2x4 Light Grey Bricks ©2000 LEGO Group

Ever since the days of Classic LEGO, it seems that the 2x4 brick has been on a decline, rarely appearing in sets outside of Creator buckets, and almost never in licensed sets. Today, I am going to be looking into the disappearance of the 2x4, and try to find out what is happening to it. Read on to see where the 2x4 went.

With Huw's help, I have compiled a list of sets containing 2x4s, and a chart of their release over the past 22 years. I have left out Creator buckets and loose parts, in favor of individual sets. This information is all based on Brickset's database (and subsequently the LEGO inventories), so it may not be 100% accurate.

1994

Like any good investigation, we will start from the beginning, in 1994. This was the year that the database really starts to keep records of set inventories. A mere six sets are recorded as having a total of nineteen 2x4s in them, notably in themes like Belville, Pirates, Town and Trains. The most 2x4s in a set this year was a tie between Enchanted Island and Sail N' Fly Marina, with five each.

1995

This year actually has both fewer sets and fewer of our missing bricks, with only five sets and seven 2x4s between them. 1995 was the first time Aquazone had 2x4s, with two in Crystal Explorer Sub. The Pirates, Town and Trains themes also contained sets with 2x4s.

1996

Thankfully, 1996 had over three times as many sets and 2x4s as the previous year, with a total of 15 sets and 36 2x4s, in sets like Giant Truck, Fort Legoredo, and Explorien Starship.

1997

The number of 2x4s per year continued to climb in 1997 with more 2x4s appearing in sets that year than in any year before. Of the 23 sets that contained 2x4s, Blaze Brigade contained the most of any set so far, with eight of the brick in question.

1998

The next year, the number of 2x4s continued to double, with 129 appearing in 37 sets. Even the first Mindstorms set contained 2x4s, with a staggering 26 bricks in RIS 1.0's portfolio.

1999

1999 once again more than doubled the number of 2x4s released a year, with 290 in 52 sets. 2x4s appeared in many new themes this year in notable sets like the original Snowspeeder, Santa on Reindeer, The Chrome Crusher, and Shanghai Surprise.

2000

While only 38 sets contained 2x4s in 2000, the number of 2x4s exploded, thanks mainly to a pair of Advanced Models: LEGO Mini-Figure and Statue of Liberty, both icons of their era. LEGO Mini-Figure contained one hundred 2x4s, while Statue of Liberty contained a staggering four hundred - the most in any set to date.

2001

The number of sets containing 2x4s rose to 51 in 2001, but the number of 2x4s fell slightly, to 628, despite the release of a Darth Maul bust, which included 101 2x4s.

2002

The number of sets with 2x4s continued to rise in 2002, but the number of said bricks continued to fall, with 567 2x4s that year. Only one sculpture set was made that year, Yoda, who contained 85 2x4s.

2003

The trend continued in 2003, with 61 sets for a total of only 550 2x4s. Notable sets to contain 2x4s this year were the USS Constellation and NBA Challenge.

2004

The number of 2x4s increased somewhat in 2004, with 629 bricks among 64 sets. Maersk Sealand Container Ship and Millennium Falcon each helped contribute to the higher part count.

2005

2x4 production dropped sharply in 2005, down to 346 in only 44 sets. Among those few sets were the Death Star II, Sandcrawler, and XXL Mobile Crane.

2006

2006 saw a decrease in 2x4s not seen since 1998, with only 140 spread throughout 44 sets. This is a very interesting piece of evidence in the case, as you will see in the conclusion. The set with the most 2x4s this year was Sentai Headquarters, with only 12 2x4s in a $100 set.

2007

The number of 2x4s rebounded somewhat in 2007 to 243, thanks to 57 sets, including the UCS Millennium Falcon, Model Town House and Cafe Corner.

2008

Growth in both the number of sets and number of bricks continued in 2008, with 60 sets containing a total of 294 2x4s. The Death Star set (yep, it came out way back in 2008) helped contribute to this growth with 67 2x4s, while Taj Mahal and Town Plan contributed 20 and 25, respectively.

2009

Both the number of sets and 2x4s rose again in 2009, to 455 bricks and 75 sets. The introduction of Games played a large part in these numbers, with Creationary and Ramses Pyramid both contributing over thirty 2x4s each.

2010

The number of sets with 2x4s continued to climb in 2010, with 79 sets containing 2x4s, in contrast to the 38 sets a decade before. However, the number of 2x4s dropped again, to 341. Notable sets to contain 2x4s this year included Tower Bridge (with 34), Imperial Flagship (with 7), and Maersk Line Container Ship (with 17).

2011

2x4 numbers jumped in 2011, coming close to levels in the early 2000s, with 519 bricks total, in 82 sets. LEGO Champion is almost solely responsible for the increase in 2x4s, with 160 of the part in question in one set.

2012

Without a 2x4-dense set, the number of bricks fell back down to 349, even though twenty more sets were made in 2012 than in 2011. One of the sets with the most 2x4s this year was R2-D2.

2013

448 2x4 were released in 2013, among 112 sets. Some of the interesting sets to contain 2x4s in 2013 were the Sydney Opera house (with 43), Tower of Orthanc (with 13), and Ewok Village (with 9).

2014

The number of 2x4s released per year hit an all time high in 2014, with a staggering 938 bricks, while the number of sets dropped to 105. Who is responsible for this feat? Two culprits can be easily singled out from the line-up: Maersk Line Triple-E, with 217 2x4s, and Minecraft, with a combined total of 224 2x4s.

2015

Though Minecraft continued to pump out sets in 2015 (and with them 2x4s), the number of 2x4s dropped back down to 530, even though the number of sets with 2x4s was the highest to date. Noticeable sets this year were Kwik-E-Mart, SHIELD Helicarrier, and The Dungeon.

Conclusion

So what conclusion can be drawn from this mountain of evidence? At the beginning of the chart, the number of 2x4s is surprisingly low, despite the 2x4 brick being a very important piece in the LEGO line-up.

However, this dearth of 2x4s is easily attributed to the lack of set inventories for those years. As the chart progresses, the numbers steadily rise as set inventories become more common. The 2x4 had its best run in the early 2000s, when sets became blockier and more juniorized. When sets started becoming more advanced and less blocky in 2005 and 2006, the number of 2x4s hit their lowest point. When the number of sets released per year started to grow in 2007, so did the number of 2x4s. However, a significant portion of this increase was due to large sets (like the Maersk Line Triple-E), and the number of 2x4s in the standard sets remained low.

The 2x4 brick really did almost disappear back in the mid 2000s, but has since worked its way back. However the number of 2x4s in most sets is still low, thereby giving the illusion of rarity.