Our review panel consisting of Greg, BanthaToys, Boom Brickz, Brick McBricksworth, Brick Shed, Lets_Brick_It and myself had a thorough look and these were our verdicts!

Only 2 sets managed to get a perfect 10/10 score. The batman 1992 polybag and the Friends Botanical Garden set. And not without reason of course. Based on reactions online the Botanical Garden appealed to a lot of people that usually don’t pay attention to Friends. A few sets like the Mighty Bowser came close however.

Below you’ll find the full list of reviewed sets, be sure to dive into the reviews to get the full story behind each grade.

Friends Botanical Garden (41757) 10

Batman 1992 Polybag (30653) 10

Nintendo The Mighty Bowser (71411) 9.8

Disney 100 CMF (71038) 9.6

Avatar Ilu Discovery (75575) & Swinwing Adventure (75576) 9.6

LEGO Ideas A-Frame Cabin (21338) 9.5

Marvel CMF Series 2 9.5

Icons Alpine Lodge (10325) 9.4

Jurassic Park Dilophosaurus Ambush (76958) 9.4

Star Wars Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama (40658) 9.4

Marvel Ant-Man Construction Figure (76256) 9.3

DreamZzz Mateo & Z-Blob The Robot (71454) 9.3

Scaled-Up LEGO Minifigure (40649) 9.3

Indiana Jones Escape From The Lost Tomb (77013) 9.3

Batwing: Batman Vs The Joker (76265) 9.2

Disney 4+ Celebration Train (43212) 9.2

Indiana Jones Fighter Plane Chase (77012) 9.2

LEGO Ideas Hocus Pocus Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage (21341) 9.1

GWP Disney 100 Celebration (40600) 9.1

GWP Icons Moving Truck (40586) 9.1

Ninjago Temple Battle Polybag (30650) 9.1

LEGO Ideas The Insect Collection (21342) 9

GWP Wintertime Carriage Ride (40603) 9

Marvel Rocket and Baby Groot (76282) 8.9

GWP Blacktron Cruiser (40580) 8.9

Icons Jazz Club (10312) 8.8

DreamZzz Mrs Castillo’s Turtle Van (71456) 8.8

Creator Snowman Polybag (30645) 8.8

GWP Christmas Decor Set (40604) 8.8

Brickheadz Sonic The Hedgehog (40627) & Miles “Tails” Prower (40628) 8.7

City Arctic Explorer Snowmobile (60376) 8.7

Creator Land Rover Classic Defender (40650) 8.6

GWP City 4×4 Off-Road Ambulance Rescue (40582) 8.6

Icons Tranquil Garden (10315) 8.5

City Ice-Cream Shop (60363) 8.5

Star Wars Clone Trooper & Battle Droid Battle Pack (75372) 8.5

LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 24 8.3

LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 25 8

Botanical Collection Tiny Plants (10329) 8

Friends Pancake Shop (41753) 7.9

Dreamzzz Dream Village (40657) 7.8

GWP Flowerpot (40588) 7.8

GWP Year Of The Rabbit (40575) 7.7

Harry Potter The Room Of Requirement (76413) 7.6

GWP Star Wars Death Star II 40591 7.5

GWP Star Wars X-wing Starfighter Polybag (30654) 7

Friends Heartlake City Community Center (41748) 6.8

Star Wars Yavin IV Rebel Base (75365) 6.5

It’s safe to say we had a great year for LEGO sets. We’re sure 2024 will bring a lot more sets to get excited about. Thanks for being a part of our journey this year and we wish you all a bricktastic 2024!

So what is featured? We get a Blue morpho butterfly, Hercules beetle and Chinese mantis on a decorated display stand. The stands are mostly based on treebranches and some other elements like flowers or mushrooms.

Parts selection

The parts selection for this set is quite good. Most bricks, plates, slopes and tiles are rather versatile and standard bricks. The colour choice is rather muted as well with a lot of (dark)tan parts. I consider this a positive because it adds versatillity for MOC usage.

Some bigger specific parts are used, like the dark green windscreens for leaves, but luckily the set doesn’t heavily rely on those.

Another great thing is the absence of stickers. All decorated elements are printed. There are quite a few parts recolored for this set as well, making their first time appearance. Like the rather recent leaf piece (3565) in bright green.

I wouldn’t recommend getting this set if you’re looking for a good partspack however. There are not really parts in bulk quantities present. So it’s not the best starting point for your own builds.

