LEGO released a public service announcement for LEGO Batman back in May. In July we have a new one. This one is from Jurassic World. I haven’t seen it shared elsewhere so enjoy if you have yet to see it.
Brick Production in Mexico and COVID Impacts
As the global pandemic continues, I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. I have seen many fans of the brick find new time to build due to lock-down requirements. That has included increased orders of sets from LEGO® and limited supply due to the factory in Mexico shutting down. LEGO® has tried to keep up with demand by shipping products from Europe and Asia, but there are still a lot of sets out of stock/on back order status at LEGO® Shop @ Home. A mid-May 2020 status update is posted here. With July coming up soon, I was curious as to where things were at in Mexico with the plant that supplies North America.
First off, a quick background on LEGO® and Mexico. According to lego.com, production began in Mexico in 2006. After a failed partnership attempt, production was in-sourced and a factory was stood up in Monterrey, Mexico. That’s about a 140 mile drive from the US border with Texas.
I wasn’t able to find the exact date things shut down in Mexico, but it appears to be in the April 2020 time frame. If you have knowledge of when it was, let me know. This generated a lot of pressure from US businesses and the US government as many companies rely on parts and production that takes place in Mexico. As of 1 June 2020, Mexico allowed aerospace, defense, construction, and mining related industries to re-open. This was along with the companies related to food production, health care, and other essential companies.
So where does the LEGO® factory sit on that list? I’m not sure, but as much as I’m looking forward to picking up some sets that have been out of stock, I want the workers to be safe. I am willing to wait and I encourage you to do the same.
In the meantime, happy building… stay safe and healthy!
LEGO Product Availability Update (in the US)
The Brick Fan posted a note on 14 May 2020 from the LEGO Company regarding stock levels in the US. It answers my question from my post on April 29 2020 about all of the sets out of stock/back ordered. Read the article for the full details, but the short answer is they have higher demand in the US due to people at home wanting to build and then the factory in Mexico having to shut down. Looks like LEGO is trying to adjust supply chains as the factories in Asia and Europe are not shut down. We’ll have to see what happens.
In the meantime, get to know someone in Europe who can hook you up with sets from here…
Happy building!
A Public Service Announcement from LEGO Batman
Haven’t seen this one make its way around the Fan Media pages yet so I figured I’d share this one. Looks like Will Arnett did some more voice work for the LEGO Company. It’s a pretty clever sketch and the messaging is good. I didn’t catch that the virus was brick built at first… Do you think that will become an official set?
LEGO® Donating Some of the Profits from Your Sales to Those in Need
My last post was a complaint about the May 4th sale or lack thereof. Well today I am going to highlight some good. LEGO’s prices may be seemingly getting higher or the sales may not seem good, but it' is good to see them using some of their profits for good. On 1 May, LEGO posted an article titled:
How we’re helping families impacted by COVID-19
In summary, they are giving ~$50M to four charities which support children. Those charities are located in the US, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and China.
I’m glad to see LEGO supporting charities and hope it continues.
Happy building!
The LEGO Company Steps into the COVID-19 Fight
I first saw it on the Brick Fan web site, but it appeared first on LEGO’s Facebook page. LEGO is using some of it’s equipment to build protective visors for medical teams. The video is on the Facebook page as well as on the Brick Fan site here. It’s even made some of the mainstream media like in the USA Today here. While there’s been a lot of different companies stepping up to help during the pandemic, it’s great to see one of my favorite brands get into the action. Thank you LEGO!
No bricks in these containers!