Every once in a while LEGO drops something out of left field that makes you go “wait, that’s actually cool.” The Polaroid OneStep SX-70 (21345) is one of those. 516 pieces, $79.99. And it might be the smartest little flip on the shelf right now. Here’s why.
What makes it special
It’s a LEGO replica of the classic Polaroid camera, and the headline is the function: press the big red button and it actually dispenses a printed “Polaroid” photo. It’s a real Technic mechanism. You load one of the three printed film tiles into a slot, close the panel, hit the button, and it pops out just far enough to grab, with a satisfying little sound. For something this small, built out of LEGO, it works shockingly well.
The film pieces themselves are a new, durable printed element I haven’t seen before. Closer to a thick credit card than a normal tile, which matters since you’re sliding them in and out. Three of them, each with a nice LEGO-style illustration.
Other nice details: swappable “OneStep” and “1000” name tiles so you can pick your model, a printed red button, the color spectrum on the front, and a viewfinder with a clear distortion piece that makes it feel real when you look through it. A few stickers (the “Polaroid Land Camera” front, the exposure dial), but the important stuff is printed.
Is it small for $80? Yeah, a bit. It’s less plastic than, say, the $70 Captain Rex helmet. But the printed elements and that dispensing function are doing the work here. This isn’t overpriced. It’s a novelty piece done right.
The Reseller’s Take
This is the part that matters, and it’s a good one.
- Retail: $79.99. 516 pieces. Released January 2024.
- Current secondary value: around $120. That’s roughly +50% over retail, and it’s still climbing about +6% a year on top of that.
My call: BUY. This is close to a textbook flip. Low entry price ($80 is easy to buy multiples of), broad appeal well beyond LEGO collectors (Polaroid fans, photography people, gift-buyers), and a real novelty factor that keeps demand up. Low capital in, strong margin, quick to sell. If you can still grab it at or near retail, do it.
Watch for a retirement announcement. Novelty sets like this tend to spike once they’re gone. Buy while it’s available, sell into the post-retirement bump.
Invest score: 9/10. One of the better low-capital flips available right now.
Bottom line
Cool set, clever function, and it’s already made money for anyone who bought at retail. As a build it’s a fun weekend. As an investment it’s one of the easiest yeses on the shelf. Grab one (or a few) while it’s still around.
Prices and resale figures from public sources (LEGO, BrickEconomy). ROI is an estimate based on historical trends, not a guarantee.