LEGO Ideas and CUUSOO

Polaroid OneStep SX-70

A rainbow-striped love letter to instant photography that actually spits out a picture.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 21345 · 2024

Pieces516

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number21345

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This one won me over faster than I expected.

It is a small set, only 516 pieces, but it nails the boxy retro shape of the real SX-70 so closely that I keep doing a double take when it sits on my shelf next to actual cameras. The photo-ejection mechanism is the heart of it, and pressing that red shutter to fling a little printed picture out never got old for me. It is a display piece first and a toy second, and if you have any nostalgia for instant film, you will grin the whole way through.

Best for: photography lovers and retro-design nerds who want a shelf piece with one genuinely delightful working trick

The full review

What it is

The Polaroid OneStep SX-70 is the 53rd LEGO Ideas set, and it started life as a fan design from Marc Corfmat (Minibrick Productions), who reportedly began building it on vacation in France because he could not wait to get home. That origin story shows in the finished model. It recreates the flat, folded, unmistakably boxy shape of the classic SX-70 at roughly 9cm by 9cm, matching the real camera almost exactly. The first time I set it down next to a genuine Polaroid, I honestly had to look twice to tell which was which, and that got me completely.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the caveats, because they are real. At 79.99 US for 516 pieces, the value math does not scream bargain, and plenty of builders have said a 20 dollar lower price would have made this an easy full-marks set. The other sore spot is the stickers. LEGO printed a lot here, including the little photos and the shutter detail, but the 'Polaroid Land Camera' and 'OneStep' lettering arrives as stickers, and on a set aimed squarely at adult display shelves that always feels like a small letdown. And the size is worth flagging honestly, this is a compact model, not a grand centerpiece, so go in knowing you are getting something desk-sized.

Who it's for

Who should get this? If you love photography, instant film, or mid-century industrial design, it is an easy yes. The working shutter and photo eject give it a bit of interactive joy that most pure display sets never bother with, and it looks fantastic on a desk. If you build for meaty engineering or you want a lot of hours and a lot of pieces for your money, this is probably not your set, the build is pleasant and varied but over fairly quickly. For the right person, though, this is a small set that punches well above its footprint.

What works

The photo-ejection mechanism actually works: load a printed photo, press the red shutter, and it pops out just like the real thing
The iconic rainbow color spectrum stripe is fully brick-built, not a sticker or a print, which is a lovely bit of engineering
Three charming printed photos on plasticard, including the designer's sister in La Rochelle, the LEGO House in Billund, and Polaroid inventor Edwin Land

Worth knowing

At 79.99 US for 516 pieces it feels a touch pricey, and a 20 dollar drop would push it near perfect
The 'Polaroid Land Camera' and 'OneStep' wording comes as stickers rather than prints, which stings a little on an adult display set
It is genuinely small, so anyone expecting a big centerpiece build may be surprised by the size

Sold? Grab it.

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The parts story

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

The build itself is a genuinely nice couple of hours. For only 516 pieces it stays varied the whole way through, and there are some hidden Technic elements tucked inside to drive the shutter and the ejection mechanism, so it never turns into mindless stacking. When you insert a photo, a movable section gets pushed toward the bottom of the case and catches on a little tooth, and pressing the button releases the tension on two rubber bands to fire the picture out. Watching that click into place during assembly was easily my favorite moment.

The standout part story here is that rainbow color spectrum stripe, which is built entirely from bricks rather than faked with a sticker or a print, a really satisfying bit of parts usage. The three included photos are printed on plasticard rather than standard elements, using a rarely-used foil the design team found worked better than stickers for those images. You also get the printed red shutter button and the film-pack decoration. It is not a set that will restock your parts bin with exotic new molds, but the color work and the clever mechanism give it real character.

Fun facts

01The set is the 53rd LEGO Ideas product and launched on January 1, 2024, designed by American fan builder Marc Corfmat (Minibrick Productions), who started building the original while on holiday in France.
02The three tiny printed photos are a real photo of the designer's sister on holiday in La Rochelle, the LEGO House in Billund, and Edwin Land, the inventor of instant photography.
03The famous rainbow color spectrum stripe down the front is not printed or stickered at all, it is fully brick-built from individual colored pieces.
04The model is sized at about 9cm by 9cm to mirror the real SX-70, and reviewers noted it is convincing enough to be mistaken for the actual camera from a short distance.