Episode I holds the sets from The Phantom Menace. They were part of the very first year of LEGO Star Wars in 1999, which was also the first time LEGO made a theme under licence from a film. The sets reached shops a couple of weeks ahead of the film, so builders had the podracers, the Naboo fighter and the Gungan sub before most had seen them on screen.
2011 LEGO Sets
2011 introduced Ninjago, which quickly became one of LEGO’s most successful original themes and the foundation of a long-running multimedia franchise. Other launches included Pirates of the Caribbean, coinciding with Disney’s On Stranger Tides, the sci-fi Alien Conquest, and Master Builder Academy, a design-focused building program. LEGO also experimented with digital-physical integration through Life of George, an early augmented reality experience. Collectible Minifigures Series 3–5 strengthened LEGO’s growing collector market, while internal employee-exclusive sets like Moulding Machines became prized rarities. Several themes concluded this year, including Harry Potter, Ben 10, Power Miners, Toy Story, Prince of Persia, Space Police III, and BrickMaster.