Review: 10345 Flower Arrangement
Posted by Huw,
By all accounts Botanicals continue to be exceedingly popular so it should come as no surprise that LEGO is releasing more than ever this year.
The latest one to bloom is 10345 Flower Arrangement, which is the most expensive, and almost the largest by piece count, to date.
It contains 14 flower heads plus sprigs of foliage, neatly arranged in a pedestal pot, ready to be exhibited without the need for a non-LEGO display solution.
Summary
10345 Flower Arrangement, 1,161 pieces.
£94.99 / $109.99 / €109.99 | 8.2p / 9.5c / 9.5c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A very colourful and attractive arrangement of beautiful blooms
- Ingenious building techniques
- Life-like and life-sized
- Ready to be displayed: no vase needed
- Some heads fiddly to build
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The pot
To achieve the elegant shape of the pot it's been constructed in two parts The top is half built studs down then connected to the bottom section internally using what is becoming a common technique for stud reversal involving round plates with shafts and clips.
The green section which, when bare like this, looks a bit untidy, incorporates 24 vertical protruding bars that will be used to attach the flower stems.
The completed model
The arrangement comprises two each of seven varieties of flowers, plus four sprues of foliage. Instructions are in one manual, so concurrent construction is possible only by resorting to a digital solution.
Like all the best botanical sets, the plants in this one are close to life-size, so can be mistaken for the real thing from a distance. It looks pretty good from all angles but better from some than others, on account of the backs of the greenery being visible from the rear.
The instructions show which of the bars on the vase to attach each flower to once you've built it, but you are of course free to organise them as you see fit.
It's certainly very vibrant and colourful, perhaps too much so: there are oranges, yellows, purple, lilac, white, pink and dark red all vying for your attention, although overall it's a well-balanced arrangement.
Several new pieces have been introduced for botanical sets this year but there is still plenty of innovation and nice parts usage on display in this set, so I will now examine each flower in turn.
Camellia
The outer petals of the camellia are more usually found on Star Wars spaceships, albeit in a drab colour. They are attached to the stem with two 'vertical hole with 4 holders'. Four dark pink 4x4 radar dishes are used for the inner ones.
Peony
The peony also makes wonderful use of existing parts in new ways: umbrellas, seashells and orange 'water splashes' for the stigmas in the middle.
Hydrangea
These heads are without doubt the most fiddly flowers I've ever built. Each one contains 39 butterflies which are attached to 1x1 round plates and the new 1x1 inverted clip that's been getting everyone excited this year. Not only is it fiddly putting them together, but also clipping and aligning them on the green steering wheels inside. Perseverance pays off, though, because the end result looks lovely!
Baby's Breath
This variety has cropped up before in several of the bouquets, but here the new three-pronged stalk piece has been incorporated into the stems and larger white flower heads have been used instead of the 1x1 flower piece.
Persian Buttercup
Unlike the other flower heads in the set, the reddish-orange buttercup is built using 'regular' pieces and SNOT techniques to form the petals.
Bouvardia (Hummingbird Flower)
The four outer petals of this delightful species are made using two ladybird wing cases, as found in 71029 Ladybird Girl, appearing in medium lavender for the first time here.
I often wonder whether the designers come up with a technique then try to a find flower that looks something like it, or whether they choose the varieties to model first. I suspect the former...
Lily
The piece used for the leaves and large petals of the lilies is new this year, one of few new elements made specifically for botanical sets. The flower typically has three large petals and three smaller ones underneath and that has been replicated here. They are large, colourful, and very attractive!
Foliage
Four foliage stems, incorporating large leaf elements, are used to bring colour and balance to the arrangement.
The flowers only need short stems to be displayed in the pot, but of course there is nothing stopping you from swapping them for the long axles found in the bouquets and displaying them in a vase with your other blooms.
Verdict
Botanicals are among my favourite of LEGO's current assortment and this is a delightful addition to the series. The only thing I don't like about them is that they can be fiddly to build, repeatedly connecting small pieces together and aligning them up neatly, and that is certainly an issue here, particularly with the hydrangea. But, patience and perseverance pay off, and the end result looks spectacular.
The pot is much smaller than you'd use for a real arrangement of this size, but I do like that it's been included, allowing the flowers to be displayed without hunting round for (or 3D printing) a suitable vase.
The 1,161 piece set costs $109.99, £94.99, €109.99, so it's not cheap by any means, but overall I think fans of botanicals won't mind paying that for such beautiful blooming bricks.
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24 comments on this article
I do find all of these botanical sets very aesthetically pleasing to look at, and there’s clearly a sizeable market for them. They’re not something I have any desire to own, but I respect the design skill underpinning them.
