This is interesting — LEGO is starting a new program called LEGO Factory, in which LEGO fans are designing their own kits and sharing them with the LEGO community at large. Using a desktop application called LEGO Digital Designer (available for Windows and Mac… hey, if LEGO can do it, why not Google? ;)), users create original designs. They can then actually order a physical kit that will build the designs they've created, as well as publish their kits on the LEGO website for other users to purchase.

LEGO senior brand relations manager Michael McNally sounds conspicuously like he's been subscribing to some Web 2.0 newsfeeds: "People are looking for outlets and venues where they can share common interests… It's the whole trend of sharing your personal preference or taste with a community that has access to make it their own." They're also doing completely viral marketing on this — no advertising, only word of mouth via LEGO community sites and the LEGO newsletter. One suggestion and one complaint: the suggestion is, kit designers should get a cut when other folks buy their kits. The complaint is — why didn't they have this kinda stuff when I was a kid?! :)