LEGO® Icons review & MOC: 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar

Zachary Hill (@zaxbrix) not only reviews the stunning new LEGO® 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar today, he also builds his own creation with some of its new elements! Buying this set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. Products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are their own.

Adidas and The LEGO Group have established a solid working relationship with their Adidas x LEGO® collection of clothing. That partnership has birthed dozens of jackets, shorts, and of course sneakers. If you’re like me, all that new apparel just whizzed past you - what about those of us who don’t spring for the latest streetwear? How about the latest LEGO set? I’m no sneakerhead but LEGO Creator Expert 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar has enough ingenuity and new elements in its build to pique my interest. 

The first-ever Adidas-branded construction set comes with 731 pieces and is available on July 1 2021 for US$79.99/ CA$109.99/ €89.99/ £79.99/ AU$159.99.

What's new with the shoe

This collaboration between The LEGO Group and Adidas exemplifies both brands, all the way down to the packaging. Just like a fresh pair of Adidas Originals shoes, 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar comes in a blue box adorned with the trademark three stripes. LEGO branding and toy regulations are subtle or moved to the bottom of the box to keep up this ruse. A sigh of relief comes upon opening the inner lid to see what you’d expect from a modern Creator Expert 18+ set, complete with a blue greeble stripe. Final reassurance is given under a layer of tissue paper when bags of bricks take the place of fresh kicks. Some new elements are immediately visible among the bags and the shoe lace already has my attention roped in.

New moulds in the LEGO Adidas kicks

• Shoe Lace in White with Trans-Clear Aglets (6342961)

The shoe lace commands attention and stands out the first time anyone sees the brick-built Adidas Originals Superstar. I suppose it’s not really a mould, but certainly it’s not something I was expecting when I heard of this set. After seeing it in place though, it really ties the whole model together, figuratively and literally. The build will be covered further down in this article, but this shoelace element certainly expands cloth options for the purist builders among you who choose to use only official LEGO elements in your designs.

The woven, stretchable nature of laces means measurements aren’t exact and New E’s early review copy means I’m only guessing at a BrickLink part name. The lace is about 147 cm/ 58 in long and roughly one LEGO module or ~8 mm/ 5/16” in wide, and both dimensions have probably changed since I’ve now used and tugged on the lace. The aglets sheathe the ends in clear plastic with a longitudinal crease - they’re not quite round and wouldn’t stand as a legal connection but they definitely fit well into 3.18 mm holes and clips.

All this thorough inspection can lead us to only one conclusion: this is a normal shoe lace. Apart from arriving safely in a special box The LEGO Group uses for stickers and other textile elements, it would be impossible to identify this lace as a LEGO element. Nothing has ever stopped you from using shoe laces or… anything, really, as an unofficial part in your own creations but this lace’s inclusion in an official LEGO set means it’s truly fair game. Constraction figure builders are no strangers to comments asking what set some strange fabric cape came in, but this lace should be quite obvious.

• Brick, Round Corner 5 x 5 x 3 ⅓ Dome Top w/ Shelltoe Right Half pattern (6354881 | 76776)
• Brick, Round Corner 5 x 5 x 3 ⅓ Dome Top w/ Shelltoe Left Half pattern (6333991 | 76776)

Another obvious detail Adidas Superstar shoes and this set have in common is the distinctive shelltoe pattern. This characteristic toecap’s significance to the shoe warranted a whole new LEGO mould in the form of a 5 x 5 x 3 ⅓ modules quarter dome piece. Although it’s subtle, these symmetrical halves only come printed and show three thin vertical Tan printed stripes each.

Set designer Florian Müller said of the new element, “It has some [printed] lines for aesthetics, but the element itself will probably see use in future, and in different buildings. It's very useful, I would say.”

A 2 x 2 cutout relieves the bottom of these new 5-module radius quarter domes unlike similar-sized quarter domes. 3 x 3 quarter domes have existed since 2010, while 4 x 4s are quite rare since they were introduced just two years ago in 2019’s Star Wars 75253 Droid Commander, and neither have cutouts like these 5 x 5 roundies.

