A very Lego Christmas

One thing that no one ever seems to get bored of is Legos. This holiday season, scores of children will unwrap Lego sets. The globally popular building sets have been around for almost a hundred years and CCTV correspondent Stephanie Freid traveled to Lego's birthplace to find out more about the iconic interlocking bricks.

Coined "the toy of the century" by Fortune Magazine, Legos can keep kids - and adults - busy for hours. This Christmas season, an average 28 sets will be sold every second.

Legos got their start here in Bilund Denmark in 1932 when carpenter Ole Kirk Kristianesen decided to go beyond wooden toys and delve into plastics.

Danish for "Leg Godt" or "play well", the family owned business underwent key developments throughout the decades including the advent of tires, mini-figures and a crucial tweak to the brick.

Reporter: "This larger brick is the original Lego, the other, here was developed later on. Designers say the interlocking design is the key to Lego success."

At the flagship factory, thirty-five hundred employees make sure machines run 24 hours a day producing two point five million pieces per hour. If all the minifigures produced this year were lined up next to each other, they'd stretch from this Denmark factory to Dallas, Texas - nearly eight thousand kilometers

This Christmas Friends and Ninjago lines are expected to be popular, particularly in Asian markets.

Designers who work two years in advance and adhere to stringent quality standards say they stay ahead of the curve by keeping an ear open to consumers

Ricco Krog, lead designer of Lego City, said, "Something here about working with children to find out what they like and what they want to see."

Despite tough economic times, the privately held company holds a 7.1% global toy market share and sales were up last year by 17%.

For the customer, that translates into playtime

The Lego motto is: inspiring builders of tomorrow. If the claim that six bricks can be combined in 915 million different ways is true, then the tools are clearly being put into place.

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