We’re taking you back on this one… way back. Lego’s Robotics Invention System was released commercially in 1998 and was first utilized in educational settings thanks to a partnership with MIT’s Media Lab. So what did this “robotics” kit contain? Well, two motors, two touch sensors, and one light sensor. You used the included software to program the device, and it would perform completely on its own; acting according to the programmed instructions. Left, right, stop, start. If you had more than one unit, they could even “talk” to each other if they were within a certain distance. Not only could you program the brick (also known as the RCX) to perform what you wanted, but these were Legos — you could make them into whatever you wanted. Lego followed up the original Robotics Invention System with version 2.0 and, in 2006, with the NXT version. There is still pretty strong community support for these products even today. Did anyone else out there build two Lego robots and have them battling to the death?

BGR Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear.

Earlier this year Lego and Digital Blue announced combined efforts that would yield a variety of Lego-centric electronics aimed at kids. Slated to be released by this Summer, the announcement included details on a digital camera, a walkie talkie and an MP3 player – nothing too crazy. These functional toys would appear as though they had been built from lego bricks and would all fall into an affordable $20 – $60 price range. Cool. An anonymous tipster may have just shined some light on a yet-to-be-announced element of this partnership however, that might bump the endeavor’s interest-factor from a 1.1 to an even 2. As you can see from the image above, Alcatel is apparently jumping into the mix and the trio is planning to make their best effort at putting cell phones in the hands of children at an even more inappropriately young age. Woo! From the looks of things, the Lego phone will consist of a base structure containing the body and display of the handset, while a series of modular attachments can be snapped on – likely just for color variation as opposed to changing the functionality of the handset to some extent. Little else is know at this point but we’ll be sure to update you as soon as possible so you don’t lose too much sleep over it. Hit the jump for a bigger shot showing off more modular pieces.