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According to LEGO, today’s the 30th anniversary of the world-famous minifigure. I’m not sure how that’s the case since the first sets with mini-figs started showing up in the U.S. in ’77, but I’ll play along. You may have already heard that there’s a dedicated website for this most plasticky of birthday parties at gominimango.com, The Brothers Brick is having a Go Miniman Go photo contest, and Gizmodo is sponsoring a similar video contest with excellent prizes. Read more, including my list of favorite mini-fig sets for each year from 1977 to 2008, after the clicky thingie…

All of this is quite warranted, if you ask me. I got my first LEGO set as a gift when I was 5 years old, in 1972. I loved it and played with it endlessly. Every birthday or Christmas that followed added more LEGO to my “bin”. But it was a few years later, in ’77, that the world of toys changed forever.

The introduction by LEGO of the minifigure put into play (pun intended) an unstoppable force in that there was now a scale defined for building entire play worlds with little people to inhabit them. And because of the nature of LEGO, it could be expanded on and on and on. Indeed, even the catalog images themselves were like candy for our little LEGO-plate-caloused fingers, with two-page spreads…centerfolds if you will…showing us what was possible if we could only obtain every set shown in the catalog.

It was magic.

A trip to the toy store, opening up the top flap of the LEGO boxes and looking into those glimmering plastic trays filled with all manner of special pieces and little, smiling yellow faces caused so many of us to unleash a flood of drool.

So, in honor of the 31st 30th birthday of our little yellow friend, I present my favorite minifigure-scale sets from each of the past years starting with 1977. Some of these choices were incredibly difficult, especially in years that had so many classic sets. Some were much easier, not because of a lack of good choices, but because the choice is so iconic that there was no consideration for anything else.

1977
575 U.S. Coast Guard Station

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In the first year of the mini-fig, things were interesting, because LEGO’s large figures, aka “LEGO people”, were still heavily in use, and a non-articulated version of the mini-figure was also present. But a few sets combined the previous “LEGO Models” scale (that used the non-articulated figs) with minifigures. And my favorite of these was the 575 U.S. Coast Guard Station. I think a lot of people would have put the Engine Company No. 9 here, but the Coast Guard set was special to me for some reason. It was a bridge between the old and the new. And there was that third vehicle that I couldn’t quite figure out…was it a hovercraft? A jet foil? A spaceship on loan to pull people out of the water?! Whatever it was supposed to be, it was all sorts of cool.

1978
462 Rocket Launcher

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Star Wars was on everybody’s minds, and these sets couldn’t have been better timed. Although there were bigger sets, this one captured my imagination like none of the others. Despite the fact that you had to take the rocket apart to “launch” it (and that it was super flimsy to boot), I built and rebuilt and played with this set so much I lost track of it all.

1979
497 Galaxy Explorer

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This was THE set to have in ’79. I got this set on my birthday. We went to the Toys ‘R’ Us and picked it up on the way to the eye doctor, where I had my eyes dilated for some tests. My vision was blurred for hours after that. I was so upset because I couldn’t read the directions to build it. I just sat in my bedroom waiting for my vision to come back and stayed up way past my bedtime to build this magnificent, gigantic (at the time) spaceship. So much about the Galaxy Explorer…and all of these early Space LEGO sets…was cool, from the trans-yellow plates, to the control panels printed on the 2×2 slopes, to the back compartment that opened up to reveal a moon buggy, to the crater plate and landing pad. One of the most iconic LEGO sets ever.

1980
6390 Main Street

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Hot off the heels of the Galaxy Explorer comes one of LEGO’s other most enduring designs, Main Street. A LEGOLand city street in a box, this fantastic set featured a car dealership, a hotel under construction, a cypress tree and a bunch of mini-figs to spawn an even greater population in your burgeoning LEGO town. So awesome they re-released it in 2003 (with a slightly modified design) as part of the Legends series.

