Quick look: 11511 Water Lilies
Posted by Huw,
11511 Water Lilies is one of three Botanical sets released this month and, like 11505 Woodland Mushrooms, it introduces a new branch of nature to the theme, in this case an aquatic one.
It's an attractive set, but it comes at a high price...
Summary
11511 Water Lilies, 259 pieces.
£34.99 / $29.99 / €39.99 | 13.5p, 11.6c, 15.4c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Something different for the botanical collection but the pricing is bizarre
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Water lilies are normally grown in ponds, of course, although they can be grown in large containers, larger than would be practical to include in this set. So, instead, we have two tiny glass pots that look like they've been filled with water, and the effect is quite convincing from a distance, especially on the taller one.
Both pots have a bud growing in them, and a lily pad (green paint palette), which is ridiculously out of scale with the plant itself but certainly constitutes nice parts usage.
The flowers are constructed around the new circular clip rings. The pink one has three, the white one two. A combination of shells and new leaf elements is used to form the petals and the end result is quite effective. However, they can't be folded out much more than shown in the photos – trying to do so results in the sepals falling off – so you can't make them appear to be in full bloom.
It's a well-designed and reasonably realistic model (other than the pots) that introduces something new to the Botanicals theme.
However, the price is puzzling. For some reason, the sterling and Euro prices are numerically higher than the dollar price, so as a result, it costs about 1.5x more in the UK and the Eurozone than in the USA.
£29.99 for 250 pieces is just about bearable, £34.99 and €39.99 is not. It has the dubious honour of having the highest price per piece of all Botanical sets in the UK and Eurozone by some margin: 13.5p, 15.4c [1].
So, while this is a desirable set, it is way overpriced in most markets. I don't suppose that will deter die-hard botanical collectors from acquiring it, though, but casual ones will find much better value elsewhere in the range.
[1] In case you didn't know already, you can sort lists such as this by price per piece: simply pick 'price per piece' from the Sort By drop down list.
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21 comments on this article
Yeah......no. Just no.
I like them a lot with only one slight issue.... I would prefer the containers/water to be the same height. I prefer to see them as being in a cross section of water, rather than in a glass jar. The different colour of the water being a reflection of its depth, not how full the container is.
My favourite of this months botanicals, though maybe not for the 'price per piece' obsessives. Luckily 'price for overall look' is far more important to me! (and the 'price per piece' will probable be more favourable on Amazon within a month or two)
@sjr60 said:
"My favourite of this months botanicals, though maybe not for the 'price per piece' obsessives. Luckily 'price for overall look' is far more important to me! (and the 'price per piece' will probable be more favourable on Amazon within a month or two)"
I can see them dropping to £24.99 in other shops quite quickly, or sitting on shelves.
Going by size I would have expected this to be a 20 Euro RRP set.
Twice as much?
Thanks, but no thanks.
These should have come with Tom Bombadil and/or Goldberry.
Usually it’s only the black ones that command high prices.
@Huw ominously wrote:
"It's an attractive set, but it comes at a high price..."
I'll be honest: I expected worse. I was kind of expecting Ancient Mummy Rot.
These should have come with Yula and Jad.
Way too expensive for what you're getting, even at the USA price.
I wish it had been a water surface with the water lilies and lily pads on it, like the sea otter set. Larger and more expensive than this set, but it would look MUCH better on display.
I thought these were $20! I did a triple take at the pricing. I'm shocked.
I'm okay with paying $25 for these. Will get it on sale at Costco/Walmart when there is a discount in a few months.
Flowers look lovely but I think the base is too simple and it's waaaaaaay too expensive.
How's the price/weight ratio.
Yes, the price difference between Europe and $, that is odd.
I like the flower parts of the builds.
Not being aware of the existence of this set I thought yoi were reviewing a GWP…
Ridiculous and offensive euro price tag!!
@KingShark9500 said: "I wish it had been a water surface with the water lilies and lily pads on it, like the sea otter set. Larger and more expensive than this set, but it would look MUCH better on display"
I was thinking of something similar, having proportionate pads built in the bricks-sideways fashion. OTOH, I feel a built water surface would add too much to the cost, and preferred a non-brick approach like placing it on a glass table, a blue tablecloth etc, maybe having a "water surface" printed on the inside of the box, so you could separate it and fold it out to use as a base for the set.
Lovely set, and I have no strong objection to the US price, although I understand why other areas would find it very overpriced!
Finding a way to combine it with the Otters would be lots of fun....
@SummerSanta said:
"I thought these were $20! I did a triple take at the pricing. I'm shocked. "
You think $30 is bad? Excluding consumption tax, it’s $39 in the UK!
@SummerSanta said:
"I thought these were $20! I did a triple take at the pricing. I'm shocked. "
You think $30 is bad? Excluding consumption tax, it’s $39 in the UK!
@sklamb said:
"Lovely set, and I have no strong objection to the US price, although I understand why other areas would find it very overpriced!
Finding a way to combine it with the Otters would be lots of fun...."
Finding a way to make one of them black, and the other one blacker, would be fun.