The building process

Like mentioned in a previous review, I prefer to use digital instructions over paper ones. This saves space on the table and makes building a set less messy for me. However, the quality of the online PDF booklets is not ideal. Because this frustrated me again, I decided to download the LEGO builder app. This was an even worse experience. I won’t rant about it too much right now, although I’ll no doubt get back to it in a future blog. It did impact my building experience so in the end this will be considered when grading the set.

The build itself was quite good actually! In bag 1 we start with the stand for the butterfly. This is quite a satisfying process. Wedge plates and modified tiles are used to great effect, fitting neatly to get the desireed shapes. The branch has a few neat tricks (like creating the angle towards the top and is quite interesting to learn new things for building terrain in MOCs.

Bag 2 continues with a rather lush Bromeliad flower. And before we get to the butterfly we first build an excellent little bee. The NPU choice to use a printed egg is a great pick!

The butterfly is mostly a mosaic style build. Not a technique that excites me, but once again, the combination of modified angled and curved tiles looks great in the end. Due to the subtle colour differences and shades, the instuctions were especially annoying here.

Bag 3 stars with the display stand for the Hercules Beetle. All 3 builds share the same basic shape for the base. But once you get building the branch or other decorative elements, all 3 are rather different so I never really got bored with repetition while building the set.

Underneath the branch 2 larvae can be found, with white croissants used for this.

We finish the stand in bag 4 with the blue mushrooms. These are representing Clitocybula azurea. After this we switch our attention to the beetle, building the main part of its body.

In bag 5 we finish the beetle with its limbs, wings and elytra. The set is designed in such a way that displaying is possible with wings spread out from under the elytra or having it closed.

The final model is the Chinese mantis. In bag 6 we once again assemble a treebranch for a display stand. This one is quite a bit more fragile compared to the others. Connections for leaves and flowers aren’t very strong and took me a few tries before everything stayed in place.

The large dark green leaves are added from bag 7. To be honest, I’m not really fond of the colour combinations with the leaves. Maybe having the smaller leaves in dark green would have improved this stand. The mantis itself is a rather simple yet elegant design. It features some of the funniest NPU choices like recolored swords and pistols on its limbs and eyes that are both fun and creepy at the same time. Which is true for most insects as well of course…

Display value

These are some great shelfsitters! The size is reasonable and they are a bit more easy to display in a cabinet or something like that. With the detailed display stands, it shows quite an impressive development in the way LEGO releases sets like this. More detail, more variation etcetera.

Value For Money

The set has been a LEGO exclusive in The Netherlands so far, which means no discount on this set (yet). RRP is €/$79.99 and £69.99. With 1.111 pieces, that’s a bit more expensive than I’m usually willing to pay (when considering Price Per Piece). It is however in a different price bracket than a lot of other Ideas sets over the last few years. I don’t have the budget or space for most of those so that’s a positive for me. And where I usually take sets apart within 24 hours for parts, this one was actually bought to keep on display. So what I’m trying to say, there’s some bias for me here. The set is right up my alley and because the things I just mentioned, I don’t mind the price. It’s not an irresistible good price, which is why it took me a few months after release to pick it up. It’s not terrible either.

Overall

This is a great set! Because of all the SNOT building and techniques, it reminded me a lot of the 21301 Birds set, one of my all time favourites for the building techniques. Only with an update in parts used. Where the birds used mostly traditional plates and bricks, this set has quite a lot of more recent (curved) parts to create more complex builds that have more decoration as well. Some of these new parts feel a bit redundant, but overall parts are used to great effect.

I think it’s the right choice to go for 3 big insects instead of 5. The ladybeetle might have been rather similar with the wings and body to the Hercules beetle so that doesn’t really add a lot to this set. The honeybee is done in such a nice way that I just wished there were 1 or 2 more, but I don’t miss a big one with these designs.

I’d recommend this set to anyone interested in nature builds. Also if you want to learn more SNOT techniques etc for MOCs this is a great set to get inspiration or ideas from.

So these are my thoughts on this set. So what do you think of this set? Are you buzzin’ to get your hands on it? Share your thoughts in the comments!

First of all I’d like to say a massive thank to you, for shopping at Minifigs.me and using our affiliate link. We really appreciate your support as every click counts and ultimately goes towards website upkeep and new additions to the custom Minifigure family, thank you.

Since we joined theor affiliate program we have been blessed with some great Minifigures and custom parts, including the likes of Doctor Who, Billy Butcherson, Black Adder and so many more. If you’re an avid read of ours then you’ll no doubt have seen our many feature articles on Minifigs.me and their offers, if not click here to see what they’ve been upto throughout 2023.

We have used the custom Minifigures in numerous ways, with many MOCs and Scenes under our belt. The latest was a #SigfigScene (our weekly hashtag activity) which featured John McClane from Die Hard. Him and Lil’ G (my sigfig) found themselves stuck in the same air duct, what are the chances?!

