Lego + IKEA

LostInTranslation

According to Bricksfans two of Scandinavia's most famous companies are teaming up. I wonder what the outcome will be!

"IKEA AND THE LEGO GROUP IN COLLABORATION TO ENABLE MORE PLAY AND CREATIVITY

We know that play is an important part of life and we believe in the power of play. Play lets us be creative, explore, experiment, dream and discover. IKEA and the LEGO Group, join forces to encourage more play.

Play is key to develop. And it is an essential part of a better everyday life. Play is so many different things, for so many different people. In the everyday life there are different barriers for play. Some of the barriers are more evident for grown-ups. One being that grown-ups think that playing can be messy. Other barriers are more evident to children – like grown-ups trying to create order in the play environment, where children in fact enjoy and often immerse themselves in the midst of it all.

“It started with an invitation from the LEGO Group “Do you want to play?”. Of course we said yes to this and together we now want to enable more play by triggering play in the functionality of the everyday life. At IKEA we first and foremost want to resolve this built in or maybe just perceived conflict that play is messy in a creative, humanistic and playful way. Because we believe more play makes the home and the world a better place”, says Fredrika Inger, Business Area Manager for Children’s IKEA, at IKEA of Sweden.

In the IKEA Play Report, IKEA asked children what they want and 47% of them said that they want more playtime with their parent. At the same time 90% of the asked parents believe play is essential to wellbeing and happiness, building on to the belief that play is important. In an upcoming study on play made by the LEGO Group, 95% of parents responded that play is fundamental to their child’s development and that playing with LEGO bricks helps their children to be creative. Then why don’t we play more? The collaboration aims to increase the opportunity for playing more. First out is to try to make the whole home a better functioning and more fun place.

“In the LEGO Group our mission has always been to inspire and develop children through play, and there’s an exciting and fun challenge in finding a solution that can encourage more creative LEGO play while at the same time pleasing parent’s interest in household look and feel to enable children and their parents to play together. We know that creativity is a critical skill needed for the future, but we also know that tinkering, experimenting, being creative and trying out new things can be messy. In our collaboration with IKEA we therefore wish to deal with the challenge that some parents might have with the – wonderful – mess that play creates”, says Lena Dixen, Senior Vice President, Product Development at the LEGO Group.

“Bringing people together over play and enable more play are things that are key for both us and the LEGO Group based on our respective visions, missions and values. That is why we want to explore what can happen when we work together, trying to get more of the many people to say yes to play”, says Fredrika Inger, Business Area Manager for Children’s IKEA, at IKEA of Sweden.

In the next couple of years the first outcome of the collaboration will reach customers in IKEA stores.

IKEA Play Report"

Switchfoot55

^I'm calling it first: IKEA Modular Buildings. Full sized modulars in the style of Lego with all the charm and headache of a build-yourself IKEA purchase. 

I'm sure I'd get lost somewhere in box 30 of 58. 

CCC

It started with an invitation from the LEGO Group “Do you want to play?”.

Interesting that LEGO approached them.

I doubt it will be to sell LEGO sets, there are enough other avenues for that. So possibly a table with LEGO baseplates on, but that is fairly trivial and if LEGO branded would be expensive (and so anti-IKEA).

Given the number of times they use the word mess/messy, I imagine it will be some sort of storage system.

560Heliport

"95% of parents responded that play is fundamental to their child's development"... So 5% do NOT believe play is fundamental to their child's development? I'm glad I'm not their kid!

LuLego

The appeal of many Ikea ranges is their versatility - you can orientate them different ways, stack them, insert doors or draws.

A single Kallax unit is the equivalent of a 1x1 brick...

I can see how this could work with a Lego ‘style’ and in classic lego colours and could be a popular range for children’s (and AFOL’s) rooms.  

Ive seen lots of customised lego tables too - cheap Lack tables with 4 base plates glued on and some storage pots on the side. Easy (and cheap) to make. This could be what they will do at the least.

willobee498

"47% of them said that they want more playtime with their parent."

If you asked childhood me what I wanted, there would be a lot more wild and varied things than that!

datsunrobbie

willobee498 said:

"47% of them said that they want more playtime with their parent."

If you asked childhood me what I wanted, there would be a lot more wild and varied things than that!

Not if it was a typical multiple-choice survey, such as:

Q:How much time do you spend playing with a parent?
A. Too much
B. As much as I want
C. Less than I want

I've seen so many surveys that ask questions designed to generate specific answers that I may have become overly cynical about them.

dmcc0

They'll maybe change the standard unit of measurement to a baseplate. Shelves and display units that are exactly 1 baseplate deep. Tables that are X baseplates wide etc.

560Heliport

^That would be awesome! And studs for smaller measurements. And bricks or plates for vertical measurements.

Pitfall69

There should be a Lego Modular IKEA store. Your minifigures can go inside to shop and never find their way out.

Forget sausages; Lego meatballs is where it's at ;)

Astrobricks

I would love if it included an expandable storage system.

dannyrww

I'm not sure they are looking at storage as all the information points to the importance of play.....also hoping they release a real world double decker couch.

Mr_Cross

so, what will they call the range?
STUUD?
PIPP?
or perhaps a contraction/combination...
LEEA?
IKGO?
LIKEEAGO? (I'd likee a go too!)

sorry.

Astrobricks

Blërg (30 Rock running joke)

Bumblepants

I'm sure we will get at least something from Lego in the form of a set even if it is just a simple storefront like the recent Lego Store model. Would be nice if it was only sold at Ikea or something then it would give me something to do other than eat meatballs and enjoy the only free drink refills in Bulgaria when my wife drags me there.

omnium

Bumblepants said:

I'm sure we will get at least something from Lego in the form of a set even if it is just a simple storefront like the recent Lego Store model. Would be nice if it was only sold at Ikea [snip]

Noooooooo! Then I'd have to venture to Ikea, also known as Hell On Earth!!!

My nearest Ikea is about 10 miles round the North Circular, which equates to about 15 days of driving. And once you get there, it's the most hideous experience, something akin to one of the Hellraiser films.

And millions of people think I exaggerate...

obi_g

omnium said:

Bumblepants said:

I'm sure we will get at least something from Lego in the form of a set even if it is just a simple storefront like the recent Lego Store model. Would be nice if it was only sold at Ikea [snip]

Noooooooo! Then I'd have to venture to Ikea, also known as Hell On Earth!!!

My nearest Ikea is about 10 miles round the North Circular, which equates to about 15 days of driving. And once you get there, it's the most hideous experience, something akin to one of the Hellraiser films.

And millions of people think I exaggerate...

you should take a trip to the coast, the southampton one is actually not terrible.

however... not so much your soul, but it will tear your wallet apart! (i'll get my coat)

CCC

dannyrww said:

I'm not sure they are looking at storage as all the information points to the importance of play.....

It does, but this is a key sentence:

In our collaboration with IKEA we therefore wish to deal with the challenge that some parents might have with the – wonderful – mess that play creates”, says Lena Dixen, Senior Vice President, Product Development at the LEGO Group.

So to me it seems that they are not looking at the importance of play, but the barrier to allowing play, which they have already identified as mess. And how to solve the mess problem? Easier to use clear up / storage solutions.

Maybe that LEGO vacuum cleaner is real after all!

Aleydita

I think this'll end up being a play table with Lego baseplates on top, perhaps with integral storage solution. The kind of thing you sometimes see in libraries, waiting rooms, etc. but for Lego (and perhaps Duplo).

CCC

Maybe they will get rid of the allen key and bolts in all their furniture and they will use technic pins instead. They are tough to remove, so nice and sturdy.

SumoLego

CCC said:

Maybe they will get rid of the allen key and bolts in all their furniture and they will use technic pins instead. They are tough to remove, so nice and sturdy.

C'mon people - MODULAR furniture!

Bumblepants

Giant Technic furniture would be awesome. Parts like that one guy makes with his 3D printer for up sized models. I would buy way too much of that.

Switchfoot55

Maybe they'll release a mini IKEA furniture pack for Market Street so it would finally be a real Modular?

Cyberdragon

I hope Lego takes one look at an IKEA manual and cringes. Lego definitely needs to teach them how to make an assembly manual.

I want to see IKEA manuals with proper parts callouts and fastener size references and whatnot.

dannyrww said:

I'm not sure they are looking at storage as all the information points to the importance of play.....also hoping they release a real world double decker couch.

Like this?

Pitfall69

Switchfoot55 said:

Maybe they'll release a mini IKEA furniture pack for Market Street so it would finally be a real Modular?

Mind your tongue...

SumoLego

Pitfall69 said:

Switchfoot55 said:

...finally be a real Modular?

Mind your tongue...

And your friction pins.

Jern92

Is it too much to hope that they'll release Ikea furniture built purely with extra-large Lego bricks? 

Or just extra large bricks that I can used to build a fort to hide from the world?

Russell844

There is finally some news.
https://newsroom.inter.ikea.com/news/all/ikea-and-lego-group-to-introduce-bygglek-for-more--yes--to-play/s/dbb23e88-f361-4e45-9181-dec31ec4904f

Huw

Doesn't reveal a lot, does it...

Astrobricks

That’s about as clear as mud.

SumoLego

The awkward designers photo doesn't help.  And I am impressed with a two-paragraph statement that says literally nothing about what the designs will be focused on...

Bludchylde1

So by 2020 we might be able to understand what they are going on about?

I don't understand the whole play versus adult storage. The way my kids store their blocks is completely different than the way I store mine and everything works. I don't understand the need for "specialized" storage. 

Aleydita

I think we're looking at some kind of play table, along the lines of MUtable (https://mutable-design.com). Maybe with adjustable seats so kids can sit with their parents/elder siblings.

560Heliport

I was imagining some kind of cart/play table with storage... seems like it would have many more uses than just LEGO.

Astrobricks

Something along the lines of storage integrated with a play surface but not something that caters to sorting?

Tkatt

It's called Bygglek, how much more of a description does a person need?

CCC

From the background of this shot, they sort by colour. So I'm out. Not that I was ever likely to be in.

Speedman29

Isn't Bygglek the noise you make when you stand on 2x4 left on a hard wood floor?

Bumblepants

Speedman29 said:

Isn't Bygglek the noise you make when you stand on 2x4 left on a hard wood floor?

I thought a Bygglek was something you take after downing a few rounds of beer...

Polyphemus

I didn't know Jean-Claude Van Damme had a brother who plays with LEGO...

CCC

Bumblepants said:

Speedman29 said:

Isn't Bygglek the noise you make when you stand on 2x4 left on a hard wood floor?

I thought a Bygglek was something you take after downing a few rounds of beer...

Sounds more like something I do after downing a few too many rounds of beer.

Bumblepants

CCC said:

Bumblepants said:

Speedman29 said:

Isn't Bygglek the noise you make when you stand on 2x4 left on a hard wood floor?

I thought a Bygglek was something you take after downing a few rounds of beer...

Sounds more like something I do after downing a few too many rounds of beer.

Yeah that is what I meant. Perhaps using 'take' in this context is just an American English thing?

Astrobricks

Bumblepants said:

CCC said:

Bumblepants said:

Speedman29 said:

Isn't Bygglek the noise you make when you stand on 2x4 left on a hard wood floor?

I thought a Bygglek was something you take after downing a few rounds of beer...

Sounds more like something I do after downing a few too many rounds of beer.

Yeah that is what I meant. Perhaps using 'take' in this context is just an American English thing?

Not the American English I speak :)

SumoLego

That is such an awkward photo.  Why am I clutching the corner of this mattress?

im2cre8iv

I thought for sure it was going to be a modular IKEA store for everyone to build into their cities

CCC

SumoLego said:

That is such an awkward photo.  Why am I clutching the corner of this mattress?

And why is our bedroom furniture supported by pallets?