Book Update: LEGO A Love Story

I wanted to call attention to a great AFOL blog that accounts Jonathan Bender's journey in writing his upcoming book "LEGO A Love Story".

I've been following Brick Bender for a few months now and I've really enjoyed Jonathan's take on the world of adult fans of LEGO.

I personally will be getting a copy of the book once its out.

He just released a copy of the book cover (shown) designed by certified LEGO professional Nathan Sawaya.

"LEGO A Love Story" is due out on May 10th at discriminating book sellers of distinction everywhere.

(Picture from Brick Bender)

LEGO 2009 Annual Report

Yesterday, LEGO released its annual report for 2009. Overall it was a good year for the company. LEGO Star Wars and City continue to be the stars of the company. It also sounds like they have high hopes for the new line of LEGO board games after strong performance in the UK and Germany.

The hidden gem however was their annual magazine called The Brick. It covers little slices-of-life across the company for the public and investors. There are several behind the scenes pics and cool concept sketches from the LEGO Atlantis and upcoming Hero Factory lines.

There are also little facts about LEGO sprinkled throughout. The most interesting can be found on page 60. According to a study run by NPD, a market research firm, adult fans of LEGO (AFOLs) account for a little under 5% of sales. This is the first "firm" number I've seen regarding AFOL sales contribution, and much lower than earlier estimates I've heard reported previously.

What does this mean for minifigures? Well I think we can expect to see more LEGO Star Wars in the future (314 minifigures and counting), and City is here to stay. There was little said about the upcoming collectors series or future licenses. I guess we'll have to just keep watching and waiting.

(Picture from LEGO.com)