Botanical collection sets officially revealed

Surprise !

they seem pretty nice, I like the pot for the orchid. I also guess this throws the ideas succulents set under the rug as well, thats a shame. as for the "cringeworthy talk of mindfulness" im interested to see how bad it got.....

@MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558"

If the actual plant designs weren't so different from the official set, I'd call this plagiarism on Lego's part.

The orchids would go perfectly with 21057, being Singapore's national flower.

The succulents would make a great, colorful parts pack at a discount.

The orchid looks good --- though you can get a real one from Sainsbury's for less!

@MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558 "

Enough of this conspiracy tinfoil madness. Succulents are a staple of western homes. They are in every big shop to buy in my area. How hard is it for designers of already established Botanicals theme to come up with such idea? The ideas project is completely different from lego realese. Only thing common is the subject.

@MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558 "

And again (like a broken record), the Botanicals succulents were probably in product development long before the Idea submission was put in…

Anyway, now we can freely talk about them, they both look fantastic. I like that the succulents can be rearranged.

@Huw said:
" @Gougon , here's the worst of it: "With 73% adults saying they often research new ways to destress and over 72% saying play helps them relax, the new sets could provide a fabulous floral project for those looking to get creative while finding moments of mindfulness in their day.""

I think I need to have a mindfulness moment after reading that......

The previous flower designs weren't bad, but I think these two sets really raise the bar. Certainly adding them to my wanted list.

Now a flower theme wasn't exactly where I expected to see the continuation of CCBS, but here we are...

Adding to CCC's excellent point, can I suggest that "a thoughtful gift for a plant lover" would be... a plant?

@MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558"

Did you mistakenly link to an Ideas set that looks nothing like this one?

Wow look at those Demogorgon pieces with flower print, how neat. Also, the forestmen hats as petals

@alijoezac said:
"The orchid looks good --- though you can get a real one from Sainsbury's for less!"

Yeah but real ones wither if you don’t meticulously maintain them. These orchids will last forever zero effort required!

Feels like this line replaced Architecture...

@thor96 said:
" @MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558 "

Enough of this conspiracy tinfoil madness. Succulents are a staple of western homes. They are in every big shop to buy in my area. How hard is it for designers of already established Botanicals theme to come up with such idea? The ideas project is completely different from lego realese. Only thing common is the subject. "

It's a weird conspiracy theory isn't it? In the same way that if I designed a ninja dragon, or an Iron Man mech, and submitted it to Lego Ideas, I probably shouldn't get my hopes up.

Forks, shields, frogs, demogorgons! The joys of clever LEGO parts use.

@GrizBe said:
" @Brickalili said:
" @alijoezac said:
"The orchid looks good --- though you can get a real one from Sainsbury's for less!"

Yeah but real ones wither if you don’t meticulously maintain them. These orchids will last forever zero effort required!"

Actually, I've got orchids I bought from Sainsburys like 5 years ago now that are still living. Just water them once a week and repotted them a bit bigger and they've reflowered every year.

Also, in reguards to the succulents, I've got a whole range of weirder ones and cacti I bought for less total from Sainsburys too. "

I agree. It's funny to me that they chose to call THESE sets low maintenance while the real ones only require water once a year. The Lego versions (in a living room) will require dusting at least once every quarter and preferably once every month to prevent that sticky dust to build up. Then again, maybe my Lego standards are higher than my plant standards.

That said, I think both sets look amazing and have some great part usage!

I have taken the "just buy a real plant" advice that comes up every time there is a botanical set announced and bought myself a real tiger instead of 31129.

"with all the cringe-worthy talk of mindfulness and de-stressing removed"

Nice work there, Huw! Thumbs up.

Great sets and great theme. Some great parts usage on these!

@MainBricker said:
" @thor96 said:
" @MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558 "

Enough of this conspiracy tinfoil madness. Succulents are a staple of western homes. They are in every big shop to buy in my area. How hard is it for designers of already established Botanicals theme to come up with such idea? The ideas project is completely different from lego realese. Only thing common is the subject. "

How exactly is this a tinfoil conspiracy theory? This isn't QAnon, this isn't lizards ruling the world. An idea that was submitted at the start of 2021 was declined (not sure if it was before or after the original botanical sets were announced), and then a similar set is launched. At the very least it is suspiciously coincidental.

Considering that Lego have form in this area with the Ghostbusters Headquarters, and we also saw a number of licenced sets declined in Ideas only to suddenly appear in Lego Dimensions.

