Grab the kids and cut yourself a slice of LEGO cake, because at 1:58 p.m. today (the time of the the original patent's filing), the iconic building toy celebrates the 50th birthday of its original LEGO brick. Though it's slightly younger at 30, the LEGO minifigure is also celebrating a birthday this year, and considering that 4 billion of the little figures are presently spread throughout the world -- a stat that makes them the largest population group on Earth -- it's going to be a heck of a party.
All those years ago, the "LEGO System of Play," as it was then known, shipped its first set of bricks with instructions for building models; seen above, the original LEGO Town Plan is getting a comprehensive facelift as part of the brick's 50th anniversary. The retro-style 2008 Town Plan ($149.99), pictured below, packs 1,981 bricks and comes complete with a town hall, a movie theater, a gas station and car wash, and eight different minifigures to carpool in its two automobiles. Reprising his original role on the cover is a slightly older and richer Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, present-day owner of the LEGO Group and the grandson of its founder, Ole Kirk Christiansen.
Check out LEGO.com for a complete look at the new sets that have rolled out so far in the big 5-0, and renew your Brickmaster subscription while you're there, as it looks like three member's-only mini-sets are also in the works for later this year.
