At this point, there have been around a dozen Adidas × LEGO Shoes for Adults. I am not trying to keep up with all of the products that have come out of this cross-brand partnership, but I have seen a couple variants of the Gamemode Soccer/Football Cleats, wearable versions of the Adidas Superstar shoe with LEGO studs on the exterior, and the “Running Inspired” ¹ Racer 21 series.

So far, only three shoes in this lineup have piqued my interest to the point that I wanted to add them to my collection. This includes the pair I am reviewing today, along with two other products which I have already reviewed here at Brick Architect.

Previous Adidas × LEGO sneaker reviews:

• Adidas Ultraboost DNA × LEGO Colors Shoes with a rainbow of classic LEGO colors.
• Adidas ZX 8000 LEGO Shoes, which was the first collaboration for adults between The LEGO Group and Adidas.

Adidas ZX 8000 × LEGO Shoes (left), Adidas Ultraboost DNA × LEGO Colors Shoes (middle), Ultraboost DNA × LEGO Plates Shoes (right).

Compared to some of the other offerings, these three shoes appealed to me because I find running shoes a lot more comfortable than fashion-forward footwear. Most of all, I was drawn to these shoes because they really embraced the LEGO brand over some of subtler products (and color variations) they have offered. (In other words, why buy expensive LEGO shoes if playful LEGO color palette is hidden?)

Initial Impressions

This pair is unique from the other two pairs I own because it features pockets on either side which you can decorate by sliding genuine LEGO elements into the clear pocket. I was very eager to see this design first-hand, since I was admittedly a bit dissapointed that the LEGO studs on the other two shoes which I reviewed were much smaller than real LEGO bricks (at about 3/5 the size of a real LEGO brick).

Both of these shoes are in the Ultraboost lineup, so they have a lot in common in terms of fit and styling.

And let’s be honest, my real curiosity was to see if I can achieve any structurally sound LEGO Connections; allowing me to decorate my shoes using additional LEGO bricks! Since it looks like the LEGO studs are exposed through the clear plastic sleeve, there’s hope that I can make a connection through this point leveraging some NPU (Nice Parts Usage).

Unboxing

These shoes come in an even larger box than either of the other shoes that I reviewed. Some nice details visible on the box exterior include the 2×3 brick proportions, studs printed on one side and anti-studs printed on the reverse, and the minfigure-head shaped cutout that helps you slide the tray out from the outer box.

Box Top, Bottom, and Insert.

This additional size is in part due to the decision to package the 2×2 Plates and Shoelaces in a tray that sits above the shoes when you slide the box open. This adds to the ‘unboxing’ experience, but feels unnecessary when they could have fit all of this in a much smaller box with a little less pomp.

Removing the tray reveals the shoes wrapped in custom-printed tissue paper.

Build Process

Wait, what? The shoes are wrapped in building instructions and come unassembled! This is a fun touch which leans into the LEGO DNA in a really nice way. This does mean that you can not simply slip on the shoes and take a walk — at the very minimum you need to take a few minutes to install the shoelaces.

The shoes are wrapped in tissue paper featuring the four steps of the ‘build process’.

The personality of the tissue paper is perfect, with a nostalgic LEGO building instructions vibe that uses an appropriate illustrative style and the correct fonts and vertical line separators. That said, (and I admit this is super nerdy), there is an obvious error in the instructions: A vertical line is used in building instructions to indicate that you complete the first column of steps before moving on to the next column, but in this case step 2 is in the second column, ignoring the vertical line. This is actually important, since you want to install the 2×2 plates before adding the shoelaces!

It is really difficult to attach the plates to the round antistuds.

Unfortunately, what I hoped to be a playful highlight of this project ended up being a literal pain — attaching the plates to the flexible transparent straps is frustrating and difficult. The problem seems to stem from two issues: the flexible plastic catches on the sharp edges of a LEGO stud, and the holes are slightly too small, making it more difficult than necessary to attach the LEGO Plates, especially since they should remain tightly in place once you tighten the shoelaces.

Shoes decorated, laced up, and ready to go.

I find myself a bit dissapointed both by the frustrating experience of attaching the plates to the straps, and to the finished appearance. Even though the pockets are created using a clear plastic, a lot of the vibrance of the LEGO color palette is lost. Because the clear plastic is pretty thick, the LEGO studs are not flush with the clear plastic — they sit slightly recessed. This makes the color even less vibrant unless viewed straight onward.

Comfort and Function

In my review of the similar Adidas Ultraboost DNA × LEGO Colors Shoes, I explained that the lack of a wide size makes these shoes pretty uncomfortable for me, especially in the toebox. The midsection feels snug, which is no surprise as it is reinforced with actual LEGO plates!

The insoles have the LEGO Logo and a nubby ‘studded’ pattern which you can feel while wearing the shoes.