Another MOC of ours, which happens to be my favourite, centres around a duo from a popular game and even bigger TV show, Ellie & Joel from The Last Of Us. This one took me awhile to build as I’m not a great MOC builder and the parts I had to work with were limited. Saying that though, it turned out rather well, even if I do say so myself.

The Minifigs.me team worked wonders with the two custom Minifigures, they included so much detail and even a secondary face for Ellie covered in cuts. Take a look for yourself below.

Another awesome reason to shop at Minifigs.me is their extensive selection of custom parts and personalisation options. From movie posters and food items to photo tiles and messages on bricks. The latter is great for gifting, especially to a loved one or a special friend that loves LEGO.

Some of our favourites include posters of classic, re-imagined, movies. From The Shining and Jaws, to Clockwork Orange and Friday the 13th. We of course had to use them in a MOC, we thought they’d suit a teenage bedroom setting, check it out below.

That’s not all they offer, Minifigs.me are known for their Minifigure head designs, especially making them from scratch. They designed and printed my Sigfigs many expressions. Their ‘Edit a Head‘ and ‘Design a Head‘ product listings allow you to either change or add something to an already designed head or create one from scratch.

When asking for my custom heads I found it helped to send in examples of what I wanted. Referencing existing LEGO heads and even real people help give the Minifigs.me design team a better understanding of what you want.

We may have gone a little overboard this year with heads and expressions, take a look below.

Looking back over the past year, we’ve been very fortunate for the number of products released and the goodies we’ve received. We hope this continues in 2024 and beyond. Thank you Minifigs.me.

We have created so much more using their products, check out our gallery below. Hopefully it inspires you to venture into the world of custom LEGO Minifigures and Parts. Using our links, located throughout this article, you’ll bag yourself 10% off your first order, get in!

I’ve bought quite a few of these botanical sets over the years myself. Until this one I sorted them out straight away, not bother building. But this time I wanted to have a look myself what these sets are all about. Are they any fun to build?

So what do we get? We get 9 tiny plants in ‘terracotta’ pots. Instructions are divided in 3 booklets and 1-3 people can build these simultaneously. Every booklet has 3 pots, small/medium/large in size. Each time the pots of similar size are constructed with the same techniques. Only some small details like color choices (invisible from the outside) make a slight difference between them.

The full list of included plants:

• False Shamrock (Oxalis Triangularis)
• Jade Plant (Crassula Ovata)
• Laceleaf (Anthurium andraenum)
• Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
• Red Sundew (Drosera brevifolia)
• Yellow Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia flava)
• Britton’s Liveforever (Dudleya brittonii)
• Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa)
• Pincushion Cactus (Mammilaria crinita f. zeilmanniana)

In total the set consists of 758 pieces, divided over 6 numbered bags. The Recommended Retail Price (RRP) is €/$49.99 or £44.99.

Part selection

So this might be my favourite criterium to judge a set. And I really can’t think of many better sets. There’s a lot of recoloured parts, parts in bulk quantities or rare parts included. In this picture you can see all newly recoloured or rare (included in 3 sets or less) parts. It’s quite an impressive amount! and quite universally usable as well.

Other than new and recoloured parts, bigger quantities are also what defines a great parts pack. Below is the list of parts with the biggest quantities in this set. Unsurprisingly it’s a lot of Dark Orange.

image taken from Bricklink

So I assume these pictures give a good glimpse this is a very valuable addition to any builders parts collection. There are a lot of options for terrain building, structure etc. Some these parts are also especially added to please MOC builders since they are used invisibly like the unprinted Sand Green round 2×2 tiles. This is of course a well known practice from set designers to help colleagues or themselves out for introducing new parts and it’s great we can benefit from that.

Building process

Where I’m thrilled about the part selection, I’m not really about the building techniques. My initial thought when the set was revealed, was that most parts were used for the pots and the plants almost seem an afterthought.

Sadly, I’m still of this opinion after having built the set. The False Shamrock only takes 6 building steps in the instructions, including the pot. The Pincushion Cactus with 34 building steps is the most advanced when judged in the amount of building steps. And with the repetition in the pots, most of this set wasn’t very interesting from a building perspective.

Comparing the 9 models to pictures of the real life versions of these plants, some of them could have been represented better by going bigger.

Maybe 5 slightly bigger plants with some more variation in sizes would have been a choice I would have preferred. That would however also make it less of a desirable parts pack so there’s just no pleasing me perhaps.

