Interesting Facts

Several shops selling toys in the UK have agreed to remove sexist labelling of girls' and boys' toys. (Following a campaign by a group called Let Toys Be Toys, a group of British parents who have been campaigning for a change in the way toys are marketed to boys and girls, Toys R Us, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Boots, The Entertainer and TK Maxx have all signed up. Toy manufacturer Lego, has also promised to review the way its toys are represented. As a child I was a bit of a tomboy; labelling and marketing never stopped me from playing with so called "boys" toys.)

Believe it or not, Kinder Surprise toys, Lego people, model soldiers, soft toys and toy cars are officially not ''citizens of Russia''. (This surprising announcement was made when a petition was presented to hold a protest rally with 100 Kinder Surprise toys, 100 Lego people, 20 model soldiers, 15 soft toys and 10 toy cars. In one of the best quotes this year, Andrei Lyapunov, a spokesman said, ''As you understand, toys, especially imported toys, are not only not citizens of Russia but they are not even people,'' 'Neither toys nor, for example, flags, plates or domestic appliances can take part in a meeting.'' Darn it! And there was me hoping to get all the neighbour's Hoovers round for the LEN AGM.) Source I've had a brilliant thought! They should set up a protest with matryoshka dolls. No one would dare deny their citizenship.

The Christmas tree at St Pancras railway station in London is ten metres high and made completely out of Lego bricks. (It took two months to build and contains 600,000 bricks.  There are more than 1,000 Lego baubles attacked to its 172 branches and according to Lego it is the tallest tree ever made using the Lego.)

Denmark is home to the world's largest sperm bank. (Cryos International, the largest sperm bank in the world, was established in 1987 in Aarhus, Denmark.  So, now you know.  Denmark, famous for Lego and sperm.)

The Lego Show, which is being held at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, has sold more tickets to grown men than to families or kids. (Maybe they want to see the scale model of Westminster Abbey, complete with William and Kate, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Queen etc. It is pretty amazing, but it was built by - adults.)

A survey, conducted by catalogue store Argos, found that Lego is Britain's favourite toy. (But according to the same survey it was Scalextric that Britons always wanted but never got.) Source: Daily Telegraph