Inside the shoe, you will find a removeable insole that has yet another nod to the LEGO brand, it’s bumpy! Subtle pattern of studs covers the insole, and they are pronoused enough that you can feel it slightly when wearing the shoes, even with socks on.

Continental provides the perforated rubber soles.

On the underside, you will find a brand that I typically associate with tires rather than footwear: Continental. As someone more experienced with hiking boots than high-end sneakers, I suspect this is a branding play to compete with Vibram soles.

I continue to think that the Ultraboost shoes are more comfortable than the Adidas ZX 8000 LEGO Shoes. Again, this is no surprise since the Ultraboost design is a modern shoe which debuted in 2015³, and the ZX is based on a shoe which debuted in 1988.

MOC’ability

The extremely snug ‘antistud’ connection coupled with the fact that the clear plastic is thicker than a stud is tall makes it difficult to make a strong connection to additional LEGO elements attached to the shoe’s exterior. That said, I have confirmed that it is possible to use parts with a hollow stud to connect ‘bar’ elements through the hole.

Some of the elements from my collection which I experimented with.

Because the clear plastic is too thin, you need a pretty long ‘bar’ element to make a strong connection. As such, the connection I tried using 1×1 Round w/ Pin (part 20482) connected to Candle (part 37762) was pretty weak and fell off easily. By contrast, placing 1×2 Round (part 3548) beneath the clear plastic and connecting a longer ‘bar’ element like 2L Bar w/ Stop (part 78258) results in a pretty robust connection.

Two of the connections I tried which rely on hollow studs and bar elements.

I have no doubt that there’s an even wider range of possible connections, but I can say with confidence that these shoes do not make it easy to build on top of. If that were their priority when designing these shoes, I expect that they would have found a way to include rigid LEGO studs in the shoe itself.

Conclusion

I recognize that I am not really the target audience for this product — I am far too ‘value oriented’ of a customer to seriously consider these shoes at the original 200$ MSRP. Furthermore, I can only wear them for short periods of time because they do not have an option for wider feet. (I will stick with my Brooks when going for a serious run, but I suspect a short jog between sessions at a LEGO convention might be fine.)

As I now own all three of the Adidas × LEGO Shoes that had caught my attention, it is hard not to compare these to the other two pair I own. Let’s consider aesthetics, celebration of the LEGO brand, customizability, and practical use.

These struggle when it comes to aesthetics. First off, I do like that the primary color is White, as this is a blank canvas to help more vibrant LEGO colors stand out. I already voiced my first concern — it is problematic that the studs are so hard to see and the clear plastic ends up washing out the colors so much. I also think the matte silver finish is a weird choice. Sure, it is close to 298Cool Silver, Drum LacqueredMetallic Silver, but this is not a common enough LEGO color to feel like an intentional expression of the LEGO brand.

The printed pattern on the toebox is to scale with a real LEGO brick.

Speaking of the LEGO brand, I do think this product has one foot squarely in each of the two brands being represented. The Adidas brand is well captured with the three lines and the Ultraboost branding, while the LEGO brand is on full display through the building instructions on the tissue paper and the fact that this is the only ‘buildable’ LEGO shoe that you can actually wear.

In practice, this should be a comfortable shoe for people with a narrower foot, and even for me they aren’t too bad. I enjoy feeling the gentle studded nubs of the embossed insole, and the shoe feels genuinely supportive. I can’t say for certain, but I do think the LEGO elements will stay in place especially if you keep the shoelaces fairly tight. It’s a pretty practical shoe given the unique buildable aspect of these shoes.

Will the Adidas Ultraboost DNA × LEGO Plates Shoes walk right into your closet?

At the end of the day, my favorite pair of LEGO shoes are the Adidas Ultraboost DNA × LEGO Colors Shoes, with these coming in at a distant second because I find these a bit finicky and I’m not excited about the shiny silver look. The high price and frustrating ‘build process’ bring these down a notch to an Acceptable (2/5 Star) rating, although I would concede that 3/5 is more appropriate if they were readily available at the $70 price which I paid.

Footnotes

1. The Racer TR21 Running Shoes are described as “Running-inspired shoes for daily wear” at https://www.adidas.co.uk/racer-tr21-shoes/GZ8185.html. Accessed 2023/08/21.
2. “The Adidas Ultraboost DNA X Lego Plates are set to go on sale on Thursday, April 8th at 10AM ET through the Adidas website for $200.” https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/4/7/22372409/adidas-lego-bricks-custom-ultraboost-dna-x-shoes-sneakers. Accessed 2023/08/21.
3. A short history of the adidas UltraBoost: https://www.spin.ph/life/active-lifestyle/a-history-of-the-adidas-ultraboost-a1244-20200307. Accessed 2023/08/27.