This shape’s outer profile lines up exactly with the longstanding Arch 1 x 6 x 3 1/3 Curved Top (6060) which has awaited a corner like this since 1992. I used some of those arches in a creation inspired by Adidas Originals Superstar’s pieces at the bottom of this article.

Recoloured pieces in Creator Expert 10282

• Windscreen 6 x 2 x 2 w/ Bar Handle w/ Gold Ink/ Metallic Gold “SUPERSTAR” Pattern, Right (6333984 | 35375pr1)
• Windscreen 6 x 6 x 2 with 2 Studs On Top w/ Gold Ink/ Metallic Gold Adidas Logo on Black Rectangle (6354882 | 28782pr1)
• Windscreen 6 x 2 x 2 w/ Bar Handle w/ Gold Ink/ Metallic Gold “SUPERSTAR” Pattern, Left (6333984 | 35375pr2)

Two windscreen moulds make their first appearances in opaque colours as the Superstar’s tongue and nametag. If you were hoping for either of these shapes in White, the printing may be a disadvantage unless you’re building a different Adidas product - or maybe a concert stage for a superstar. The colour scheme of the entire shoe isn’t one I love, but these gold details do sharpen up the overall appearance in a way I’m fond of. Only one “SUPERSTAR” windscreen is used per the included instructions, so what’s the deal with its mirror-image sibling? Extra pieces are included to build the other asymmetric shoe in a pair if you choose to pick up two 10282 Adidas Originals Superstars, or if you simply prefer building a goofy stance’s pushing foot.

• Bracket 2 x 2 - 1 x 2 Centered (6352550 | 41682)

A surprisingly colourful recolour makes an appearance in these near-monochrome brick-built shoes. The highly-useful centered 2 x 2 bracket is available for the first time in Dark Green/ Green - the perfect foray into green shades for this nearly new part.

This part isn’t visible from the outside of the shoe but its colour serves an important purpose. Inside the shoe, left and right connections to the side flaps are marked with red and green connectors, just like nautical indicators. 

A row of 2 x 2 centered brackets make up an insole to outer sole connection and without this piece in green, sailors searching for their right flap’s port would be lost at sea... Perhaps not, but it would be a little less intuitive how to connect the shoe’s flaps as intended.

New printed pieces in the Adidas X LEGO sneaker

• Tile 2 x 6 in White w/ Black “adidas” Pattern (6333988 | 69729pr1)
• Tile 2 x 2 in White w/ Black Adidas Trefoil Pattern (6333985 | 3068bpr…)
• Tile 2 x 3 in Black w/ White Adidas Trefoil Pattern (6333986 | 26603pr…)
• Tile 2 x 3 in Black w/ White “adidas” Pattern (6333986 | 26603pr…)
• Tile 2 x 6 in White w/ Black Trilingual “THE BRAND WITH THE 3 STRIPES” Pattern (6333988 | 69729pr2)

This shoe brings something new in every category and wastes no time printing on still-fresh 2 x 6 tiles. Bookends on this photo, the white tiles form the printed portion of the Superstar’s footbed as shown above. The two black tiles form the shoe’s rearmost and only rear-facing printed detail, its heel tab.

There are over 1,000 patterned 2 x 2 tiles and over 100 patterned 2 x 3s, so forgive me for not knowing what print numbers these parts will be assigned. 2 x 6 tiles however appear for the first time as a printed version. As this size of tile is still young (introduced in 2019) more printed variations of this piece are sure to follow.

New elements for 2021

• 4x Brick, Modified 1 x 2 x 1 ⅔ w/ Studs on 1 Side in Black (6275806 | 22885)
• 2x Bracket 1 x 1 - 1 x 2 Inverted in White (6337079 | 73825)

The medium-sized 1 x 2 x 1 ⅔ SNOT brick is new in black for 2021 despite the shape itself being around since 2016. You will also find black double 1 x 2 SNOT bricks in 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery and some VIDIYO sets. 

