The LEGO LEGOLAND theme, introduced in the 1970s and continuing into the 1980s, comprised sets that replicated everyday scenes, vehicles, and buildings in a more simplistic style than later themes. These sets, pre-dating the minifigure era, were designed to represent various aspects of life, from towns to vehicles to castles. The LEGOLAND theme was foundational in the evolution of LEGO, bridging the gap between basic brick building and the more themed, narrative-driven sets that would become standard in subsequent years.
1970 LEGO Sets
By 1970, LEGO grew to over 1,000 employees. The LEGO Group started the process to regain the LEGO license from Samsonite in the United States market after the founder of Samsonite, Jesse Shwayder, died. By 1973 LEGO will take control of all US LEGO sales. As LEGO continues its European growth, in Italy, the Italian Parliament restricts the import of LEGO products and LEGO responds by creating their own Italian manufacturing subsidiary called LEGO Minitalia. In 1970 LEGO produced their first sets on the Minitalia theme which were essentially Basic systems. In total from 1970 until 1975 there were 21 Minitalia sets produced. During the same year, the long-running Town Plan theme was discontinued as this was part of the phasing out of multiple scaled models.