American manga: I drew Superman in the Great Depression

Chapter 77 Lego

These little toy people.

Colin was reminded of another 'toy of the century' that was also born during the Great Depression - Lego bricks.

Of course, this period.

The concept of LEGO only exists in Colin's mind.

Even its founder, Ollie, was just a carpenter living in a remote village in Denmark, relying on his superb carpentry skills to occasionally make toys for children.

The early toys of LEGO were not much different from the mini-figure toys in Fisher-Price's small workshop.

They are all made of wooden toys such as various little people, animals, cars, and small houses. However, in his later development, Ollie was inspired by a British product called "Self-locking Building Blocks", which gave him the idea

He came up with the idea of ​​turning Lego toys into building blocks, standardizing them, and finally bringing them into reality.

Of course, Colin thought of this.

I’m not really interested in the development history of Lego toys, but I have some thoughts on the final product, the Lego toys themselves.

In later generations, the development of Lego has basically matured.

There are countless toy products built by Lego, and the standardization of Lego bricks has greatly increased its playability. This way of creating various things at will through endless splicing methods has almost made Lego’s

There are no restrictions on how to play.

Everything in the known world can be restored using LEGO bricks as parts; everything in the unknown world can also be imagined using LEGO bricks as parts.

And this also means that if Colin is willing.

You can also use this method to transform Superman into Lego.

In the future, due to the development of Lego, others will need to cooperate with them to authorize the production of peripherals.

But now, Colin can completely replace it and create his own Lego Superman.

Once such an idea pops up in Colin's mind, it can never be taken back.

…

"Injection molding machine?"

Inside the Courier newspaper office, faced with Colin's inquiry.

Jack Leibovitz had an obviously puzzled expression on his face. He frowned and thought for a moment, and finally asked in confusion.

"What is that?"

Well, the idea of ​​producing a LEGO Superman is too good to be true.

As a result, Colin overlooked an important issue, which is that in this era, the industrialization of plastics has not yet fully matured.

This chemical product invented in the 1870s has gone through a long evolution, and it was not until the mid-1940s that it truly entered the mature stage of large-scale application.

Before this, in fact, the production of Lego was mainly made of wood.

In fact, Fisher-Price's first toys made of plastic did not appear until the early 1950s.

During this period, most toys were made with metal and wood as materials.

Therefore, this means that the birth of LEGO Superman will still take some time to wait.

Inside the newspaper office, there was a reaction.

Colin couldn't help but show a look of regret on his face.

However, he did not give up on the development of Lego Superman, since there was no way to make real plastic Lego.

Then, wooden Lego is also acceptable.

After the first Superman doll produced by Fisher-Price was released, Colin planned to start making Lego Superman.

The reason why he had to wait until then was not only to use the first Superman doll to test the popularity of this product in the market, but Colin also had the idea of ​​acquiring Fisher.

Once the Superman doll becomes popular in the market, after experiencing the hot sales of Superman toys.

How could Fisher-Price give up this product patent so easily?

From the development of later generations, Colin knew very well the talents of the founders of Fisher-Price in toy manufacturing and sales.

Especially in the production of infant toys, Future Fisher-Price takes the lead.

A newborn baby may not be able to understand the "Superman" comic stories in newspapers or "Messenger Comics" yet.

But they will definitely play with toys, even if they don't know the prototype of the toy in their hands, but the image of Superman will be from the baby crib they have been lying on since childhood, and the baby toys they have played with, subtly outlining Superman deep in their young hearts.

image.

…

The next few days.

Colin commuted between the newspaper office and the Fisher-Price toy shop in Churchville.

Participated in the production of Superman dolls.

The image of Superman is not only a symbol of the Courier Newspaper today, but also affects the cohesion of Colin's mark and the collection of [faith].

Therefore, it is naturally impossible for him to license it out at will like Disney did.

He didn't want to see Superman's head appear on something that shouldn't be there one day.

"I think the chest position can be adjusted to make the 'S' logo on Superman's chest more three-dimensional..."

In the toy workshop, Colin gave his opinion on Superman's first toy model.

The first Superman doll made by Fisher-Price was still made of the wood they were most familiar with. The height of the entire doll was only less than three centimeters. The cape on the back appeared in the form of a sculpture. At the same time, the doll placed its hands on its waist in a pose.

Superman's classic pose.

"However, if this is the case, the time to make a Superman toy will also increase. I think it can be replaced by printing."

After hearing Colin's opinions, Margaret expressed her own different views.

"If printing can do it, then I'm not opposed to it."

Leave it to the professionals. Faced with Margaret's objections, Colin did not refuse.

His purpose is just to get the Superman doll to go on the market smoothly, as for the toy production process.

As long as it meets his requirements, some detailed issues can be left to Margaret and the others to handle.

“In addition to wooden toys, I think cloth dolls are also a good choice, and cloth dolls are simpler and more convenient to make than wooden toys to a certain extent, with higher output and less susceptible to damage.

"

On the other side, looking at the Superman puppet in Colin's hand, Helen made a suggestion.

Although Fisher-Price has rich production experience and creativity in wooden toys, this does not mean that they have not dabbled in other types of toys.

Before founding Fisher-Price, Helen had run a toy store in Binghamton, New York, so she was involved in all kinds of toys.

Muppet toys have always had huge potential in the children's market.

It is also one of the main toys for children, and even many adults also collect dolls.

"Perhaps we can try to produce a batch of Superman puppets first and see how the market reacts."

After some discussion, Herman finally decided on the shape and craftsmanship of the first batch of Superman dolls after consulting Colin.

Thanks to Chichichichichichihuo, Chen for the 300 starting coins, Milu Beiwang for the 500 starting coins, Trendㄨ_Stupidly for the 1,500 starting coins, and the slightly silly 100 starting coins for the reward.