20th
From left to right this picture shows LEGO bricks from the 1950s to today. Each LEGO brick is slightly different
Brick 1 (Far Left) - 1950s Cellulose Acetate Brick with the Old LEGO Logo and a moulding pip on the side. Cellulose Acetate is the earliest plastic type material LEGO used, it was more fragile and a bit more orange than current bricks. Moulding pips are marks left on the bricks from the machine pushing them out of the molds.
Brick 2 (2nd From Left) - 1958-1974 Patent Pending ABS Brick with the old LEGO logo and the moulding-pip still on the side. ABS or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene is still used today. It’s a more stable plastic with less warping and better hold.
Brick 3 (3rd from left) - 1974-1979 ABS Brick with the New LEGO logo and the moulding-pip now on the stud, to make it less noticable. This brick also features notches on the bottom tubes.
Brick 4 (4th from left) - 1980s brick, same ABS material, but the notches are gone from the tubes.
Brick 5 (5th from left) - 1990s ABS Brick, with just a minor color variation from today’s bricks. In the 1990s LEGO spent some time researching ways to make their products cheaper and dyes were part of the evaluation.
Brick 6 (Last brick from the left) - Current LEGO brick, still made of ABS with moulding-pip still on a stud on top of the brick. Also supports were added on the bottom and a standard number was assigned, in this bricks case #3001. You’ll find these bricks in all sets bought today.A brief history of the actual Lego brick.