1981
6383 Public Works Center

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Looking back at this set, there’s not much in the structure itself. But it didn’t matter…it was the combination of things that made this so cool: The double-baseplate thing was always good, there were two garage bays with the roll-up doors, and the sliding crane was awesome. Not a ton of detail, but lots of play value.

1982
6372 Town House

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Something that’s always been elusive in LEGOLand is residences in which all the policemen, firemen, hospital staff, race car drivers, divers, astronauts and construction workers could live. So whenever there was a plain ol’ house in the mix, it was pretty neat. This was one of the best, too. The varied roofline with old-school LEGO windows in the dormer and the outdoor fireplace are great.

1983
6371 Service Station

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I’ve always been a sucker for LEGO gas stations. I have no idea why. I just dig them. Not only does this set have a motorcycle and a car up on that very cool lift, but that stubby little tow truck rocks.

1984
6694 Car With Camper

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As with the gas stations, whenever LEGO introduced a set that had to do with camping, I was there. This was one of the first and is still one of the best. The use of all the various types of LEGO windows is great, and it was a nice touch having the roof hinge open. Even if Mrs. Lego there did have to ride in the camper or hitch-hike.

1985
6392 Airport

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Airports, too, have had a long tradition in LEGOLand. While more modern airports were predominantly white, this one has a great yellow & black color scheme (conveniently making it highly compatible with the yellow version of Metro Station from several years later). This is a nice set with some elements, such as the red fence pieces, that tie it, visually, to older LEGO sets in a nice way.

1986
6379 Riding Stable

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Eleven years earlier, LEGO released one of my all-time favorite sets: 190 Building Set With People. It was a big set in a big box that let you build, among other things, a farm with farmhouse, barn, tractor, animals and even had a family of LEGO people to run the farm. What’s great about the 6379 Riding Stable is that it was the “farm link” between that set 190 and the future Paradisa sets, a few of which featured horses and stables, such as Carriage Ride, Sunset Stables, Jumping Course, Country Club and Rolling Acres Ranch. And now, wouldn’t you know it, heading into 2009, we’re about to be treated to a whole new generation of LEGOLand farm sets.

1987
6954 Renegade

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The Blacktron Renegade is still one of the coolest spaceships LEGO has ever released. If the Galaxy Explorer was the perfect cross between Star Warsian Star Destroyer and real-world space shuttle, the Renegade was the exact opposite. First off, the Blacktron sets featured the bad-ass, black-clad LEGO Space mini-figs, which were an instant hit. Second, the Renegade’s asymmetric layout was just too cool for school. Which is what most of us skipped to stay home and build this. I say most because I wasn’t included in that group. Although I got one on eBay in the ’90s, this is a set I never had when I was younger, much to my chagrin.

1988
6394 Metro Park and Service Tower

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Forget the dessert topping and floor wax, this set seemed like it was a gazillion things: Shell station! Parking garage! Car wash! Car elevator! There was even a mini-pine tree and a bunch’o’mini-figs, along with three cars, a little truck and a motorcycle.  Plus the whole thing was vaguely like a cool LEGO version of the old Fisher-Price Little People garage. Without that snotty, freckled kid with his cap on sideways.

1989
6276 Eldorado Fortress

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Now, some of you may be thinking I’m absolutely CRAZY for not putting the Black Seas Barracuda in this spot. And I grant you that the BSB is in fact an amazing set. But something about the Eldorado Fortress always has captured my imagination. I love some of the details, like the double/inset arched entryway with those big arched doors. And the pit in the middle of the fortress. I just lurves me some pirate outposts and this is one of the best LEGO ever did.

1990
6071 Forestmen’s Crossing

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If there’s anything more fun than swashbuckling, heroic mini-figs with nifty green hats living in trees connected by a rope bridge that towers over a little, nubby stream, I don’t know what it is. The whole Forestmen sub-theme was so…I dunno, charming…and this was, for me, the best of the bunch.

