>>9096272In my opinion, Lego peaked in different ways throughout it's history, but it really started coming into it's own sometime around mid-late 2000s. If I had to pinpoint a date, I'd probably say 2009.
Lego had made a miraculous rebound after near bankruptcy and they were starting to regain manufacturing control and expanding product lines, piece selection and licensing agreements around 2005. Lego was rapidly expanding, but expanding inwardly rather than outwardly like it is now. Which unfortunately feels like it's overextending itself to reach global economies and taking short cuts along the way.
Around this time, licensed products weren't overly detailed or on the flip side, junorized, and had this nice and charming look to them that was a perfect mix between the source content and the Lego aesthetic. The first true video games were starting to come out as well, like the Star Wars video game.
Fewer sets were released, but it felt like they were more in-tuned with their audience. Shortly after this period and going into the early 2010's, environmental pushes and non-western manufacturing lead to stuff like rapidly deteriorating pieces, color inconsistencies, poor quality pad printing and lesser quality materials overall.