I did think the building techniques on the biggest pots were really clever and the way a round shape was achieved was very satisfying. Previously I had my doubt about the need for a 1×2 SNOT brick with a centered stud on the side (part 86876). It felt to me a technic brick with pin could achieve the same. In this set however it’s used in such a way that really shows the neccessity of having this part as well.

Display-ability

Despite my criticism on the comparison between the real life plants and this sets, it does look rather cute. And thankfully they won’t expire and look dreary if you forget to water them.

The NPU choices like hats and butterflies give them a compelling look and this set might be acceptable when displayed in the house for non-AFOL partners. I can totally see this set being just as popular as earlier botanical sets  and have a broad appeal to new to LEGO fans.

The Cost

Just the set itself, displaying the 9 plants in your home seems worth the RRP of €/$49.99 or £44.99 to me. It looks nice and compared to other botanical sets in the same price bracket there’s enough value for me.

A simple Price Per Part analysis will be quite positive with 758 pieces, with less than 7c PP. However, I tend to judge more on how useful parts are to me and my MOC’s. And like I tried to show in the parts section of this review, there’s a lot to appreciate and an extraordinary value in all the rare and new parts. Even though I ended up finding it for €38.99 at a local retailer, I was already considering buying it at the regular price. To be honest, I’m also considering picking up a second one.

So I’d say: this is a fair priced set, well worth the (RRP) cost. As always, be on the lookout for a better deal because it might save you a bit.

So what do you think of this set? Have you bought and built the set already? Or are you convinced after reading this review. Share your thoughts in the comments!

To be fair, I don’t think I should do a regular review, scoring pieces and building techniques out of 10 for this set. I quite like the set but it’s not great on these aspects. So I’d say an average score would be too low and this is an example for the total being better than the sum of its parts.

The set contains 152 pieces. The horse is the rarest piece in this set (included in 3 sets in total) and the newer flat lid for treasure chests is my first set getting it in. The ornamental carriage wheels can be interesting for some but they’ve been around for quite a while. Other than that there’s no bulk of pieces, or anything noteworthy among the rest.

The build process is fast and furious. There’s really not much to it and I was thinking to myself: ‘is this it?’. But you end up with a beautiful horse drawm carriage audiences of all ages can enjoy. It’s suitable for play for children and display for adults. And that’s a quality we don’t often see in sets. Most often one of the two is sacrificed for the other.

There are 3 minifigures included in the set, a driver and 2 passengers. The driver has a carrot for the horse and the passengers have scarves around their neck. So for me this seems to be extra on most GWP’s and makes up for the earlier mentioned shortcomings in pieces and building process.

So overall this is a great GWP to me. In the Christmas spirit I’d happily overlook some details and just enjoy the set as a whole. If you plan on spending this kind of money on LEGO in the near future I’d recommend doing so while this set is available, I’m not sure there will be a better promotion this month.

This set was of course designed by Chris McVeigh aka Powerpig who released 2 books on LEGO Christmas ornaments before becoming a LEGO designer. So we are in safe hands!

As usual, with opening a new set I hope to finally find my first paper bags. Unfortunately it’s still single use plastic I found in this one. Parts are divided over 3 bags without a number. With a piece count like this it’s not really an issue to find the needed parts, so no problem there.

Part selection

The set consists of 182 parts. There are no special or printed parts in this set, but the parts provided are just solid versatile parts. So an 8 out of 10 for me.

Build process

The baubles are rather elegant to build, the used slope parts make them fit together really nice. I don’t want to spoil your building pleasure so I won’t show exactly how it’s build. If you are not going to get the set with a purchase you can always check out the online building instructions. The building technique for all 3 is the same and before I had finished the first bauble I stopped using the booklet myself. In a bigger set the repetetive nature would become annoying, but with a set this size I could tolerate it quite well. It was just a nice and quick build and the pleasing colour scheme variations made it interesting enough. So for building process I’d also give an 8 out of 10. Nothing extra special, just solid.

The price

With a spending threshold of €70/$70/£65 it’s not crazy good value like some other GWP’s we had this year. But it’s certainly not bad either. With the current prices with inflation from the last 2 years taken into account, I’d say the threshold is just reasonable and fair. A 9 out of 10 for me.

Display-ability

These are rather nice to hang in your Christmas tree (if the branches are sturdy enough to hold them). These weigh a bit more so it probably won’t work for everybody. But if they do, they’re quite easy to clone so it should be possible to have a nicely decorated LEGO themed Christmas tree with this set (and a few extra).

If you are considering a LEGO purchase, I’d recommend picking this one up before the 14th of December or stock runs out.

