LEGO’s Comeback: From Nearly Bankrupt To $6 Billion

The LEGO brick may not look like much but it is the cornerstone of the $6.25 billion Danish company. Today, LEGO’s blockbuster portfolio includes collaborations with The Beatles, Star Wars, and Frozen, a mega-hit movie franchise and 8 LEGOland theme parks. A toy that was once thought of for little boys is seeing its largest growth coming from girls and adults.
But in the early 2000s, the company made several missteps and came extremely close to declaring bankruptcy. Here’s how LEGO reclaimed its status as one of the most successful toy companies in the world.
Correction: This video has been updated to reflect LEGO’s accurate 2019 revenue.
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LEGO’s Comeback: From Nearly Bankrupt To $6 Billion

[@countravioli2254]

They really dug up David’s old Clone Wars reviews 😂

[@Dgjserffft]

Honestly

[@dzstoyanov]

Lol “Sort upload history oldest - newest”

[@jakobcarlson7613]

Yooo it’s count rav from livestreams

[@thePlum]

It’s beautiful ☺️

[@Broxy93]

soo tru

[@dylan9382]

It's so cool to see AFOLS getting more recognition

[@something7641]

I wish they gave to tfols

[@TopengProductions]

That moment when they didn't mention bionicle once even though it saved the company from bankruptcy and was some of Lego's best work.

[@slothy0111]

Didnt Ninjago do that?

[@TopengProductions]

@@slothy0111 no. It was bionicle in the early 2000s. Ninjago came along at a point when lego was doing pretty good financially.

[@slothy0111]

@@TopengProductions ahhh okay. I actually thought Lego was going down in the early 10's. Well, i havent watched the vid yet😅

[@koloth5139]

I'll be honest, I am kind of glad Bionicle is gone. It was somewhat limited in scope. I do however wish they would still use some of the molds. Many of the parts can be very useful. If they fixed the constant cracking that happened with many of the joints.

[@Gracetx90]

I thought it was the first lego movie that saved them. Am I wrong. Please don’t be rude.

[@hbcreates8355]

I am surprised to have not seen a single mention of Bioncile. if you think about it its massive popularity of Bioncile that brought LEGO into to the 2000s. LEGO star wars inspired LEGO to create their first "big bang" theme, that being bionicle which lasted for 10 years!

[@LifeofKairo]

*Kids:* making stacks of Lego *Lego Execs:* making stacks of 💵💵💵

[@gamerboyofficalyt]

This also applies too Lego Resellers: Lego Scalpers: Lego Collectors: Lego Enthusiasts: Lego: After Market Stores Lego: Anything

[@1.5Koreans0.5American]

"Stepping on a nail is better than stepping on a lego in the middle of a night" 😂😂😂😂

[@justteresiah]

There are no truer words 😂

[@superchristopher]

I want to nitpick (Like Lego had story themes like Bionicle way before the Lego movie) but I am very happy to see recognition of the AFOL community and the hard work Lego had to put in to get where its at today

[@hbcreates8355]

Yep. this video made a few mistakes here and there. Bionicle did not get a single mention. it was LEGOs firs tbig story theme.

[@superchristopher]

@@hbcreates8355 Yep, even then they had Adventurers or pre Bionicle in Slizers/Throwbots and Roboriders. Everything mentioned was stuff that is still relevant now

[@thatoneidiotnathan]

Ayy let's go David's on here!

[@Dgjserffft]

These dudes don’t know that there’s a whole community of us, rip smh lmao

[@slothy0111]

Yeah, its sad😅

[@jarjarbricks4243]

I can’t believe Holly was on there. Great job Holly if you see this

[@motorsportbricks57]

I’m glad people are getting their point across and people are realising Lego is a toy for everyone. Also well done on David (SolidbrixStudios), PotterMinifigPals and Evan (EvanTubeHD) on getting in the Video 👏

[@theprimest]

If you're reading this you have the potential to create great things.

[@legitbricks3136]

B

[@moonshoes11]

When everyone is special, nobody is.

