Lego has unveiled its first ever minifigure of a wheelchair user, almost a year after a social media campaign began pushing the toy maker to “think outside the brick box” and represent people with disabilities.
The beanie-wearing minifigure features in the Fun in the Park set, and is accompanied by a helper dog.
It was spotted at the London and Nuremberg Toy Fairs, with photos later shared online by the Bricksfans website.
The move comes after Lego was accused of a lack of diversity in its minifigures, with the Toy Like Me campaign launching a petition for the company to include minifigures with disabilities.
“Oh Lego, where are your basket-balling wheelsters? Baseball playing Duplo folk with hearing aids? White cane using Lego Friends off to the gym?” said the petition, which attracted more than 20,000 signatures.
In a petition update on behalf of the campaign organisers, Toy Like Me co-founder Rebecca Atkinson said she was overjoyed at news of the wheelchair-using minifigure.
“We’ve got genuine tears of joy right now … Lego have just rocked our brick-built world!” she wrote.
“Lego have listened to this little ol’ toy box revolution … Excitement factor — off the scale!
“Lego we salute you! You’ve just made a 150 million children, their mums, dad, nans, grandads, teachers, carers, pet dogs and hamsters very, very, very happy! We’re conga-ing up and down the street right now, (the hamster is at the back) flinging multi-coloured bricks like confetti!”
