Related to the lego mindstorms thing, this is how I first did programming, at the university of nsw in sydney when i was 10ish https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/usenix2000/freenix/nikander/nikander.pdf

Pretty much my only interest in LEGO, post-toddler stage, was Technic and Mindstorms, too.

it's a bit sad to think that they probably killed it at least partially due to how much more money branded kits make in comparison.

I just looked at the new Technic inventory on LEGO's website and it's all branded vehicles.