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LEGO Company Teams With Skateboarding Pro Andy Macdonald
Company Aligns with Professional Skateboarder to Promote New Line of Action Heroes for Kids
New York. . .LEGO Systems, Inc., the division of the LEGO Company that serves the Americas, today announces a partnership with Andy Macdonald, six-time X-Games skateboarding gold-medallist and five-time World Cup Skateboarding overall points champion. The company has signed Macdonald for a one-year sponsorship to promote its new line of Bionicle action heroes, which will be unveiled during this week's American International Toy Fair.
As part of the agreement, Macdonald will make special guest appearances at several Bionicle events planned for 2001, in addition to wearing the Bionicle logo and icon on the deck of his board and participating in Bionicle promotions at select skateboarding events. LEGO Company also may use Macdonald's likeness in promotional materials and premiums.
"I'm psyched to be riding for the LEGO Company," says Andy Macdonald. "I've been a fan of LEGO since I was a kid and my whole bedroom floor was covered with a LEGO town."
Leading the LEGO Company's 2001 product assortment, Bionicle is a line of action heroes in the company's LEGO® TECHNIC® category. A departure for the company, the new Bionicle line features quick-build, collectible items based on a richly detailed and intriguing story line. Bionicle will launch in the Americas this summer, with additional items representing the action heroes' foes following in early fall.
"Bionicle is unlike anything we've done before," says Eric Wolfe, director of marketing for LEGO Systems. "With that in mind, we've created an aggressive marketing program for the products that is equally unique. Having Andy on board with us on the Bionicle project is a perfect fit – he's a leader in his sport, he's cutting-edge and he's all about creative expression, qualities we value in the LEGO brand name as well."
The story of Bionicle takes place on the island of Mata Nui, where the evil Makuta rules and times are dark. A legend says that six heroes will come to restore peace. One day, six canisters drift ashore, each containing one of the six mighty Toa. The legendary Toa have arrived, but to defeat the evil Makuta, the Toa must find the Kanohi, or great Masks of Power. Many dangers await them before they can find the power to fulfill their destiny and free the island and its inhabitants from evil.
For more information, visit www.bionicle.com.
Andy Macdonald's laundry list of accomplishments has cemented his position as one of the top professional skateboarders in the world. Six
X-Games gold medals, a first-place finish at the 2000 Gravity Games, a Guinness World Record, five World Cup Skateboarding overall points championships, a U.S. postage stamp modeled after his likeness, a policy-related appearance and speech at the White House with former President Bill Clinton, and spokesperson for The Partnership for a Drug-Free America and ONDCP. At only twenty-seven years of age, Andy (a.k.a. Andy Mac) is a multidiscipline athlete, who in the last four years is the only professional skateboarder to rank in the world's top ten in both street and vert competitions. Andy's unique style and determination have made him one of the most popular athletes in skateboarding today.
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LEGO Systems, Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin America) division of the LEGO Company, a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark. The LEGO Company employs more than 1,500 people in the Americas – approximately one half of whom work at LSI's 203-acre headquarters in Enfield, Connecticut. The LEGO Company is committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough." For more information, visit www.LEGO.com.
Media Contact:
LEGO Company
Michael McNally
Tel: 860-763-7825
Pgr: 888-502-5741
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