1991
6399 Airport Shuttle

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Holy cow. Where do I even start with this set?! Ok, this is just one of the most awesome sets LEGO has ever made. As if their train sets aren’t amazing enough, they had to go and create a monorail system. It first appeared in 1987’s Futuron Monorail Transport System. And then later again in 1994’s Unitron Monorail Transport Base. But it was this set, the Airport Shuttle, that was the best of them all. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it reminds me of Disney’s monorails, or the fact that I love airport sets, or the fact that I found it for 80% off the original price up on a shelf at a Service Merchandise right before I launched the original Pause LEGO Reference Guide. Whatever the reason, this is one of my most treasured sets. And it includes a lot of mini-figs, making it even that much better.

1992
6277 Imperial Trading Post

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Dag nabbit, LEGO, you got me again with another cool pirate base! And it’s run by the good guys…usually the bad pirates have the best bases, so this was a nice surprise. Three buildings, two cranes, a small sailing ship, a drawbridge and a pier-mounted cannon all helped to make this a really neat set.

1993
1687 Midnight Transport

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There were some pretty nice sets this year, including Majisto’s Magical Workshop, the Skull’s Eye Schooner and the Ice Planet 2002 sets, some of which were really fun and all of which were unique. But this little “value pack” set really grabbed me. I mean, let’s face it, there’s some serious smuggling going on here. What are they smuggling?? Where’d they get that superbad black jet?! And what about the matching helicopter and van?! As soon as I saw this, I felt like this set had slipped out into the world by accident, a remnant of some top-secret LEGO theme that had been banished to the ether.

1994
6278 Enchanted Island

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It’s hard not to love a set when it combines some of your favorite things: Pirates, tiki and cleavage. Yes, this is one of two Islanders sets released in 1994 that included the “Amazing Cleavage Woman” mini-fig, with cleavage painted right onto her torso. Kidding aside, this is a really nice set…colorful, busy with fun stuff and, dare I say, actually enchanted. Good times.

1995
6175 Crystal Explorer Sub

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Although not the biggest of the Aquazone sets by a long shot, this was my favorite set of the year. I dig how the sub actually kinda looks like a diver swimming, what with those grabber arms made from LEGO people arm bits. The big blue canopy is so cool. And, you know, there’s a LEGO octopus, which is always a good thing.

1996
6765 Gold City Junction

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I ran into a LEGO rep at Toys ‘R’ Us one afternoon…back then, all of the LEGO aisles at TRU stores were merchandised by LEGO employees. I told him I was a big LEGO fan and he mentioned that they were coming out with some cowboys & indians sets in a few months. I posted the news in rec.toys.lego. Innocently, I might add. A few weeks later, I saw the guy again, this time at a movie theater. I said hi to him and asked him if he remembered me. “Of course I do!” he sorta yelled. “You’re the reason I got fired!” Then he started rambling about how he shouldn’t have told me anything and that LEGO was worried that M***BLOCKS would beat them to the “cowboys & indians punch” if they didn’t move up their timetable blah blah blah. Hey, he never told me it was as secret. Besides, the people have a right to know! Oh yeah, back to this set. It’s really great.

1997
6441 Deep Reef Refuge

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Ahhhh, LEGO. Things in LEGOLand were funky these days. The “juniorization of Town” was in full force. This set represented more than just a cool LEGO building experience. It was, in fact, a refuge, deep at the bottom of the sea, to get away from what I thought was just so wrong about LEGO at the time. Ok, I say this in hindsight only because it fits with the set name. At the time, I just thought this was a great set, because it included an undersea base and a submarine and a boat and those things equal fun.

1998
5988 Pharaoh’s Forbidden Fortress

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As a huge Indiana Jones fan, I thought all of these Adventurers sets were pretty great. I wasn’t crazy about the strange 5-stud-wide car tubs without opening doors (yuck) but then again, these were scenes that seemed almost like they’d been ripped out of an Indy movie. And there was a guy with a top hat and monocle! Little did any of us know that 10 years later we’d have actual Indiana Jones sets!