[@simple7708]

They sold the Legoland theme Parks to Merlin to avoid bankruptcy then later had the money to buy Merlin. What a power move

[@CrazyKnuckles]

Nice video! But LEGO's first ventures into telling their own stories was in the early 2000's with LEGO Rock Raiders, AquaZone and Bionicle. Say what you will, those were definitely what helped the LEGO company gain experience in multi-media storytelling.

[@hbcreates8355]

well said. altough star wars was helpful in getting lego back onto its feet, liscences do not pay themselves. thats why the highly popular bionicle was created.

[@joehernandez2173]

“uSc MiLlEnNiUm FAlCoN”

[@DZstudios.]

Ultimate SOS collection

[@slothy0111]

Ultimate Sollector Ceries

[@calebgreen6188]

Go David!!

[@a.l.d.a.16]

When thag kid picked an at-te off the wall it made me sad inside

[@kapanimations]

same...

[@mrtophats4580]

Same

[@brickpigeon66]

Yo David! Lmao stepping on a lego brick is rlly painful😂😣

[@zev-gb8dk]

Hey, honestly it doesnt hurt that much

[@Dgjserffft]

Hey pigeon!

[@BrickMotion]

@@zev-gb8dk yeah it hurts less then a nail going into your foot

[@thomasgriffith1479]

You know your big into the LEGO AFOL community when you watch both Soild brix studios and Potterminifigpals

[@captainlegostarwars6134]

Really nice video! Great to see David in this! Hope people will learn more about lego!

[@Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

This was a good video, but it's missing one significant point: The success of Lego's original IPs and independent multimedia ventures. When Lego Star Wars proved to be a success in 1999, Lego didn't just sit around being dependent on an outside franchise. They saw the success of outside media and story on sales so they began to develop their own original themes. The most successful of these was undoubtably Bionicle which, along with Star Wars, made up the majority of Lego's revenues in the early 2000's. It was basically Boinicle and Star Wars that were keeping Lego alive during this do or die period. And Bonicle was only the beginning. Lego developed dozens more successful original themes after that which strongly contributed to profits and diversified their product portfolio. The most successful original Lego themes today are Lego Friends and Ninjago, both of which have accompanying TV shows. Lego was at the point of making its own media and stories to promote their products. The Lego Movie is the most cited example of Lego making it's own media but it was far from the first. That film came out in 2014 but Bionicle had already proved the success of original stories in 2001 with books and comics and Ninjago proved the importance for visual media in 2011 with an extremely successful tv series. The Lego Movie worked because Lego looked to these previous successful for a roadmap. The importance of outside themes like Star Wars and Harry Potter in the survival and successful of Lego should be recognized, but we can't forget the cruciality of Lego's original themes like Bionicle, Ninjago, Friends, and countless more.

[@dylan9382]

I wish they talked about ninjago and bionicle, two themes that really helped lego during tough times

[@seoul08]

“From bankrupt to $6”

[@LifeBricks]

Shout out David

[@alli457]

Woah, crazy to see that Holly was in this!

[@lbricks7631]

I'm happy the lego KZbin community was represented by David, Evan and Holly. (Solid Brix Studios, EvanTubeHD and Potterminifigpals.)

[@FinancialShinanigan]

Anytime there's a reupload, someone gets fired at CNBC

[@pakigya]

Wait why? Because something went wrong?

[@MasonsTurtle]

Or promoted. They get extra views and revenue.

[@myfriendindy6228]

Cool video and it was very interesting and also very interesting to watch !!!

[@jakobcarlson7613]

I loved the lego Star Wars videos and ads in the early 2010s

[@liopleurodon2000]

Never mind how Bionicle is the real thing that saved Lego from bankruptcy. Sure, Star Wars had a bit of a hand in it but it was mainly Bionicle that revived the brand

[@joeybaseball7352]

But did they charge $500 for a bionclyle set? It obvious to me that when you charge the most by a lot, you will have the biggest profit margin.

[@liopleurodon2000]

@@joeybaseball7352 oh no ONE $500 set ruined a line of mostly $15-$20 sets oh no

[@zev-gb8dk]

4:53 usc millenium falcon lol

[@DrMcBrick]

Interesting Video. As a pop culture professor and Lego KZbinr, I’m always examining how our pop culture and Lego are big businesses and not only inform our society, but help drive our economy as well in ways we don’t always think about.

