Although the LEGO Group’s foray into the world of sport may seem like a recent endeavour, there has been a long association between LEGO® bricks and sport. In the 90s, there were several sets inspired by football and later, basketball. More recently, iconic football stadiums were transformed into detailed LEGO builds, and Adidas offered a range of LEGO-branded clothing and footwear. Now the LEGO Group have joined forces with US sportswear maker, Nike, and the first fruit of this new partnership is the awkwardly named Nike Dunk x LEGO Set. Ahead of its release next month, here’s an early look at the new set.
Product Details
Set Name: Nike Dunk x LEGO Set | Set Number: 43008 | Pieces: 1180 | Theme: Nike
Number of Bags: Bags x 10 | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: Sheet x 1 | Characters: B’Ball Head
RRP: £89.99/99.99€/$99.99/149.99AUD/129.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online July 1st
Following a successful link-up with Adidas, which began in 2020, the LEGO Group announced a new partnership with Nike. Similar to the deal with Adidas, along with a range of LEGO-themed clothing and footwear, there’s also a Nike-themed LEGO set. This features a brick-built Nike Dunk shoe, along with a funky ‘DUNK’ sign and a spinable basketball. As the name suggests, Nike Dunks were created as a basketball shoe, but soon found popularity elsewhere. Which has made the Dunks one of Nike’s iconic offerings.
The set is split into three sections, each has its own instruction booklet. The first part you build is the Nike Dunk shoe. This lone footwear is similar to its Adidas counterpart, but is much smaller. It still has all the details you’d expect to find on the shoe. Which are achieved with a mix of brick-built elements, printed pieces and stickers. So the iconic Nike swoosh is brick-built. The label on the tongue and the vamp are printed, as is the back panel. The laces are unfortunately achieved with several stickers applied to a series of bow bricks. There are four blue lace sections and four mint green ones. Allowing you to customise the appearance of the Dunk.
The Dunk can also be split apart, with the front section of the shoe having the ability to be removed to reveal a small draw and a handy place to store the spare lace panels. A similar function is found on the rear of the Dunk. This can be popped off to reveal an area where the set’s unique minifigure can be placed. You can also lift the shoe’s tongue for an extra bit of storage. But the brick-built footwear isn’t merely an elaborate storage box. It becomes a part of a larger display piece.
The largest part of the set is a stylised sign featuring the word ‘DUNK’. This is an interesting build as it’s quite slimline and uses a lot of angled bricks to create the stacked ‘DUNK’ word. This is bordered by a splash of white and light green bricks. It’s an unusual mix of colours, but they work well together, which is ideal for something meant to be a display piece. The ‘DUNK’ lettering serves as the display’s centrepiece, holding both the shoe and a cleverly constructed, rotatable basketball, which is the final part of the set.
Due to the cubic nature of most LEGO bricks, creating rounded objects isn’t the easiest thing to achieve. So to build a small Nike-branded basketball, a surprisingly complex core is clad with six panels. The layering of smaller plates helps to create the roundness of the ball. Once complete, the ball can be mounted to the orange pin connector protruding from behind the back of the Dunk sign. Once connected, it can be rotated using the handle.
A highlight of the set is its unique minifigure dubbed B’Ball Head. This Nike-branded mascot looks like it’s stepped straight out of Fortnite. You’ll be surprised to hear, B’Ball Head has a Basketball for a head, which is a new element. The print detail on the minifigure is impressive, especially as it features several really tiny Nike logos.
It’s an eye-catching build, thanks to both the colours used and the configuration of the set. It’s also fun to build, but it isn’t easy to pinpoint who the set is aimed at. The Adidas set had an appeal beyond LEGO fans to those who enjoy collecting footwear. But with this, the shoe is a smaller focus of the set. The minifigure is excellent, and it’s a shame it’s not better integrated into the set. It’s one of these sets which will be an interesting footnote in LEGO history. However, it has already been announced that we’ll be receiving further Nike x LEGO sets later this year. So if this set doesn’t interest you, maybe others will. The Nike Dunk X LEGO Set with be available globally from July 1st.
Coming Soon: UKIrelandUSCanadaMexicoGermanyFranceDenmarkAustraliaNew Zealand
This set was provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Nike. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
