Review: LEGO Nike Slam Dunk 43010

LEGO Nike Slam Dunk 43010 New Release Review Brick Banter - 2025

Slam Dunk or due for the bench?

As I had predicted in our last review, I was certain that LEGO were going to be headlining a new collab with Nike. We got one set from before, but with the arrival of two more, how is this theme going? Last time, I said that this felt like more of an advertisement than a product, but how does the LEGO Nike Slam Dunk hold up in comparison? How does this set do in the court after the first half? Read on!

The Stadium

The Stadium gives us a mix of blues and purple for our backdrop, then the classic tan colours of the court. Set around a basketball hoop, the set uses structural arms off one side to hold up the character. To which the opposing has a scoreboard.

Although I do like the scoreboard and think it is a good bit of detail. It feels almost like a last minute thought. It doesn’t balance the model out compared to the figure, and overhangs into nothingness on the model base. It almost feels ‘too far removed’ from the model.

As we make our way downwards, we are treated to a forced-perspective technique of making a crowd in the grandstands. Although it is convincing of a crowd, this detail on the model feels out of scale with the rest of it. This crowd balanced against the abnormally high hoop look albeit strange once you begin to focus on it. More so, they feel out of place being in front of the hoop rather than the sides, and slightly covered by the stars in front.

The Figure

The figure for the model is tall basketballer with a little bit of customisation to top it off. You can swap out the figure’s hair to change between masculine and feminine, but can also customise it further by removing their arms, fingers, torso or head.

The figure is unfortunately locked into a pose on the lower limbs, with the blue sleeved leg being attached to the post of the hoop.

The upper torso gives a little more range of motion, such as arm movements and poses dunking the ball, but that’s about it.

I do need to mention that the fingers on the figure do seem a little oversized, and may have been better supplemented with a different piece. The overall size of the character and their proportions have set the scale for the whole model via the hoop too. This unfortunately means that everything here kind of ends up out of proportion and a bit amiss.

Verdict

Look, I know I’m not the intended audience for this set. I get that. But I honestly am kind of lost with this set.

From a designer perspective? Fantastic building techniques on the angles and billboard. Stickers? Great too.

Execution of a product idea? Eeeeeeeeesh.

This is a set that feels out of place with the other two sets. It’s a pretty limited posing model, the forced perspective doesn’t work and it doesn’t display as nice.

It doesn’t feel outrageously like an advertisement like other sets have from this theme, but it’s execution in concept is off. Whether is be the weighting of the model on one side, the fact the billboard looks like a last minute addition to balance the support beams holding the character or the crowd being partly covered/lost, it’s a bit all over the place.

There are things I like that LEGO have added to it, such as the customisation of the character, but it simply isn’t a set for me. And for the price tag, I’ll pass.