5 LEGO Themes That Have Disappeared Over Time

There have been and still are, many fantastic LEGO themes. Only when you stop and think for a minute do you realise, “Oh wow, what happened to.....?” and you can insert any of over seventy LEGO themes here. Having perused the myriad of discontinued LEGO themes, we’ve selected five that we feel are worthy of a mention. They are listed below in chronological order.

THE THEMES THAT TIME FORGOT

LEGO SPORTS, ICE HOCKEY

2003 - 2004

Sixteen sets were released in this LEGO sub-theme, twelve of which were released in their first year, 2003. LEGO had a license agreement with the NHL so were able to include sticker sheets with all the NHL team logos on in some of the sets.

The largest set to be released in the LEGO Hockey theme was LEGO 3578 NHL Championship Challenge, which was released in 2004. It was comprised of 374 pieces and eight LEGO Minifigures that were exclusive to this set. There was also a sticker sheet of all 30 NHL team logos. The LEGO Minifigures' uniforms were based upon the NHL Allstar Game uniforms from the 1990s.

Once the 374 pieces have been constructed, you have a tabletop hockey game. It does resemble an air hockey table a little. The players are mounted on discs with clear plastic rods attached to enable in-match movement.

Most of the other releases in the line were Bionicle-like buildable figures in a plastic canister that could be used as a drink bottle once the LEGO had been extracted. These figures had a hockey stick either inserted into their stomach or side regions, making them look like the result of a skirmish on the ice!

It wasn’t just the NHL that got bricked; the NBA and Gravity Games also got the brick treatment. Check out the NBA players' springy legs if you haven't seen them.

EXO-FORCE

2006 - 2008

LEGO Exo-Force was a theme based around a crew of elite pilots who used amazing mech suits to defend their home from attacks by Mech One’s drones. This theme drew heavily from Manga and Anime, as this was a time when Dragonball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokemon were becoming increasingly popular. LEGO was attempting to recover financially at this point, so they wanted a theme that would appeal to children and adults alike. A series of books and forty online comics accompanied the toy line.

Exo-Force was discontinued in 2008 due to poor sales that year, leaving the storyline unfinished. Thirty-eight sets were released in the two years that LEGO Exo-Force existed. It’s such a shame that this line didn’t have a longer lifespan. We believe that if the theme were released now, it would do extremely well, as Anime and Manga are big virtually everywhere now.

One of the cool points of LEGO Exo-Force was that some sets could be combined to create super battle machines. Check out these combinations:

• Blazing Hunter - 7700 Stealth Hunter + 7703 Fire Vulture
• Iron Crusher – 8101 Claw Crusher + 8104 Shadow Crawler + 8105 Iron Condor

Eight polybags were also released in Europe. These came as a gift with the Donald Duck magazine and are not counted as part of the leading toy line.

POWER MINERS

JANUARY 2009 - 2010

LEGO Power Miners essentially picked up where another short-lived theme left off, Rock Raiders 1999-2000. Power Miners focused on four Power Miner figures:

• Duke
• Doc
• Rex
• Brains

The Government ordered them to go underground and investigate a series of earthquakes that had occurred and destroyed several cities above ground in LEGO World. The Power Miners discovered more than they bargained for as their investigations turned up Rock Monsters and Energy crystals. The mission then changes; they must collect all the Energy crystals to prevent the Rock Monsters from consuming them, as this causes earthquakes. This is not an easy task as the Crystal King appears, and he is the treacherous leader of the underground Rock Monsters.

The LEGO Power Miners line released twenty-four sets. The first two sets were promotional sets released in December 2008, but a little later in the month, some of the first wave were available in Toys “R” Us. The entirety of the first wave was finally available in January 2009.

The largest set in this bright green and orange line was LEGO 8964 Titanium Command Rig, which consists of 706 pieces and 5 LEGO minifigures, 2 of which are unique to this set. The Toy Retailers Association awarded it “Dream Toys” in 2009.

MONSTER FIGHTERS

22/05/12 – 31/12/14

LEGO Monster Fighters was based upon the Universal Studio Monsters from the horror genre. The theme centred on the Monster Fighters trying to collect the moonstones before Lord Vampyre. Lord Vampyre was the dark leader of the Monster Realm, and his evil plan was to permanently turn day into night so that he could unleash his minions. To accomplish this dastardly plan, he had to collect all six moonstones and insert them into his invention, which could direct the gems’ magic and create an eternal eclipse of the sun.

Only thirteen playsets and promotional polybags were released in the LEGO Monster Fighters line. The largest set was LEGO 10228 Haunted House, which had 2,064 pieces and included six LEGO minifigures. In terms of dimensions, LEGO 9468 Vampyre Castle is the largest, but with 948 pieces, it’s the second-biggest piece count in the line.

LEGO Monster Fighters had a dark ride in Frontierland, Disneyland Park, Paris, called the Phantom Manor. In September 2012, an app called LEGO Monster Fighters Race was released for Apple products. The theme also appeared in LEGO Worlds in 2017 on Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows.

2012 saw the LEGO Monster Fighters theme be awarded “Dream Toys” for 9467 Ghost Train, which was also listed as one of Argos’ top ten toys for Christmas. LEGO 9468 Vampyre Castle also received acclaim as John Lewis included it in their top twenty toys for Christmas.

HIDDEN SIDES

8/2019 – 12/2020

LEGO Hidden Sides was another attempt by LEGO to link digital and real game worlds. The theme was based around “Newbury,” a fictional city infested with ghosts. This was linked to an app that utilised AR so you could hunt, collect, and capture ghosts. The digital aspect of this theme represented the “Hidden Side” of the brick-built sets.

The first wave of sets was launched at the New York Toy Fair on the 1^st of August 2019. Subsequently, thirty-two sets and promotional packs were released in total. The largest of these releases was LEGO 70425 Newbury Haunted High School, with 1,474 pieces and eight LEGO Minifigures.

This set is fantastic; it has so many cool features - the massive glow-in-the-dark claws that pop out of the windows are our favourite! The transforming mutant bench is a neat touch, plus some of the LEGO Minifigures come with alternate ghost heads and accessories.

The LEGO Hidden Sides theme had such a vast array of sets:

• 70419 – Wrecked Shrimp Boat
• 70424 – Ghost Train Express
• 70429 – El Fuego’s Stunt Plane
• 70437 – Mystery Castle
• 70434 – Supernatural Race Car

With planes, trains, automobiles, and much more, LEGO Hidden Sides really covered all the bases of play. It’s a shame this line was discontinued, as the builds were fun to complete, and the finished models made an excellent display.

Are there any themes that you think should have been mentioned? Do you own any sets from the themes we’ve mentioned? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy Building!