So what do you think of this set? Have you also picked it up or plan to get it? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The technique and part choice are reminiscent of earlier roses in the Icons Botanical Collection. Like in the ‘Dried Flower Centerpiece (10314)’. With a release in January this set will be perfectly timed for Valentine’s Day. So surprised your beloved LEGO fan with a bouquet of bricks instead of actual flowers. You can be sure these will last quite a bit longer!

So what do you think? Is this a set for you or your valentine? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Official details:

LEGO® Botanical Collection Blooms With Bouquet of Roses

Today, the LEGO Group revealed a timeless classic to the LEGO® Botanical Collection: LEGO® Icons Bouquet of Roses.

A joy to build, this LEGO radiant bouquet depicts a dozen red roses – including four in full bloom, four blooming and four in bud – plus a scattering of small white flowers. Place the floral bunch in your favourite vase for a touch of elegant home decor that brightens any room, whether displayed at home or in the office.

The LEGO® Icons Bouquet of Roses is a thoughtful gift, either as an indulgent present to yourself or as a treat to a loved one to celebrate a special occasion. The building process has been designed to be enjoyable and easy: the set comes with separate instructions for the three flowering stages, making it perfect for a mindful solo project or great as a bonding group activity with friends and family.

The LEGO® Icons Bouquet of Roses joins LEGO® Icons Tiny Plants, which was also recently added to the Botanical Collection. The building set contains nine tiny plants, each from an arid, tropical and even carnivorous species, that are nestled in its own terracotta coloured plant pot. A great gift for gardening fans and plant lovers, this set is the perfect project to enjoy with friends and family, with different models for easy, medium and advanced builders.

What’s more, there is also a digital version of the building instructions available in the LEGO Builder app. Here, you can also discover a space for relaxation with the inspiring range of LEGO creative building projects designed specifically for adults. These have been introduced after finding 80% of adults are actively seeking new ways to unwind, with the vast majority (87%) adding that play helps them relax and feel calm (Play Well Study 2022 research).

The new LEGO® Icons Bouquet of Roses will be available from January 1, 2024, via LEGO stores, lego.com and from select leading retailers around the world. For more information, please visit: www.lego.com/adults-welcome/botanical-collection

Building Challenges can be a lot of fun. Not just the creative aspect with building, but also the social interactions with other builders from around the world. In December most challenges will have a holiday theme, which will give an extra excuse to get your bricks out and join in the festive building! And if you’re not building these can be some fun hashtags to follow to check out the creations from other AFOLs.

#YourLEGObaubles

Anabelle @brickswhynot is hosting the ornament hashtag #YourLEGObaubles. These can be sets, MOCs, digital etc as long as it’s LEGO. So the prompt is simple: show your LEGO balls on instagram, tag @brickswhynot and add #YourLEGObaubles.

#LetsBuildHolidayHabitats23

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Life Day, Festivus, or just enjoy the excuse as a break from work to go on holiday, this prompt is entirely open ended to your interpretation and celebration of choice! Build as many or as few as you’d like, most will build one for each of the six days, or at least three to have a mini stack for stack day, but one is just as fun and will allow you to qualify for multiple prizes.

#DiversifyLEGOholidays

#BuildToGive

Are you planning to join any of these challenges? Or did we miss a fun activity? Let us know in the comments! If you are hosting and want to have your building challenge featured in November please reach out on Instagram or comment below.

This simple yet effective design by Brick Dangerous shows the very basic nature of the game. Despite the animation giving the impression, it doesn’t have a moving function, rather you rebuild the design to move the T-Rex and other elements. Should LEGO decide to make a set for this that might be a great addition.

We would like to wish Brick Dangerous the best of luck in gaining the required 10k support. If you like the look of this idea and would like to give your support, please use the links below. Registration is free to LEGO Ideas and only takes a minute, so head over there now and do your part!

Official LEGO Ideas page:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/1e75f575-7104-407a-8280-f3b702e10a25

Instagram creator:

https://www.instagram.com/brick.dangerous

This December three sets will hit the global market, these include latest LEGO Ideas set, a new Modular Building and an iconic Train. If you’re in the US or Canada there is a selection of 2024 sets available early, these include a handful of from LEGO Super Mario, LEGO Minecraft and LEGO Sonic The Hedgehog.

Purchasing between 1st and 14th December you’ll qualify for two different GWPs (gift with purchase), the Winter Carriage Ride (40603) and Christmas Decor Set (40604) sets.

Check out what’s available and where below. What will you be bagging this December? Let us know in the comments below.

Global releases:

North America & Canada:

Gift With Purchases:

€70 spend threshold

€150 spend threshold