LEGO 2001 / Duplo / Building Sets Sets

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.

2001 LEGO Sets

2001 marked the global debut of BIONICLE, a story-driven theme that blended mechanical building with rich mythology, becoming one of LEGO’s most successful original lines. LEGO Harry Potter launched alongside The Sorcerer’s Stone film, beginning a long-running partnership with the Wizarding World franchise. Other new releases included Alpha Team and the action-oriented Racers theme. LEGO also introduced Serious Play for business training and Jack Stone for younger builders. Life on Mars was launched and discontinued within the same year, while LEGO expanded its global retail presence with new brand stores in Europe and the U.S.