???? – 2006retired
N-Gage
“A phone that dared to be a Game Boy, and a taco that dared to be loved”
“It had no main model to build — so you built everything.”
Lego Mindstorms was a line of educational kits for building programmable robots out of Lego bricks, each built around a 'Smart Brick' that served as the brain. Unlike conventional Lego sets, there was no main model to build — just sample builds and an open-ended invitation to design and program your own creations. That freedom made it beloved at home, in schools, and in robotics competitions like the FIRST Lego Leagu
Introduced in September 1998, Mindstorms was discontinued at the end of 2022, closing out a run of more than two decades. Its educational legacy lives on through Lego Education versions and the generations of young builders it turned into programmers and roboticists. It didn't end so much as hand over the bricks.
Spotted something wrong? Every fact on this page traces to a dated source. Fixes make the graveyard better for everyone.
“A phone that dared to be a Game Boy, and a taco that dared to be loved”
“Born of a broken deal with Nintendo, it outlived the grudge and everyone's expectations.”
“Big, green, and first to put a hard drive where its heart should be.”