still really nice to collect bricks from other sets to complete towns of our own.

[via Digg, Phil Edwards, LEGO, cover photo 46283175 © Edgars Sermulis | Dreamstime.com]