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.
1992 LEGO Sets
1992 saw the formal launch of LEGO Dacta, later LEGO Education, integrating bricks into classroom learning. DUPLO introduced the Toolo subtheme, using toy screwdrivers and bolts for mechanical exploration. In Castle, the Wolfpack faction debuted, representing outlaw knights, while Space Police II modernized the LEGO Space law enforcement narrative with updated designs and continuity from Blacktron II. LEGO also expanded into Asia with the founding of LEGO Japan, solidifying its growing international reach.