1999
7130 Snowspeeder

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Although LEGOLand Space was pretty much dead by this point, at least there was Star Wars to kiss the boo-boo and make it all better. Truth be told I’d rather they co-existed (and there seems to be some hope of this), but there’s no question that the Star Wars sets were the best of ’99. And this was my favorite of the group. The Snowspeeder is such a nifty little craft: Nimble, maneuverable, good in a fight, tough and seats two! Not to mention being able to bring down giants in the right hands.

2000
7180 B-Wing at Rebel Control Center

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Again, I know there are those of you reading this thinking that the Slave-I is the shiznittiest thing ever to fly the unfriendly skies. But for my money, the design of the B-Wing is so much more interesting. Yeah, I dig Boba Fett as much as the next dude who likes aboriginal clonemasters, but the B-Wing was a ship that rotated around its cockpit. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

2001
7166 Imperial Shuttle

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Well, it’s no Shuttle Tyderium, but it’ll do. It’s a fold-up spaceship and it’s Star Wars. Those two things alone were worth the $35 pricetag. But it also came with the wrinkly, old Emperor (who, I still maintain, looks suspiciously like Darth Sidious AND Senator Palpatine) and not one, but two, count ’em, two Emperor’s Royal Pains Guards.

2002
10040 Black Seas Barracuda

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Oh, snap! See how tricky I am?! I played you all like “Man, I know that I should have included the Black Seas Barracuda” back when I wrote about 1989, but then look what I did!! I, like, TOTALLY put the BSB on the list anyway! Seriously…I know this is kinda cheating, but this set is too good to pass up, and it really was the best thing LEGO released in ’02. Great color scheme, nice detail, solid selection of mini-figs. You really can’t go wrong here.

2003
7418 Scorpion Palace

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LEGO sorta lost me somewhere along the way with the whole Adventurers thing, but this set was pretty cool. Although I would have preferred a much more substantial and detailed building, it’s hard not to like a LEGO set with a dude riding an elephant and a building that has an “onion dome” on top. And the guy with the top hat and monocle is back 😉

2004
4501 Mos Eisley Cantina

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LEGO. Greedo. Nuff said.

2005
7018 Viking Ship challenges the Midgard Serpent

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I was walking around Downtown Disney in Florida when I first saw these sets in person. When built, they’re really substantial and very striking. And, in some ways, they were a nice compromise between Castle and Pirates, without being too much like either one.

2006
10173 Holiday Train

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It’s amazing that it took so many years for LEGO to come out with a holiday train, but I’m so glad they did. The set really should have come with a motor, but it was easy enough to add it in separately, and the train is really neat when built. Last year I had this running around the mini Christmas tree on our conference table at the office. With how much LEGO and Christmas go together for me, having a LEGO Christmas train to go around the tree is about the coolest thing.

2007
10179 Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon

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Whoa! The mother of all spaceships. The mother of all LEGO sets. Arguably the most recognizable spaceship on Earth next to the space shuttle, the Millennium Falcon was as much a character as any other in the original Star Wars trilogy. So it was a major lovefest when LEGO introduced this gigantic, 5000 piece-plus set last year in minifigure scale. So much detail! A must-have if you can swing the $500 pricetag (I haven’t yet foolishly convinced myself I need this, but I fear it may happen before the year is up).

2008
10184 Town Plan

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There couldn’t be a more perfect way to end this list. Here at the end is a set that brings back so many fond memories of where this all started. A town. Made of LEGO. Inhabited by smiling little people. The Town Plan set comes in a box featuring a picture of Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who runs LEGO and who happened to appear on the original Town Plan set box decades ago, as a boy. Featuring a ’50s-style cinema, service station with car wash and a town hall, the Town Plan also includes the best of all possible minfigures: The “classic smiley”. This was the easiest choice to make for this list, because it’s representative of what LEGO is all about for me.

Happy Birthday, LEGO minifigure. You’ve come a long way in 30 years! And from the way things are looking, with some of the great sets released this year, and the sneak peek we’ve seen of some of what’s coming out next year, it looks like you’ll be with us for a long time to come.