While it's good to see that demand for Lego is outpacing production, I hope it doesn't give the knock-offs like MegaBlocks a leg up this holiday season among non-discriminating consumers.  For a while Lego was having problems with too many obscure product lines - though a few of the new product lines such as Bionicle (which seemed to evolve out of Tecnic Throwbots) have been profitable and even led to development of more traditional lines such as Exo-Force based on the concept of anime inspired mechs and giant robots.  They've also done a good job at making the sets appealing yet relatively inexpensive.

According to the article, Duplo, Lego City, Star Wars, and Technic sets were expected to be hit hardest.  It's been my experience that only Toys R Us typically carries a wide array of Technic sets.  Maybe shortages will lead parents to the online Lego Store and Shop @ Home services where they can find some of the more unique mail-order only products.

With consumer input, Lego added a new "What's Hot" feature to the site so people can see which sets are most popular.  It'd be handy for people buying gifts for people they don't know.  The other neat feature of the site is the "Sales and Deals" section, for people looking for the most bang for their buck.