My little buttercup,
Has the sweetest smile.
Smile! .... smile!
Why do you build me up (Build me up)
Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down? (Let me down)
And mess me around
And then, worst of all (Worst of all)
You never call, baby
When you say you will (Say you will)
But I love you still
I need you (I need you)
More than anyone, darling
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (Build me up)
Buttercup, don't break my heart
I was strongly tempted to get this set when I was on holiday in Scotland during February half term, but I ended up getting 10342, 10343 and 10344 instead. I'm might get it for the gwp botanical, if the threshold meets.
I really enjoy the botanical collection, it's probably my favourite out of all Lego themes as they are very realistic, display very well and fairly good value for money when you think how long real flowers last.
Looks amazing, bit pricey for me. 20% off would probably do the trick though.
I love the Botanical theme and already own quite a few sets, but the building process can be repetitive and as @Huw stated, "fiddly".
And yet Botanicals continues to impress!
I don't know, but I see those new large leafs like cheating.
@Adrianucho said:
"I don't know, but I see those new large leafs like cheating."
No more so than, say, introducing a new piece for Mario's nose.
I really like this and it looks great! But it's too pricey and I am nearly OUT OF ROOM in terms of displaying Botanical sets! Some more wall-mounted ones would be nice...
While this is a nice set, at what point will LEGO saturate the market like they did with board games?
@Alpha_Tango said:
"While this is a nice set, at what point will LEGO saturate the market like they did with board games?"
Won't happen, things retire go on clearance... anyways thought you just said board games
how many lego board games are there? if any i notice 1 or 2
I wasn't sold on Lego flowers at first but all these sets look fantastic and seem really fun to build
I like the set, but the price point seems too hight.
Other botanical sets are similar in flower display and costs 60$/€. Does the pot costs 50$/€?
10313 is 939 pieces for 60$/€. Ok, other 60$/€ sets have less parts, but this set don't seem a good deal.
A weight parameter for a set would be useful to better understand if a set is well priced.
Well it looks lovely, but I have to agree that the price is a bit too high. It'll probably appear at 20% off though, and at that point I might pull the trigger - although there area still a number of botanicals I've yet to find a vase for, that's not a problem with this one!
Again, a beautiful set - that I am likely not going to buy since I already suffer from LEGO set overkill.
I love the Botanicals. I didn't think I would be intrigued by them, but once building a couple and seeing how they spruce up a room, it works well. I'll likely continue to buy them, but hopefully I can find sales on them. I have a few on display at home in areas that wouldn't receive a lot of sun. And then real plants in the sunny areas.
I too love the botanicals. But so far I have yet to buy any of the bouquets that doesn't include a vase or pot, somehow it just feels wrong that I need to add non-Lego products to be able to display them at all. I guess you could brick-build your own pots for them, but now we are talking a whole different level of commitment. So I really appreciate that there is now a new larger arrangement that includes a pot of sorts. Will most likely be picking this up at some point, but it sufferers from not looking that good value-wise. I can wait for a discount.
@missedoutagain said:
" @Alpha_Tango said:
"While this is a nice set, at what point will LEGO saturate the market like they did with board games?"
Won't happen, things retire go on clearance... anyways thought you just said board games
how many lego board games are there? if any i notice 1 or 2"
https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Games
They created quite the line of them. They dumped them all in a 3-4 year span and then the theme died out.
Este juego es compatible e intercambiable con 10342
Seems really expensive. A chore to build like all Botanicals but looks great when done.
@Alpha_Tango said:
" @missedoutagain said:
" @Alpha_Tango said:
"While this is a nice set, at what point will LEGO saturate the market like they did with board games?"
Won't happen, things retire go on clearance... anyways thought you just said board games
how many lego board games are there? if any i notice 1 or 2"
https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Games
They created quite the line of them. They dumped them all in a 3-4 year span and then the theme died out."
This is different, popular, they sell out. For all ages, many uses. Better for us if too many better prices when go on clearance
Better than most lego these are based on real flowers which mostly everyone buys and don't die.
You show someone a star wars set... a few buy.. you show everyone a flower set.... 50% will buy possibly compared to 5% for star wars.
Sounds to me Lego should be doing more of this to anything niche market.
"continue to be exceedingly popular"
Huw: a most excellent exhibition of each pair of flowers! I dig the new leaf pieces; I'm looking forward to seeing them show up in other themes.
Not my favourite sets to build by any means - as Huw says they can be incredibly fiddly to assemble - but these Botanical sets look lovely when built and invariably give me pleasure when I spy them on display around the house. They're also a big hit with other family members, so win-win....