Lego Fabuland

Fabuland was a theme and product range of the Lego construction toy, aimed at young children. Introduced in 1979, the range aimed to fill the gap between Duplo and the standard Lego product ranges. Aimed at both boys and girls, the range encouraged storytelling, and was the first theme to be extended into books, clothing, and a claymation TV series that aired in the UK and Canada during the 1980s as Edward and Friends. Each episode was five minutes in length.

Characters

Fabuland sets featured anthropomorphic animal characters. These pieces were larger than standard Lego Minifigures, but smaller than Duplo figures, and included movable arms, legs and head. Some of the characters appeared in more than one set, and were given names, and sometimes even stories. Recurring characters included Edward Elephant, Bonnie Bunny, Max Mouse, Clive Crocodile, and Wilfred Walrus.

Style

Fabuland had a distinctive friendly style with various animal characters that each had a job or purpose in the town of Fabuland. Fabuland featured special elements that were larger than standard Lego bricks, but were fully compatible with regular Lego. Fabuland used a primary colour scheme and the sets were aimed for children between 4-8 as a transition from Duplo to Lego. Fabuland was unique due to the special elements such as; walls, roof elements, tables, chairs, boats and cars chassis. Larger Sets included buildings with story book like instructions and the theme also had many vehicles and individual characters with accessories. Fabuland is highly sought after today among collectors and there is a large fan base that keeps the theme alive via Lego fan sites.

History of Lego

The History of Lego began in 1932 in a Danish carpentry workshop and continues into the 21st century as a popular and very profitable line of construction toys and related products and services, including Lego board games, retail stores, Lego video games, Lego films, Legoland theme parks, and Lego Serious Play consultant services, with a significant impact on various areas of popular culture. Despite its expansion, the company remains privately held.

Beginnings, 1932–1959

The Lego Group began in the carpentry workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, in Billund, Denmark. In 1916, Christiansen purchased a woodworking shop in Billund which had been in business since 1895. The shop mostly helped construct houses and furniture, and had a small staff of apprentices. The workshop burned down in 1924 when a fire ignited some wood shavings. Ole Kirk constructed a larger workshop, and worked towards expanding his business even further. When the Great Depression hit, Ole Kirk had fewer customers and had to focus on smaller projects. He began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids. It was these miniature models of stepladders and ironing boards that inspired him to begin producing toys.