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The 10 Coolest Licensed Lego Lines (So Far)


8) Avatar the Last Airbender - Aang Minifig.jpg

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Well before many of us were even born, Lego had already cemented itself (or was that snapped on?) as the utilitarian solution in every kid’s toy collection. Limited only by the imagination of its owner, a collection of these addictive and colorful interlocking blocks from Denmark could not only hold a tyke’s attention but was a great platform for creative display as well.
Perhaps what was most endearing about these bricks was that the engineers behind them seemed to have only the purest intentions in mind, creatively forging worlds not inspired by the latest summer blockbuster or cartoon craze, but by their own imaginations.

By the time the late ’90s rolled around though, a new era of Legomania began: licensed themes! While some purists were outraged and concerned (including some within the company) on the outset, Lego Star Wars got the ball rolling on what would become a beautiful friendship between the little blocks that could and good old American capitalism. The marriage helped the beloved toy company survive its well-publicized hardships, enabling it to continue to create new worlds for us to play in while reimagining preexisting ones in perfect, blocky harmony. Which leads us to this list: join us now as we countdown our favorite of Lego’s licensed toylines — so far.


10) Speed Racer

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The Speed Racer Lego series didn’t set the world on fire with its minifigs – Lego’s Chim Chim could easily be mistaken for your local zoo chimp – but there was no mistaking the sweetness of having a Lego-ized Mach 5 in all its glory at one’s disposal for a little brick-fueled racing. Speed Racer‘s humanoid figures didn’t turn out half badly either: check out that detail on the figs of Speed, Trixie and Pops!


9) Prince of Persia
: The Sands of Time

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While the film adaptation’s theatrical run was one of the great disappearing acts during this summer’s movie season (at least in the U.S.), one can’t blame its Lego tie-ins for the film’s domestic results. Featuring nicely realized set pieces from the flick – especially Battle of Alamut and Quest Against Time – these collections pack in a lot of fun, including such awesomeness as light-up bricks, trap doors and spinnable blades. And yes, a refreshingly bearded and rugged Jake Gyllenhaal Dastan minifig is included in each set, so get to buyin’, lady Lego nerds!


8) Avatar: The Last Airbender

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Because it was part of the same Nickelodeon series that included SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar only got two sets in its Lego treatment: renditions of the Fire Nation ship and Air Temple. A:tLA‘s Legos got the most out of the space they were afforded though, doing a nice job of recreating the aforementioned items from the show, and its minifigs, especially Aang’s, captured the personality of the characters nicely.


7) Harry Potter

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Like most things associated with the Harry Potter license, Lego’s take on the world of J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard is pretty immersive, featuring nods to some of the series’ most famous magical objects, scenes and locales, including the Sorting Hat, Hogwarts Express & Castle, Quidditch Practice, Gryffindor, and the Chamber of Secrets. We’re still waiting on that Lego build of a life-sized and fully-functioning Nimbus 2000. It would go together nicely with the regular working Nimbus 2000 that we’ll also never get.


6) Spider-Man

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Spider-Man and Lego might not seem like the most ideal match, considering Spider-Man’s moves and webbing aren’t the least bit blocky. But then you see a Lego minifig with Spidey’s detailing and exclusive web fluid accessories and can’t help but fall in love. And don’t get us started on that Doc Ock minifig or Green Goblin on his Lego glider! Sweet! We’d rank this one higher but the license was pretty much limited to the movies and the corresponding environments (read: what you get to build) are kinda vanilla (with a few exceptions) since Spidey tends to hang out in Anyblock, New York City, most of the time. Oh yeah, that and apparently even Lego Spider-Man needs a helicopter. Where will it end, fetishists of unnecessary superhero vehicles?!

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5) SpongeBob SquarePants

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One need only to look at #19 in this list to see what make the SpongeBob SquarePants Lego sets so special. Their minifigs are freaking awesome! From SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy to Squidward and Mr. Krabs, the mini figures (and variants thereof) combine effortlessly with the famous backdrops from the show to create excellent blockian homages to the adventures of the aquatic pineapple dweller and his friends.


4) Toy Story

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It’s hard to nail down exactly, but somehow Lego managed to capture something unique in their take on Pixar’s beloved playthings. Maybe it’s because, like other entries on this list, they’re designed around the most memorable action scenes from the films, something other Toy Story toys haven’t really tackled in great detail. Or, it could be thanks to the fact that they’re so small but still nicely resemble the characters from the movies. A third possibility is that making Toy Story-themed Legos, being real-world versions of toys translated from other toys that were based on toys in a movie to begin with, is a meta-toygasm too sweet for any nerd to pass up. You be the judge, but we call dibs on Lego RC!


3) Indiana Jones

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It’s not hard to see why Lego Indy works: there’s something irresistible about pairing the rugged aesthetics and dangerous destinations of an Indiana Jones adventure with the cutesy antics of colorful plastic bricks and the little yellow dudes that go along with them. While, perhaps strangely considering fan reaction, there were more sets based on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull than any individual installment of the original trilogy, having an Indy minifig complete with fedora, whip and five o’clock shadow along with a Lego rendition of stuff like the Temple of Doom is too cool to skip out on.


2) Batman

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What makes the Batman Lego sets so great, outside of the obvious, is that the license extends to essentially the entire Batman universe, including the films by Burton and Nolan, and the comics post-Batman:TAS, and you have what might be the most “complete” or at least, interwoven, Batman universe constructed to date. Our wish for future installments: Batman minifigs and playsets inspired by the Return of Bruce Wayne limited series.


1) Star Wars

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The first certifiable nerd license Lego took on is still the best: if there were ever an argument against putting Lego Star Wars in the number one spot of this list, we’d need only retort with three words: Lego Death Star. Of course, there’s plenty more to love with this most comprehensive entry in Lego license lore which sports additions from all six films, Clone Wars and Expanded Universe, including trademark vehicles like the Millennium Falcon, AT-AT Walker and Slave I, minifig representations of the sci-fi stalwart’s iconic characters, famous scenes (The Final Duel), and even a 1075 piece Yoda. Star Wars and Lego collectors, this can be your finest hour. Integrate these toys into your collections to join the Nerd Elite.