A billion Stormtroopers

leemcg

Was just listening to the BBC World Service's 'More or Less' podcast, which usually debunks various dodgy stats. Wouldn't usually expect a LEGO angle.

Of course The Force Awakens is out, so there is a bandwagon to be joined and they wanted to do Star Wars stats. Their question was how many Stormtroopers were there compared to soldiers on earth. From left field they seemed to turn this into a 'how many Stormtrooper toys were made'.

Anyhow, LEGO responded to their request and estimated that they had made a billion Stormtrooper minifigures. 

I use a podcast app, so not sure how to link here in a useful way, but I'm sure somebody more technologically adept can do so.

cheshirecat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03chxn5

TigerMoth

As that's about 1 in 7 of all minifigures ever produced, it seems a bit on the high side.

cheshirecat

^Indeed and a shame they said it was a concrete number. A billion star wars minifigures sounds more plausible. 

theLEGOman

At least it wasn't a billion Jar Jar's.

kiki180703

^ I think you mean a billion Pitfall69s @theLEGOman ;)

GothamConstructionCo

Although the Stormtrooper maybe the most produced SW minifigure I can't see accounting for nearly a seventh of all minifigures produced.

@leemcg, always nice to meet a fellow radio 4 listener.

Fauch

maybe they meant the battle droids?

leemcg

A billion to the nearest billion?

ZombieCoops

So I have some rare MF's then? ;)

SumoLego

kiki180703 said:

^ I think you mean a billion Pitfall69s @theLEGOman ;)

@Pitfall69 is like the Highlander - there can be only ONE!

madforLEGO

Do they mean stormtroopers or stormtroopers and clone troopers?

CCC

I would imagine police and firemen give stormtroopers and clones a run for their money.

Rainstorm26

I bet helicopters would too. 

Fauch

or maybe they meant flick missiles.

kiki180703

Or could they have meant lego sausages!?!?!

BACbrix

Brick separators 

matticus_bricks

1 X 1 Trans Red round plates

binaryeye

Surely they're all Han Solo in disguise.

Redbullgivesuwind

I think it is actually a billion R2-D2 based on their instance to put it in every single set. 

Bobflip

Could it feasibly be a million that got misheard when they confirmed it with LEGO?

MattsWhat

Lots of suggestions about how this number came about, but what about if it is 1 billion storm trooper parts.  Afterall, LEGO have never made a stormtrooper (excluding keyrings), they just send out the parts for other people to make them.  For some data collection person at Radio 4 who doesn't 'get' LEGO, interpreting 1 billion parts to 1 billion storm troopers is an easy mistake to make.

leemcg

Given that the whole purpose of "More or Less" is to debunk dodgy stats, I think this is quite funny. 

DoubleD

It is probably true, I mean think of the backstock toys r us has because of their inflated prices. I mean that has to be 500 million, right.

jason1976

This story is on the BBC's website now - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35170829 - this is taken from it:

In 1999 Lego started making Star Wars toys. It was, as Ahsoka Tano would have said, "a new day, a new beginning".

These toys have been a big success, spawning their own spin-offs, including computer games and books. And Lego was able to tell me how many Stormtrooper mini-figures it has sold.

One billion.

That's a massive army. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates there are just under 20 million military personnel on Earth today. So Lego Stormtroopers alone outnumber every army on Earth by about 50-to-1.

Merry Christmas everyone - don't have nightmares :)

Natebw

Wow, I am always on lookout for a good factual podcast and one with a British accent seems worth checking out! :)

plasmodium

Listening to Radio 4 (or their podcasts) is guaranteed to make you sound 40% more intelligent in social situations.