Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Most Popular Toy Ever Made Is Lego: Survey


http://www.fastcompany.com/1681192/lego-most-popular-toy-ever-made-survey-firebox

The Most Popular Toy Ever Made Is Lego: Survey
BY Kit Eaton
Fri Aug 13, 2010

If you grew up thinking Lego was the bomb, better than any other toy in your collection, turns out you're not alone: A new broad-ranging survey of over 3,000 folks has revealed it's the most popular toy ever manufactured, even more so than Barbie, Game Boys and a dozen other pretenders.

Firebox.com, an online toy and gizmo gift store, and toy news website Toyology.com just announced the results of their survey of over 3,000 adults aged 20 to 40. The clear winner of the title of most popular toy across all ages and sexes was Lego--it was the top choice for men, and the second choice for women (beaten by the inflatable wonder, Barbie herself). Firebox's MD Christian Robinson noted it wasn't really a surprising winner--being so "timeless and popular" across all ages, but also because it tallies with Firebox's own sales experience, which has Lego kits as very popular sellers.

Though Lego's patent recently expired, and a host of cheaper competitors have now burst onto the toy scene, it looks like Lego's crown is not going to slip any time soon--and it's success in a whole new generation is undoubtedly being given a boost by franchises like the Lego video game series. It's also likely to continue to sell as the people in the survey group buy toys for their children and grandchildren: That's because the survey revealed a strong preference (78% of women and 63% of men) for old-fashioned toys over more modern ones, with almost half the respondents noting they still owned toys they had when they were growing up. This kind of strong emotional connection will definitely color purchase decisions made when buying gifts for today's kids (no matter how much they clamor for a DS or PSP game).

To keep up with this news, follow me, Kit Eaton, on Twitter.

No comments: