Even if the decline of 0.4% was negligible, Lego Deutschland (Grasbrunn / Germany), subsidiary of the largest European toy manufacturer, Lego (Billund / Denmark; www.lego.com), lost a little more of its footing in the markets of German-speaking Europe in 2017. With a share of 16.8% in Germany, the Danish giant may still be selling significantly more than competitors Hasbro, Mattel or Playmobil – see Plasteurope.com of 12.02.2018 and 02.02.2018 – but, continuing for the second year in a row, the erosion stands in sharp contrast to 2015, when the company celebrated its 13th consecutive year of rising sales – see Plasteurope.com of 01.02.2016. In the run-up to this year’s international toy fair "Spielwarenmesse" (www.spielwarenmesse.de) in Nuremberg / Germany, Lego Deutschland’s managing director, Frédéric Lehmann, said “2017 was not an easy year.” Business, he added, was clearly below the company’s expectations.

According to consumer sales data for the toy market, revenues of Lego Deutschland dipped slightly in 2017, by 2.6% in Germany and 3.3% in Switzerland. In the alpine country its market share slipped by 0.9% year-on-year to 19.5%. While the figures show gains on the German market for the product lines “City”, “Lego Technic” and “Friends”, the traditional Lego brick is still the top seller.

Regardless of the slight downward trend, the Danish toy giant has two important milestones to celebrate this year: the 60th anniversary of the Lego brick and the 40th anniversary of the Lego minifigures. On 28 January 1958, Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen filed his patent for the plastic building blocks with their interlocking tubes-and-studs connector system, creating a toy legend that competitors have tried time and time again to copy – without success.