The LEGO Factory theme, active from 2005 to 2008, allowed fans to design their own models and have them produced as official LEGO sets. One notable set from this theme is the 10200 Custom Car Garage, released in 2008. This set features a detailed garage with three customizable cars, a lift, and various tools and accessories for building and modifying the vehicles. The set contains 893 pieces and includes three minifigures. The LEGO Factory theme was a precursor to the LEGO Digital Designer software, promoting creativity and custom model building.
The Factory theme was introduced in 2005 and was powered by LEGO Digital Designer (LDD), a free LEGO virtual building program for the computer. Using the LDD people could design their own 3-D LEGO virtual model, and submit it for purchase using the LEGO Shop-at-home. The Factory platform was also designed to allow users to view and purchase other users custom creations. Once ordered, these Factory sets came in special packaging that showed the model as well as all included LEGO elements needed to build the design.
During Factory's beta phase, The LEGO Group sponsored a contest where people could submit their designs, in which 8,000 designs were submitted and people and LEGO Master Model Builders voted on the top models. Ten models were selected to become real LEGO sets available exclusively through LEGO Shop-at-Home.
In 2009, LEGO Factory was replaced by Design byME.