LEGO is joining other toymakers in creating more inclusive products, unveiling a new mini-figure of a boy using a wheelchair.
The figure is part of a set called “Fun at the Park” and features a boy in a grey hoodie and hat sitting in a wheelchair, along with the boy’s assistance dog.
The iconic toymaker revealed the latest design at toy fairs in London and Nuremberg last week, and photos were taken by the German toy fan group Promobricks.
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LEGO, based in Billund, Denmark, is joining other toymakers in creating more diverse products. Last week Mattel announced it will start selling dolls with differing shapes and sizes: tall, curvy and petite.
Rebecca Atkinson, who co-founded the group Toy Like Me, created a petition on Change.org that called for more inclusiveness in the depiction of disabled kids.
“Please make this the last Christmas disabled kids are culturally excluded from your much-loved products,” the petition said.
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In a statement published by The Guardian, LEGO was hesitant to make the change.
“The beauty of the Lego system is that children may choose how to use the pieces we offer to build their own stories,” the company said.
Now it appears the Danish company has listened as multiple media reports suggest the new toy set will be available this summer.
“We’ve got genuine tears of joy right now,” Atkinson wrote in an update to her petition. “LEGO have just rocked our brick built world! After nearly a year of hard work and lobbying from #ToyLikeMe and you guys, Lego have listened to this little ol’ toy box revolution and included a wheelchair user with an assistance dog in their new Fun in the Park set unveiled at London Toy Fair this week!”