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.
2013 LEGO Sets
2013 introduced Legends of Chima, a heavily promoted fantasy line positioned as Ninjago’s successor, complete with a companion TV series. Licensed debuts included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Lone Ranger, and new DUPLO tie-ins for Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Mickey Mouse. Collectors pursued the ultra-rare Mr. Gold minifigure from Series 10, limited to just 5,000 worldwide. This year also marked LEGO’s shift from 4-digit to 5-digit set numbering as Monster Fighters, SpongeBob SquarePants, Cars, and Dino concluded.