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adidas Originals Superstar

A life-size brick Shelltoe you actually get to lace up at the end.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 10282 · 2021

Pieces731

Minifigsn/a

Year2021

Set number10282

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The verdict

I did not expect to fall for a LEGO shoe, but the moment I threaded the real cloth laces through the eyelets and pulled them tight, I grinned like a kid.

This is a life-size recreation of the 1969 Superstar, shell toe and trefoil and all, and the printing on the tiles is honestly gorgeous. It is a display piece more than a building marvel, so if you want clever mechanisms this will feel repetitive. But if you love sneakers or you love adidas, it is a genuine joy on a shelf.

Best for: sneakerheads and adidas fans who want a conversation piece on the shelf

The full review

What it is

The adidas Originals Superstar is a 731-piece, life-size brick model of one of the most recognisable sneakers ever made. The Superstar, nicknamed the Shelltoe, first arrived in 1969 as a low-cut basketball shoe, and LEGO has recreated it at full scale, about 28cm long, which lines up with a real UK size 7. What got me was how faithful the silhouette is. Stand it next to an actual Superstar and the proportions, the curves, and that famous rubber shell toe all line up beautifully. And then there is the ending, where you lace up genuine cloth shoelaces through the eyelets, and suddenly it stops being a pile of bricks and becomes a shoe.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the caveats, because they matter at this price. First and biggest: you get one shoe, not a pair. For the original 79.99 US retail, a lot of people expected two, and building a single trainer to sit on a shelf feels a little lonely. Second, the build is repetitive. Much of your time goes into laying down patterned tiles, so if you build for clever mechanisms and satisfying engineering, this will test your patience rather than reward it. And third, honesty demands it, the shaping around the laces and the ankle collar is not perfect. From some angles the tongue sits high and the eyelet area looks slightly off. None of this ruins it, but you should know going in that this is a display object first and a building experience second.

Who it's for

So who should get this? If you are a sneaker person, an adidas person, or someone who just loves a bold pop-culture object on the shelf, you will adore it. The unboxing recreates the real shoebox down to the colour and lettering, the instruction booklet is packed with Superstar history, and the finished piece is a genuine conversation starter. Skip it if you build primarily for the challenge, or if the one-shoe thing bothers you more than the charm wins you over. For me, it landed firmly on the charm side. It is retired now and creeping up in value, so if you want one, the shelf is calling.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this is calm, tidy, and a little meditative rather than technical. A huge share of your time goes into placing patterned tiles across the upper and the sides, recreating the three stripes with two-stud-wide bands and building up that shell toe with curved and domed elements. There is a satisfying five-by-five quarter dome at the front that gives the toe its shape, and the sole comes together with sturdy layering. It is not a build that will teach you new tricks, but it flows nicely, and the real payoff is threading the official LEGO textile shoelaces through the eyelets to finish, which is a lovely, unusual moment.

The star of the parts story is the printing. There are over a thousand patterned 2x2 tiles and more than a hundred patterned 2x3s in the box, and almost every graphic on the model is printed rather than stickered, which is rare and wonderful. You get new printed pieces like the 2x2 trefoil tiles, a 2x3 with the white trefoil, and 2x6 tiles carrying the 'the brand with the 3 stripes' text for the first time. The printed insole even includes the adidas wordmark and trefoil in English, German and French. LEGO also throws in 17 extra elements so you can choose to build the left shoe instead of the right, a thoughtful touch.

Fun facts

01The set builds only one shoe, but it includes 17 extra elements and alternate instructions so you can build either the right foot or the left foot.
02The real adidas Superstar debuted in 1969 as a low-cut version of a professional basketball shoe, which is why its nickname is the Shelltoe.
03The 2x6 tile printed with 'the brand with the 3 stripes' appeared as a printed element for the first time in this set.
04The packaging is a faithful recreation of a real Superstar shoebox, matched in size, colour and decoration.