Invasion of the tiny plastic people! Lego figures set to outnumber HUMANS by 2019



A graph produced by a physics graduate in Virginia, compared human population predictions and the forecast production of Lego figures

At the end of 2006, Lego said there were four billion figures in existence, but the number is expected to rise to almost eight billion in 2019

The first Lego figurine went on sale in 1978 and had no race, sex or specific role, as these would be determined by a child's imagination

Since 1978, millions of tiny plastic people have been populating the Earth.

And now it is predicted that there could be a miniature Lego figure for every person on Earth in 2019.

According to a mathematical online comic, Lego has been making its little people at such a rate that they will outnumber the human population by the end of the decade.

A physics graduate from Massachusetts, who is behind the web comic Xkcd.com has calculated that the predictions for the global population and predictions for the number of Lego Figurines will match up in 2019 and the little plastic people will go on to out-number humans

The first Lego figurine went on sale in 1978 and since then, billions have been produced

At the end of 2006, the company announced there were four billion miniature figures in existence, being played with by children across the planet.

Now, a physics graduate from Massachusetts, who is behind the web comic Xkcd.com has calculated that the predictions for the global population and predictions for the number of Lego Figurines will match up in 2019 and the plastic people will go on to out-number humans.

If the predictions are correct, there will be almost eight billion people and the same amount of Lego figures calling Earth home in 2019.

Lego said in 2008 that it has made 400 billion Lego bricks since the company began, which is enough for 62 each for every person in existence at that time.

According to a mathematical online comic, Lego has been making its little people at such a rate that they will outnumber the human population by the end of the decade. Here, s model maker at Legoland Windsor puts the finishing touches to a wall made up of over 6,000 Lego figures

LEGO MINIFIGURE TIME LINE

1978: The first minifigures are launched for the themes Town, Space and Castle



1978: Two months after the appearance of the first minifigures the first female minifigure arrives on the scene and she's a nurse



1989: Minifigures change their facial expressions. Now they can be either good or bad



1997: The minifigure comes to life in the computer game PANIC ON LEGO ISLAND as an animated character



1998: The minifigure makes its first appearance in a specific role - as Star Wars characters



2003: For the first time in the history of the minifigure its yellow facial colouring is replaced by a more authentic skin colour



2004: Lego licensed products no longer have yellow faces – Harry Potter, for example, assumes a more natural skin tone



2010: Minifigures are launched as collector’s items

The first Lego figurine went on sale in 1978 and since then, billions have been produced, making them the world's biggest population group, according to the company.

The mini figure has been modelled after celebrities from Stephen Spielberg to Santa Claus and enjoyed various careers, including astronaut, policeman, racing driver, warrior, pirate, skater and scientist as well as taken on the role of fictional characters like Spider-Man, Harry Potter and Yoda.

Lego said that when the mini figure first appeared, it was decided that its face should have only one colour - yellow - and that its facial features should be happy and neutral.

However earlier this year, robot experts at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, studied all 6000 minifigures from 1975 to 2010 and found that from the early Nineties onwards, Lego's mini-figures' facials expressions have been diversifying from consistently happy smiles to expressions reflecting greater conflict.



The first figures had no sex, race or specific role, as these would be determined by a child's imagination and it was not until the launch of Lego Pirates in the 1980s that the figures were given differing facial expressions.