We came across this article today and thought it must be shared!  Like much of the world, New Zealand is in the grip of LEGO® insanity, with the release of The Lego Movie and the launch of their National Lego Building Competition.  To mark the mania, the New Zealand Herald published a list of 10 LEGO® fun facts and figures.  Here are a few of our faves, from the article:

⚛  There is almost no limit to what the bricks can create with a vivid imagination. Six eight-stud bricks can be arranged in 915,103,765 ways. Just two eight-stud LEGO® bricks can be combined in 24 different ways and three eight-stud LEGO® bricks in 1,060 ways.

⚛  The first mini figure prototype is 38 years old.  Standing exactly LEGO® Lego bricks high without a hat or hair (side note: we love that LEGO® commitment to exactness and quality!), designers selected the colour yellow for the figures to represent all races and ethnicities. They originally had no facial features, gender, arms or moveable legs. It took three years and 51 prototypes before they took the form we know today. There are now over 4 billion figures.

⚛  LEGO® popularity could circle the earth – many times.  On average, every person on earth owns 86 LEGO® pieces. Over 400 billion bricks have been produced and if they were all connected together they could connect the earth to the moon ten times over. There are enough bricks sold each year to stretch around the world more than 18 times.

Enjoy!