[@something7641]

I'm here because of David hall

[@willbricksproductions]

A lot of this was true but some wasn’t exactly but overall a pretty good summary I love how the brickwiz was in it for a few seconds

[@michael1234252]

I've been playing with Lego for almost all my life and around 1998-2004 Lego was experimenting with a bunch of set ideas and a ton of them ended up becoming a failed line of sets. Several notable mentions are Jack Stone, Galidor, and Znap. With these sets Lego was trying to "Legoize" some other popular toys from that era. Ultimately Lego almost gave up on some of these sets. But I do have one random piece from a Galidor set that's one of those miss-fit pieces since I can't really do much with it in my builds.

[@coolguydom02]

Fantastic video great job 👏

[@mark1188]

I’ve never stopped playing with lego

[@MillionaireMindsetClub]

I am 29 and still play with lego ever now and then 😬

[@brix_4_life_YT]

Don’t worry there’s no shame in that

[@brianfromthirty]

“Altimate fanz of laygo” 😂

[@Fangar.]

Where was bionicle

[@jeffmrochinski]

Awesome video! I will use this as a case study for my high school marketing students. Thank you!

[@francis7181]

ayyyyy its LEGO boy.

[@RandomGamesProductions]

I’m a young adult but I’ve been into LEGO since I was a young kid and have always loved Star Wars and I think they have done a good job making sets but they need to do some remakes.

[@moonshoes11]

“I love lamp” - Brick Tamland If you’re a LEGO SW fan….you’ll get this.

[@KetaYoda]

Woah! Even Holly/PotterMinifigPals shows up in this video!

[@HristinaSedlackova]

No mention of such a fantastic educational product as Mindstorms?

[@niravmandhani2598]

Is it just me or did they already make a video about LEGO?

[@misterdetective8987]

they did

[@niravmandhani2598]

@@misterdetective8987 Good job detective

[@warasaurbuilds139]

8:56 ayy it’s mere

[@f00lish_commentator8]

Yeah Star Wars is great and all but, ya ever heard of BIONICLE?

[@Crims0niscool]

I haven’t heard that name since though golden age

[@carlospadilla9975]

Glad that it was David representing us

[@ShakilShahadat]

I am having a Deja vu.

[@graysonsingleton4563]

If only they listened to us when we say we want minifigures for the May the 4th promo😞

[@aveenp8219]

I love legos so much.

[@seanzheng521]

These adult collectors are the same kids who played Legos 15 years ago

[@corcoranmagriproperties]

My feet are afraid to watch this video! 🤣

[@thePlum]

LEGO FOREVER!!! 🙏🙏🙏

[@Mr-Cough]

The thumbnail uses fake lego I’m going to consume their souls

[@val8827]

why fake?

[@haystack1893]

5:44 were they referencing bombad bounty?

[@AllPureSkill]

AFOL are just people who grew up with LEGO and now have money and or kids lol...

[@jaketimberlake9023]

True I’ve been playing with legos since I was five, 14 years later I’m probably buying more legos than I did as a 12 yo since I got buying power now

[@pcninjagaming595]

@@jaketimberlake9023 same lol. I’m also 19 and I probably bought more lego last year than any other.

[@jaketimberlake9023]

@@pcninjagaming595 oh ik what u mean especially with sets like the AT-AT and 501st battlepack out, I’ve never collected so much Star Wars since 2013

[@pcninjagaming595]

@@jaketimberlake9023 yea 100%. I just got the AT-AT a few months ago and I have to say its amazing. I never owned any of the other ones so I "had" to get this one. I also didn't see the clone wars until last year so I've been buying all the clone wars sets that I can.

[@AllPureSkill]

@@jaketimberlake9023 im 26 going on 27 in May it never stops trust me, I have majority Star Wars & Western

[@Trimd]

I can't believe they put David's old At-te review in there 😂

[@CaspiaNadapdap]

I have recently really gotten into lego so it's definitely nice that they have a variety of sets that I can build!

