It was up to me to be sure that the vessel for my System in Play could support its ambition and goal. Seeing the obvious problems with the automatic binding bricks, I worked through the years to improve them, starting by making sure they actually stayed together. During a meeting with my brother and Axel Thomson, the head of the sales office in Germany, he brought up complaints customers had about their LEGO creations falling apart. I decided this needed to be addressed, so I designed a tube system on the bottom to increase clutch power, and patented it. I also had the idea to increase exposure of the LEGO brand name, and it's association with the System in Play, by renaming the brick to LEGO Mursten (LEGO Brick). I also increased possibilities for play and creativity with the LEGO brick by creating special pieces like the LEGO wheel.
LEGO System in Play
As you may have learned in my Life Timeline, the idea to have a LEGO System in Play was sparked in me during a conversation with the British toymaker Troels Petersen. I considered the merit and way I might implement this idea for many days. I eventually came up with six rules, the LEGO System constitution, if you will, and LEGO Bricks fit it best.
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The System in Play and LEGO business model are very unique, even today. There aren't many other toy companies as successful as LEGO that are focused on virtually a single product, a single toy. Mattel and Hasbro have needed to have thousands of products to be on the same level as LEGO in profit. So what makes this system so effective? Firstly, new products multiply toy collections, rather than adding to them. Rather than just having two different toys, children could combine them into anything they want. Even if there may be pieces more suited to a certain theme, at the end of the day the only limit is the child's imagination and creativity.