‘Make more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures’

A seven-year-old girl’s letter expressing her displeasure with Lego’s offerings for female fans has sparked the Danish toy company into action.

“I want you to make more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures... ok!?!” wrote Charlotte Benjamin.

Lego officials assured her that they were in fact considering a brand new female set and have now made good on their word.

She had complained to Lego: “All the girls did was sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people, and had jobs, even swam with sharks. I want you to make more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun ok!?! Thank you.”

Lego snapped into action and have launched a Research Institute play set on its website. The collection features three female scientists: an astronomer, a paleontologist and a chemist. Included in the $20 set are pieces that form a telescope, a map of constellations, a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, a microscope, and a laboratory.

The set was created by Ellen Kooijman. a geophysicist who used Lego Ideas, a platform which allows anyone to share their concepts and collect online supporters.

In a blog post, Kooijman wrote: “As a female scientist I had noticed two things about the available Lego sets: a skewed male/female minifigure ratio and a rather stereotypical representation of the available female figures.” She added that she hoped her designs would “make our Lego city communities more diverse.”

The collection is already sold out but is expected to be available again later this month.

This isn’t Lego’s first attempt to go after the female market — it introduced Lego Friends in December 2011, targeted specifically to girls. Those sets feature everything from a bakery to a pet salon and a juice bar.