The tall 1 x 1 brackets are entirely new for this year and have appeared in a variety of colours, but in white it’s been limited to the Space Shuttle Discovery and Creator Expert 10295 Porsche 911 so far. Both pieces are broad in potential usages so we’ll likely see these more frequently in new sets, but for now they’re still new.

Designer Florian Müller discusses the LEGO Adidas trainer

The overall build of 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar utilizes a modular design to construct the shoes in the same order Adidas constructs their footwear. The side flaps and tongue move naturally as a shoe does to not only convey the movement a shoe is capable of, but also to pull off some very tricky asymmetric angles designer Florian Müller was able to pull off.

At The LEGO Group’s recent Fan Media Days, designer Florian spoke to New Elementary about the design approach:

“The thing works like a real shoe. You have the left and the right flap and the tongue, and you can flip them left and right and lift up the tongue if you take out the laces. We also included extra bricks, and if you get the building instructions online you can build the left side. So if you have two of these you can have an arrangement with both shoes, but also if you just prefer to show the left side then you can do that.”

The extra 17 bricks Mr. Müller mentions are shown here. So many wedges are used to create the asymmetric shape of a shoe and every LEGO builder has encountered the struggle of having just too few wedges in a certain direction. To avoid this struggle altogether, a handful of plates, wedge bricks, and the aforementioned “SUPERSTAR” windscreen are included in opposite orientation. Of course, if you build a second shoe you’ll have two sets of extra parts, but having more bricks has never been a bad thing. I’ll find a use for that leftover printed piece, even if means creating an over-the-top Elton John outfit.

Florian continues: “It was also super interesting to see how we could translate organic shapes into a LEGO model while still maintaining our core building experience. You have these moments where you build something and you're like ‘what the heck is this going to be,’ and then you get it. ‘Oh, actually, when I flip it now and put it here, that might make sense.’ That was a really fun thing and a challenge to do.

“When we design normally for kids we have a lot of restrictions in what is and what is not allowed – and what kids are actually capable of, too. With 18+ sets we have less restrictions, especially in terms of building techniques. And for sure, we also want to push sometimes for our fans, to show new, fun ways to do it. We don't have to necessarily build everything up on the table for example, which is important for kids. Here, we have a lot of things that you have to actually start building in your hands first and then apply into a bigger thing, but we still tried building technique-wise to stick to a good flow. To highlight: you build the sole first, and then you build the heel that you click in, and then you build the left and the right flat that you also click in, and then the tongue that you click in and lace. So you really have the feeling while you build of how to assemble the real shoe, actually.

“We also give you a little stand. It clicks in the shoe so you can show it in an upright, kicking position. It's easy to change the side so it's also able to be shown from the left side.”

The stand is subtle but effective, doing everything a display stand should do. It’s black and fades in the background against the bright white shoe, and the small cutout in the sole fits smoothly into the stand’s connection point. Without using the stand, I found myself grabbing the model as I’d grasp any shoe - by its side flaps. This isn’t a great option for the Originals Superstar because the shoe’s weight causes the side’s ball joints to become misaligned. It’s no big deal since the model can be massaged back into shape but the stand makes it easy to grip the shoe from it’s solid bottom and avoid that problem altogether.

The shoe has a surprising amount of space inside but it would still be a struggle to squeeze a foot in there due to the supports connecting the side flaps. The shoe is modeled after a size EU 40 ⅔/ US 7 ½/ UK 7 shoe but even if someone could sneak their foot into this sneaker, they’d be met with the terrible fate of stepping on a red 2 x 3 brick over and over and over. Work that kink out and you’d be able to walk across any baseplate you want.

