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- Photo: Lego
Lego, one of the oldest and most loved children’s toys, is starting to appeal to adults as well. The buyers of the range of Star Wars Lego that went on sale in January are reported to be fifty per cent adults in the thirties and forties. It has also been predicted that over a million of these special edition Star Wars Lego will be sold in Britain in 2010. Many adults have seen the purchase of the Lego as an investment as it is a limited special edition, while others have used it to recreate favourite scenes.
The empire strikes back
It has been over thirty years since the original films and the children that enjoyed and loved the films are adults with children of their own. James Burns from the Star Wars fan site JediNews.co.uk has claimed that for once parents are buying Lego for themselves not their children. Another reason for the rise in sales has been the new movement in Lego known as Adult Fans of Lego (AFOL) who use their Lego to create their own version of Star Wars films. The films are then uploaded online for others to view and rate.
The legend of the Star Wars Lego
- Photo: Lego
The first Star Wars themed Lego was released in 1999 in order to coincide with the prequel The Phantom Menace; these featured sets were based on the original trilogy. After this, whenever a new film in the prequel trilogy was released, Lego brought out models from that particular film as well as from the original trilogy. Two figures of the new range went on sale in January whereas Star Wars fans bombarded the stores for stock and two more figures will be released in August of this year. It has been reported that currently one in every six Lego set sold in the United Kingdom comes from the Star Wars range. Since its launch in 1999, the Lego has sold almost 100 million boxes around the world.
Bridging a generation
Fiona Wright, the Lego UK Managing Director, has said that Star Wars Lego range is different to other Lego sets as it us ‘crossing the age boundary’. She has also claimed that the religious and zealous adult following is due to the fact that it recalls in them nostalgia for their youth and because of the cultural significance of the products.
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