This is the first generation of LEGO Mindstorms, built around 9719 Robotics Invention System from 1998. The name came from Mindstorms, a 1980 book by Seymour Papert of the MIT Media Lab, whose research on programmable bricks led to the RCX, the yellow brick at the centre of the kit. It holds a small computer with three motor outputs and three sensor inputs, and programs written on a PC went to it by infrared through a tower plugged into the computer.
2004 LEGO Sets
2004 was a pivotal recovery year following financial losses in 2003. LEGO updated its color palette, introducing light nougat for licensed minifigures and brighter grays and browns. The company partnered with Ferrari under LEGO Racers and launched Knights’ Kingdom II, a story-driven reimagining of Castle. QUATRO expanded the preschool range, while World City, Orient Expedition, Spider-Man, and Gravity Games concluded. These shifts, along with strategic licensing, began LEGO’s long-term turnaround.