A Lego theme is a
product line of
Lego construction toys produced by
The Lego Group
Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aroun ...
based on a central concept.
Before 1978, Lego produced several construction sets with common themes, but they were not necessarily branded as part of a single series or theme. Following the introduction of
minifigures
A Lego minifigure, commonly referred to as a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by Denmark, Danish toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced wor ...
in 1978, owner
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (; born 27 December 1947) is the former President and CEO of The Lego Group (1979–2004). According to ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', Kristiansen is the third richest Dane, with a net worth of $6.75 billion as of April ...
pushed a new strategy of creating and marketing a series of sets he termed a "system within the system" and the three original environments (based on the present, past and future, respectively) were launched:
Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
,
Castle,
and
Space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually cons ...
.
In 1987, Lego created themes within these environments, as well as introducing branding that identified a set as part of a theme. The company also produced product lines that used pieces outside of the standard Lego System such as
Technic and
Fabuland. Since then, many new themes have been introduced and discontinued, including the inclusion of
licensed
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
themes in 1999 such as
''Star Wars''. Not all sets produced are necessarily part of any official theme including store exclusive sets, one-off licensed sets, and most advanced construction sets released prior to the introduction of
Creator Expert.
Current themes
Discontinued themes and environments
Town, Space, Castle, Pirates, Aquazone, and Time Cruisers are more accurately called Systems or Environments than themes. The relationship between themes and factions is complicated.
References
External links
*
Theme Inventoryon Peeron
Theme Inventoryon
LUGNET
{{Lego
*
Lists of toys