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☆ Star Wars was the first Lego license — 25 years later, it's stronger than ever
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Star Wars Lego models are seen at the Bricks & Figs museum in Krakow, Poland, on April 15, 2023. A design director at the Denmark-based Lego company, he has spent the past 25 years creating Lego Star Wars sets. Now, Lego Star Wars has become a blueprint for the company's other brand deals — think Harry Potter, Batman and Marvel's Avengers. The Lego Star Wars collaboration came at a time of financial turmoil for Lego. Lego Icons, Lego Technic, Lego City and Lego Harry Potter also performed well.

Persons: Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, Frederiksen, Darth Vader, Harry Potter, Jill Wilfert, Wilfert, It's, Paul Southern, Shirlaine Forrest, " Frederiksen, we're, Southern, We've Organizations: Anadolu, Getty, Star, CNBC, Disney, Epic Games, Lego Star, Lego, Force, Manchester Central, Imperial, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Company, Lego Star Wars, Warner Bros, Games Locations: Krakow, Poland, Denmark, Lego, Manchester, England

☆ Lego revenue ticks higher in 2023, despite trade-downs and China pullback
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Lego company grew sales 2% last year, even as the global toy industry saw sales slip 7%, according to data from Circana. The pandemic-era gains that fueled exponential toy industry sales growth waned in 2023 as consumers cut discretionary spending amid rising inflationary costs and increased credit card debt. Meanwhile Denmark-based Lego posted resilient sales, with revenue reaching 65.9 billion Danish krone, or about $9.65 billion, it said Tuesday. The company saw sales jump 27% in 2021 and 17% in 2022. The toymaker's top-performing brands last year included Lego Icons, Lego Technic, Lego City, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Star Wars.

Persons: Niels Christiansen, Harry Potter, Christiansen, Lego, We're Organizations: CNBC, Lego, Lego Star, Epic Games Locations: Denmark, Lego City, China

☆ Consumers are stressed. It could be showing in how we bought toys in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Parija Bhatnagar | Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Consumers bought fewer toys in all of 2023, including during the key Christmas toy-buying period, showing that households continue to pare back on discretionary products. But toy sales in all of 2023 dropped 8%, both in dollar terms (how much consumers paid for toys) and in unit sales (meaning how many toys consumers bought). This shows that shoppers bought fewer toys but also traded down in prices to cheaper toys. “While 2023 was a challenging year for the U.S. toy industry, the four-year compound annual growth rate remains positive,” she said. Among the toys that consumers did buy in 2023, Pokémon, Barbie and Squishmallows were the top three best-selling brands last year, according to Circana.

Persons: pare, Circana, ”, Juli Lennett, Lennett, I’ve, “, ” Lennett, ” Jon Copestake, EY, ” Copestake, ” Robby Pettinato, Joy, ” Pettinato, Toy Joy, “ Anecdotally, “ That’s, it’s, Pettinato, Barbie, Squishmallows, Price, Melissa, Doug, – CNN’s Alicia Wallace, Katie Lobosco Organizations: New, New York CNN — Consumers, Commerce Department, Hasbro, Wild, Inc, CNN, ”, Star, Marvel, Disney Locations: New York, United States, U.S, Austin

☆ The 10 Best Lego Sets for Adults That’ll Make You Feel Like a Master Builder
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Rachel Simon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

“Adults are building more Lego sets for creativity, stress relief, nostalgia and rewarding challenges,” says Ethan Dungan, a Willis, Texas-based artist known for his Lego creations. We spoke to six Lego superfans and artists to get their recommendations of the very best sets for adults available to buy now. For the explorerLego Tales of the Space Age $50 at LegoThis ultracool space-themed set features four connectible 3-D blocks depicting rockets, planets and “retro-styled landscapes inspired by space exploration,” says Catarino. The bookshop’s “phenomenal colors, diverse design techniques, and expandability make this set a great option for adults,” he says. For the architecture buffAs fun as it can be to build Lego sets, displaying them in your home once they’re done can be equally satisfying.

Persons: Rachel Simon, Legos isn’t, ”, Ethan Dungan, Willis, Joshua Chawner, ” Chawner, you’ll, Jessica Ragzy, Dante Dentoni, Tiago Catarino, “ it’s, I’ve, that’s, Ryan McCullough, McCullough, It’s Organizations: Lego, Lego’s, YouTube, Star Locations: Willis , Texas, Liverpool, England, Lego’s, New York City, Miami Beach, Fla, Lisbon, Orlando

☆ A Lego Crime, a YouTube Rivalry, and the End of a Star Wars Friendship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +30 min

Those who are into Lego Star Wars are among the most popular. It was at an informal contest where Louis met Victor, a fellow Lego Star Wars fanatic. Soon they ranked among the most popular Lego Star Wars YouTubers in France, known for the size and scope of their MOCs. The two friends no longer fit with that satisfying click that comes from snapping together two Lego bricks. Though it must have taken a truck to haul away all of Louis' Lego, no neighbor reported seeing anything suspicious.

☆ YouTube recommended videos about guns, school shootings, and serial killers to researchers simulating accounts of young boys
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A new study on YouTube's recommendation algorithm found it pushed violent videos to children. Researchers from the Tech Transparency Project created four accounts for fictional nine and 14-year-olds. Accounts that watched recommended videos received hundreds more violent videos than the ones that didn't. For the following month, researchers tracked hundreds of videos recommended daily to the fictional children on YouTube's homepage. One of each pair of the accounts chose to watch at least 50 of the recommended videos, while the other accounts did not interact with the violent recommendations.

☆ Starbucks union pressures board members with billboards, posters – and a butter sculpture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly 300 company-owned Starbucks cafes have voted to unionize under Workers United, according to National Labor Relations Board data. Starbucks Workers United is deploying a butter sculpture, brass band, billboard and movie posters to put pressure on the coffee chain's board to accept the union. Beth Ford, chief executive officer of Land O'Lakes Inc. (L), and a butter sculpture of land o'lakes her. In the hopes of speeding up the process, just outside of Minnesota's Twin Cities, Starbucks workers will deliver a butter sculpture of Ford to Land O'Lakes' headquarters. "Community allies" will also take part, according to Starbucks Workers United.

☆ Lego sales jump 17% in first half of 2022, boosted by Star Wars and Harry Potter sets
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Lego Star Wars toys sit on display inside a Toys "R" Us Inc. store in Paramus, New Jersey, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019. Lego sales are building on pandemic-era growth, boosted by popular sets from Lego Star Wars and Lego Harry Potter. On Wednesday, the privately held Danish toymaker said revenue during the first six months of the year jumped 17%, reaching $27 billion Danish krone, or about $3.5 billion. In addition to top-selling Star Wars and Harry Potter models, Lego has seen strong performance in its homegrown Lego Technic and Lego City. Net profit between January and June 30 reached $6.2 billion Danish krone, or about $802 million, essentially in line with year-earlier levels.

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