Citations › Citation ID: 42

C42. BOOK: Jens Andersen, The LEGO Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination (Mariner, 2022), p. 98.

After a busy and inspiring week in the seaside town of Brighton, where Godtfred discovered that Hilary F. Page’s Self-Locking Building Bricks still existed but hadn’t apparently become a big commercial success in Great Britain or any other country, he relaxed over a whiskey and cigar in the bar on the DFDS ferry from Harwich.

Also on board were other Danes in the industry who had been at the fair, and Godtfred got to chatting with Troels Petersen, a young head buyer for the toy department at Magasin du Nord. Petersen was far from impressed by the state of the toy industry, expressing exasperation at the fact that there was no system to it. Godtfred pricked up his ears. Petersen had put his finger on a problem he, himself, had been ruminating over for a couple of years. It wasn’t simply about the diversity of LEGO’s products, but also about approaching production and sales more purposefully and systematically.

This conversation on the ferry was eye-opening for Godtfred. Suddenly, his task became utterly clear: LEGO needed to concentrate on a single idea. They had to coalesce around one product that was unique and lasting, that could be developed into a wider range of toys that were easy to play with, easy to produce, and easy to sell.

Godtfred's inspiration for a 'system' of play came from a chance conversation on a ferry.