LEGO Mindstorms Star Wars, specifically known as the "Droid Developer Kit," was released in 1999 and combined the programmable robotics of LEGO Mindstorms with the beloved Star Wars universe. Set number 9748, the Droid Developer Kit, allowed users to build and program Star Wars droids. One of the most iconic builds from this set was a version of R2-D2. The kit used the RCX programmable brick (similar to other early Mindstorms sets) as the "brain" to control the droids and came with specific building instructions and programming tasks tailored to the Star Wars theme. It provided fans a unique blend of LEGO robotics and Star Wars creativity.
2000 LEGO Sets
The turn of the millennium was an important year for LEGO. Not only did LEGO produce some investible sets for 2000, we saw some transition in the company. First, set designer and the inventor of the minifigure, Jens Nygaard Knudsen, retired from The LEGO Group. Second, The British Association of Toy Retailers name the LEGO brick "Toy of the Century". With 2000 LEGO released just a couple of new themes including TECHNIC Roboriders and Race. The Rock Raiders, Nijna and the Slizer/Throwbots themes were discontinued.