stockholm — the lego brick has toppled the barbie doll — at least for now — in children 's affections .
the lego the maximum quantity of an item that can purchased in each transaction is 99 .
lego toys have become so popular they ' ve even attracted the attention of big - time criminals .
 
lego sales -- reporting revenue that was more than 30 % higher than the board - game giant .
toy maker lego a s on thursday said its revenue in the first six months rose 11 % boosted by " the lego movie " products , making it the biggest toy company in the world by revenue and profit , ahead of barbie - maker mattel inc.
the family - owned business surpassed top competitor , mattel ( mat ) , which is struggling with slumping global sales and slower demand for barbie dolls and fisher - price toys .
john goodwin said : " lego movie products provided a significant boost to our sales during the first half of 2014 . "