[@Nander3]

Sent by David!

[@Broxy93]

them calling “lego” “legos” is really disgusting

[@koloth5139]

It is rather common vernacular. Most of us grew up doing it and it stuck. And I just don't bother to correct those around me. Heck I even slip up now and again.

[@StArFuRyZz]

Got the 1989 Batwing and Batmobile for Christmas and I'm getting the new Porche 911 kit. I'm 54...

[@madhatter7111]

And not to Mention maybe the biggest lego Star Wars collected ever MandR Productions

[@tellcelld1]

Legoboy12345678 squad where you at?

[@zev-gb8dk]

Legoboy12445678 is obviosly the superior name lmfao

[@something7641]

Legoboy12345678 squad is here

[@Nander3]

David sent me!

[@ids5621]

This implies lego hasn't had story themes for years before the lego movie, and completely removed bionicle from the saving bankruptcy and its original story emphasis

[@k3ganf1nn]

This is sweet I love lego and I love that people are finally realizing that lego is a really good toy

[@RetroActionUK]

1:10: No mention of Slizers/Roboriders etc and BIONICLE is your major misstep.

[@hunterthekitsune9536]

Of course they only mention Star Wars and not BIONICLE. 🙄

[@culverp1138]

I’ve been following David since he first started on KZbin. Truly the best AFOL

[@bzbricks3621]

Lego is boss and has withstood the test of time

[@ryanburt9108]

Not a single mention of the 501st battle pack...I’m appalled

[@theibbster3546]

I'm sorry, but calling it a "Lego Kit" is just wrong...

[@Belangerz]

It’s called a LEGO set, not a kit

[@KetaYoda]

Yes

[@Luke-pg5lc]

Agreed

[@rosiegirl7112]

Very interesting...it was this pandemic year that I also became an AFOL

[@brixinc.6659]

Solid Brix Fans WHERE YOU AT

[@something7641]

Here

[@Luke-pg5lc]

Here

[@ppineapple3188]

Here

[@Lucky2000Zx]

Here x4

[@johnnybeli8685]

4:33 no peanut butter and chocolate don’t go together

[@ryanburt9108]

Yes I love the USC millennium falcon

[@moonshoes11]

UCS

[@HudsonDog59]

It is grogu, not baby yoda!

[@DZstudios.]

Noice.....I have a LEGO City

[@moonshoes11]

Lego; everything is awesome.

[@HAMpeach]

Super interesting!

[@JoWe2012]

Wait until you hear about "Held der Steine"! KLEMMBAUSTEINGANG!

[@aur.elsann]

THE David Hall

[@a.l.d.a.16]

I'm here from David Hall lol

[@kriscynical]

Am I seeing that correctly? Did they actually use one of the _knock-off brands_ of Lego bricks in the video's thumbnail??😂

[@LAWGICYT]

It’s true, I just bought $500 worth of legos for m... er, I mean, my nephew

[@elijahwee4263]

Interesting shift from children to adults. Really ingenious how they used digitalisation to promote Lego. They copied the gaming industry, which uses social media personalities as well as social media to foster a community such as social media fosters an online community where everyone will be competing . In such a community, individuals will build or purchase new sets because they will be enticed to not lose out as a member of that community. Correct me if I am wrong.

[@jeffdorris5321]

Nice work 🦋🦋🦋🦋

[@farrelberwyn]

I love Lego

[@automatticcomics]

LEGO. SINGULAR AND PLURAL.

[@501st.Customs]

Yooo David’s on here!!

[@hawaiiangangster5562]

Can't wait for the New Lego Starwars saga

[@organizedchaos4559]

What's the difference between the boys toys and the girls toys?

[@something7641]

There isn't really any differences

[@estebanazcarragasada9386]

Nice Company

[@paqshet4648]

It's not even lego in the thumbnail

[@ahmedkadim225]

Peanut butter & chocolate?

[@something7641]

"These movies themed sets posed a new challenge to lego" *shows a star wars rebels set which is a tv show* you had one job

[@trentondecker7539]

DAVID HALL!!!❤️