As Friday officially kicks off this year's holiday shopping season in the US I welcome the news that LEGO has an innovative program going on that leverages the power of the Internet to create a competition that also returns the struggling toy maker to it's roots as a building toy.

The online competition allows customers to use the Lego Digital Designer software to design a building set that is then uploaded to the site and voted on by other enthusiasts. The winning designer sees their design in production:

Sell the LEGO set you designed around the world!

If you are one of the 10 final winners you will be certified as a REAL professional LEGO Factory designer and...

Get your model mass produced and packaged in the REAL LEGO production line in Denmark!

Get to name your LEGO set, including your name, on the actual LEGO box. 

Get 25 boxes of your LEGO set for free!

Get your LEGO set sold in [email protected] on www.LEGO.com

Most cool of all… You will get 5% royalty on each set sold.. directly into a college fund or savings account!

Forget movie tie-ins and action figures this is true to what Lego is all about. To early to tell but here's hoping that it's the front edge of the reemergence of a great global brand.

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