1956 / System i Leg

In 1956 LEGO released 17 System i Leg sets across 3 subthemes. The largest System i Leg set from 1956 was 700-0 Town Plan System with a piece count of 264.

System i Leg, which translates to System of Play, was the natural progress of LEGO Mursten and is the foundation of L:EGO sets today. Designed by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen who organized the existing LEGO Mursten sets and modeled new designs around a single, common theme - a townscape or street scene. After nearly a year of development the result was the LEGO Mursten System i Leg (System of Play). The System i Leg was unveiled at the Nürnburg Toy Fair in February 1955. The original Automatic Binding Bricks sets and then LEGO Mursten sets were continued to be manufactured under the System i Leg theme.

1956 LEGO Sets

1956 was another important milestone year for the LEGO Group. In this year LEGO began its expansion into various neighboring European markets including Germany and LEGO opened its first foreign sales company in Hohenwestedt, Germany. As LEGO began to expand sales they also simplified the Mursten theme. Since 1954 LEGO had sold both the old panel-like windows and doors and the new window system that relied on the studs for attachment. In 1956 the old windows were dropped. The slotted bricks were now obsolete and were replaced with a new solid wall design, the first change to the brick since 1949. This new, simplified system would be the only toy offered in new foreign markets.