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.
2010 LEGO Sets
2010 marked the debut of Collectible Minifigures Series 1 and 2, launching a global collector phenomenon. LEGO expanded its Disney partnership with Cars under DUPLO and Toy Story sets in minifigure scale, while Prince of Persia joined the lineup alongside Star Wars sets celebrating The Empire Strikes Back’s 30th anniversary. New original themes included Atlantis, Hero Factory (successor to BIONICLE), World Racers, and Kingdoms, a return to historically inspired castle play. Several older lines ended, including Agents, Bob the Builder, Indiana Jones, and Thomas & Friends.