The LEGO Sports theme was based on a number of sporting activities that ran from 2000 until 2007. It featured basketball, football (soccer), hockey and Gravity Games extreme sports such as skateboarding or snowboarding. Most Sports theme sets included standard LEGO System elements and minifigures but also featured various new unique pieces to enable various playability functions that were characteristic to this theme and set it apart from other sports-related LEGO sets. The LEGO Group secured a number of licensing contracts which allowed LEGO to sell many of its sets with the official logos of major sports organizations, such as NBA, NHL, NHL Players' Association and Gravity Games as well as sporting good manufacturers like Adidas.
2006 LEGO Sets
2006 was a year of creative resurgence, adding major themes while closing older ones. LEGO Batman debuted as the first full DC Comics collaboration, joined by Avatar: The Last Airbender, Exo-Force, and SpongeBob SquarePants. LEGO Mindstorms NXT modernized the robotics platform with sensors and wireless control, and Remote Control Trains replaced the 9V system. Vikings and Clikits ended, while standout collector sets such as the Technic Tow Truck (8285) and Boeing 787 Dreamliner (10177) strengthened LEGO’s appeal among adult fans.