Suppose you want to wear this shoe for real, though. Adidas is releasing the flip-side of this set as a real shoe which does exactly the opposite: this wearable shoe eschews smooth, new toecap elements for bricks and cheese slopes to create a distinctively LEGO shape. I haven’t paid attention to the adidas x LEGO line of shoes until now - these look sophisticated and true to both brands, and will be available in children’s sizes as well. Pricing is 140 EUR for adult sizes and 55 - 75 EUR for kids - specifics on regional pricing isn’t available from the German shoemaker just yet.

Zachary Hill's original MOC: The Invisible Man

Set designer Florian Müller said of the shoe lace, “We have a fun, new fabric element that we never did before, and that's the shoe lace. I'm really keen to see what our fans are doing with that.”

Well Florian, there’s no limit to what we can do with an official LEGO lace. Mummies, turbans, even Star Wars’ Rey’s arm wraps come to mind, yet I decided to recreate H.G. Wells’ victim of science fiction, the Invisible Man. Bandages wrap a contoured and fully brick-built head which is mostly white but varies in colour due to limitations of my LEGO collection. No bother, wrapping off-colour parts in shoelace bandages conceals Griffin’s mix of pigmentation or lack thereof.

The printing on the new 5 x 5 dome quarters is no limitation, either. This pattern doesn’t have to stick to being a shoe’s toe - the two striped corners could be a mermaid’s bikini top, or in my build, upper body bandages in an attempt to retain a poor scientist’s sanity and visibility. Some black 1 x 6 x 3 ⅓ arches (6060) make up the front of Griffin’s suit, and although none are included in the Adidas trainer set, these match the side profile of the new 5 x 5 round corners.

As mentioned previously, standard 3.18 mm clips can be used to hold the plastic ends of the shoe lace. Behind the Invisible Man’s jaw, I’ve hidden a double clip plate to secure one end of the wrap. From there, wrapping this unfortunate soul’s head was a matter of weaving lace in and out of itself and holding fast against recesses which gripped the lace.

The head couldn’t be fully wrapped using all 147 centimetres of lace at this scale, so as many portions as possible were built in white to blend in with the headwraps. Early tests showed me how limiting even a metre and a half of lace can be so those of you in search of large-scale coverings may resort to generic laces if the likeness is uncanny enough. I won’t tell on you.

Conclusion

Sneakers, trainers, kicks, whatever you call them… I never paid much attention to any of them. However, if you mention sweet LEGO building techniques you’re guaranteed my interest. LEGO Creator Expert 10282 Adidas Originals Superstar is finally the fusion of Bavaria and Billund which struck a chord in me. This Dassler brother company has a substantial relationship with The LEGO Group, but despite my LEGO maniacism, Adidas hadn’t caught my eye until their shoes appeared in brick form. Designer Florian Müller took what could have been an absolutely dull subject from my footwear-ambivalent viewpoint and turned it into a showcase of brick-bending techniques.

The white and black colour scheme is no doubt imposed by Adidas to ensure their trademark colourways are instantly recognized, but I’m no big fan of almost entirely greyscale builds. The dissatisfaction of dull colours is balanced out with joy for a new round corner shape and a pure LEGO solution for incorporating shoe laces into builds. Legal cloth elements are some of my favorites to see in MOCs and I share Florian’s excitement for what builders will do with the new lace element - even if it’s just an ordinary shoe lace.

If you’re the kind of person to collect Adidas sneakers, this seems like a bold-faced ask for your loyalty. Fans of 18+ LEGO sets will at least find the efficiency of the build satisfying, and MOC builders might find this useful if you need a mess of white wedges and slopes. Ultimately this set’s intended audience seems to be the intersection of LEGO and footwear enthusiasts who can choose if this set’s US$79.99/ €89.99/ £79.99 price is worth its 731 pieces. If you decide to purchase this set on 1 July, please use our affiliate link to get to LEGO.com, as New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. 

Thanks to Ben Davies for the interview with the set designer.

READ MORE: LEGO® Super Mario double review: 71381 Chain Chomp Jungle Encounter & 71382 Piranha Plant Puzzling Challenge

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