NEW YORK (June 20, 2006) - The LEGO Group, the world's leading construction toy manufacturer, continues to develop its brands in key children's lifestyle categories with a growing portfolio of licensed products based on some of the hottest properties: BIONICLE®, new EXO-FORCE® and the classic LEGO® brand.

The LEGO brand's reputation for quality, creativity and fun, in addition to a 98% global brand awareness among families with children, continues to deliver strong success to global and regional licensing partners in categories including publishing, apparel, footwear, bags, watches/clocks, pens, party goods, cake décor, puzzles/board games, electronic toys, bedding, costumes, video/DVD, personal care and, most recently, video games and food products.

LEGO licensing deals on the horizon are furniture and storage, and company executives have strategic interest in exploring possibilities and partnerships in consumer electronics, food and personal care.

"We have had tremendous success with our BIONICLE action figure property, and new EXO-FORCE is heating up, and we're now also focused on working with partners to create lifestyle products for families based on the classic LEGO brand," says Stephanie Lawrence, director partnership and alliance management for LEGO Group. "The LEGO brand's reputation for creativity, quality and fun make it a perfect addition to almost any category."

Highlights for 2006 include a new partnership with Kellogg's and two new videogames.

Food
A growing partnership with Kellogg's marks the LEGO Group's debut in the food and snacks category. Introduced in January, LEGO brick-shaped EGGO waffles give kids a chance to extend their creativity to the breakfast table, making meal time fun time. Sales have exceeded projections by over 40%. Next up in grocery store aisles: Kellogg's fruit snacks based on the classic LEGO brand.

Video Games
Last year's LEGO Star Wars™: The Video Game ranked among the top 10 video games of the year and was one of the most requested games specifically among boys 5-12 (Funosophy). Building on that success, LEGO Star Wars™: The Original Trilogy. Distributed by LucasArts, the game features everything gamers love about the first game, plus more building, expanded vehicle play and mix and match virtual minifigure creation. Available in September for PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC CD-ROM, Nintendo DS and GBA.

Developed by the creators of LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, the upcoming BIONICLE® Heroes is a third-person shooter game that, for the first time ever, features every BIONICLE character - heroes and villains - since the property's launch in 2001. Players can "morph" characters to take on attributes and abilities of other characters. Available in October for PS2, Gamecube, PC CD-ROM, Nintendo DS and GBA.

Publishing
The BIONICLE brand continues to drive best-selling status for Scholastic books, with 11 titles currently ranking on the Bookscan list of top sellers, and new books based on new LEGO EXO-FORCE™ are soon to follow suit. Inspired by Manga-style animation and themes, EXO-FORCE takes imaginations to a mountain split in two, held together by bridges. Renegade robots will destroy mankind unless a team of young battle machine pilots can stop them.