Building Sets are the plain DUPLO brick sets, buckets and boxes of bricks without a story. DUPLO started in 1969, and the name comes from the Latin word for double, because each brick is twice as long, wide and high as a LEGO brick. The studs are made to fit, so DUPLO and LEGO bricks lock together and a builder can move from one to the other. For years the plastic bucket was the usual way to sell them, from the 1980s through the early 2000s, often shaped or printed as an animal, a farm or a circus, and some came as anniversary editions. Later sets switched to cardboard brick boxes with ideas for what to build on the side.
1988 LEGO Sets
In 1988, Castle introduced the Black Knights era with imposing fortresses and dragon heraldry, while Town delivered large, feature-packed sets such as racetracks and service complexes. Futuron and Blacktron—introduced the prior year—remained central to Space, with sleek exploration craft set against bold, antagonist designs.