Reddit mentions of Great LEGO Sets: A Visual History

I have quite a few LEGO books, and this is the best one out there. Hours and hours of quality bathroom reading/staring at pictures and wishing I had that set. Out of all the sets in the book from 1992 onwards (when I started getting LEGO), I have about 30 out of 80, which makes me very happy.

A few highlights of the most "game-changing" sets, based on what the book says about them:

• 375 Castle (1978) - the infamous yellow castle, the first minifigure-scale castle. Hugely influential.
  
• 6285 Black Seas Barracuda (1989) - the first minifigs with different facial features, and the first pirate ship, both of which changed the scope and popularity of LEGO for decades.
  
• 8868 Air Tech Claw Rig (1992) - biggest Technic set at the time, first pneumatic system.
  
• 9719 Robotics Invention System (1998) - Mindstorms!
  
• 7191 X-wing Fighter (2000) - the first UCS set, which completely changed the rules for piece count and size of LEGO sets. It was one of the first sets to be made more for adult builders, which IMO helped kick the AFOL scene into full gear.
  
• 3739 Blacksmith Shop (2002) - first MOC to be made into an official set, which was the root of CUUSOO/LEGO Ideas.
  
• 10182 Cafe Corner (2007) - great new building techniques, and launched one of the best LEGO lines to date. In the beginning, at least, LEGO designers were limited to using only pieces currently in production.
  
• 10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon (2007) - enormous, iconic, one of the most loved LEGO sets ever made. This one goes way beyond being a toy.
  
• 10189 Taj Mahal (2008) - the real beginning of LEGO architecture and the largest regular set ever made.
  
  Nothing since 2010 really qualifies, IMO, since there hasn't been enough time since then to see which sets really are game-changing. Collectible Minifigures Series 1 might get a nod, since that changed a lot of the structure (and cost) of minifig releases, but the only other one I'd throw out there is 10210 Imperial Flagship, if only because we'll never be satisfied with a smaller ship again.