The LEGO Creator theme consists of a variety of subthemes that revolve around sets that focus on buildings, creatures, vehicles, robots and recently more specialized sets such as botanical and even the Chinese New Year. Many of these sets have fallen under the 3-in-1 label which include instructions in a single set to provide multiple alternative models. Originally created in 2001 with a focus on larger bucket sets, the LEGO Creator theme has expanded outside just bricks to later include minifigures.
2001 LEGO Sets
2001 was another interesting year for LEGO collecting. LEGO introduced a few very iconic and highly collectable sets which help drive LEGO investments to date, these include the Bionicle theme, Harry Potter, LEGO Racers and Alpha Team. Also introduced in 2001 as well as retired was the Life on Mars theme. We also saw the release of Islanders and Imperial Armada as subthemes of LEGO Pirates. LEGO also expanded its retail footprint in 2001 with brand stores opening in England, Germany, and Russia as well as expansions in the United States. The 2001 notable sets include the Star Wars Darth Maul bust (10018-1), Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series Rebel Blockade Runner (10019-1) and of course the LEGO Dragon sculpture (3724-1).