Whilst Lego (and their fans may not want to admit it), Lego Ideas is exactly that. Lego will take ideas from the submissions and run with them, whether or not they give the Ideas submitter any credit."

To be fair calling your weird obsession a "tinfoil conspiracy theory" is probably giving it more credit than it deserves. It is almost comforting knowing that if a new set has even the smallest similarity to a rejected Ideas submission you'll be straight on here to claim Lego has stolen the idea. Just like AustinPowers will criticise Lego at almost every opportunity. The place wouldn't be the same without you both.

@MainBricker said:
"An idea that was submitted at the start of 2021 was declined (not sure if it was before or after the original botanical sets were announced), and then a similar set is launched. At the very least it is suspiciously coincidental."
The first Botanical sets were announced in Autumn 2020, so they had been developing the theme for some time before that. No doubt they have a "laundry list" of plants they planned to make if the theme took off, including succulents. It's a coincidence and a shame they couldn't develop a 10k idea, but don't assign malicious intent where there is none.

@MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558"

I think you misspelled “look rather familiar” did you mean “are so completely different from these. So much so that apart from being on the same subject matter, there is absolutely no resemblance whatsoever”

Hell of a typo

Anyone that gets butthurt over a Lego set appearing similar to a submitted ideas design, should take time to read the “terms of service “ that are acknowledged when submitting an idea. https://ideas.lego.com/terms

The number of people here, on a LEGO fansite that is entirely about LEGO, a product that is famous for allowing you to build things that mimic other things, saying 'why would I want to get this made out of LEGO when I could just get the real thing' and totally missing the irony of their comments is pretty hilarious.

The mindfulness thing is a weird way to market these, but it's not fair to write it off completely, as they're not necessarily wrong. I've used LEGOs as a coping mechanism for chronic-illness-related anxiety for a long time now. It forces me to slow down, be methodical, do something tactile (AKA get out of my head), and relax. Mindfulness is real, and the Mayo Clinic practically prescribed it to me.

The only thing that confuses me is why the botanical sets are different in this respect.

My wife loves orchids. Unfortunately, they always die. This is the perfect solution! =-)

@CCC said:
"They look great, but the advertising BS is getting very off-putting. Same with the bit about not needing to water them. There are much cheaper options if someone wants plastic plants they don't need to water, so that is not really a selling point. And surely taking time out to water real plants is a mindful activity, at least as much as following instructions to build something, just that they cannot make money from people caring for real plants.

I prefer LEGO's versions to the IDEAS one. "

As someone with severe plant allergies, these are terrific options so that, for example, I was able to give my wife roses last year for her birthday without the risk of anaphylaxis. These are much better looking than plastic ones. Also, my daughter helped build them and was thrilled to be able to present them to her mom from both of us.

These keep getting better--who would have thought just a few years ago that botanicals would be so amazing in Lego? Succulents is definitely on my wish list!

I don't know why the talk about mindfulness and relaxation is "cringeworthy"...

I think inside the AFOL bubble it's easy to forget that for other adults, the appeal of Lego building isn't always self-evident. Heck, even INSIDE the AFOL community you sometimes get builders who scoff at builds of "real-world objects" for being more complicated and expensive than just buying the genuine article. But for all sets, and especially ones like these, the build experience itself is a big part of their appeal—not just the finished product.

@MainBricker said:
" @thor96 said:
" @MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558 "

Enough of this conspiracy tinfoil madness. Succulents are a staple of western homes. They are in every big shop to buy in my area. How hard is it for designers of already established Botanicals theme to come up with such idea? The ideas project is completely different from lego realese. Only thing common is the subject. "

How exactly is this a tinfoil conspiracy theory? This isn't QAnon, this isn't lizards ruling the world. An idea that was submitted at the start of 2021 was declined (not sure if it was before or after the original botanical sets were announced), and then a similar set is launched. At the very least it is suspiciously coincidental.

Considering that Lego have form in this area with the Ghostbusters Headquarters, and we also saw a number of licenced sets declined in Ideas only to suddenly appear in Lego Dimensions.

Whilst Lego (and their fans may not want to admit it), Lego Ideas is exactly that. Lego will take ideas from the submissions and run with them, whether or not they give the Ideas submitter any credit."

The project you linked to had hit 60 supporters several months after the original Botanicals line was announced. There is nothing suspicious about that coincidence. The project that you link to also shares absolutely zero similarities with the set design. It's pretty laughable how different they are. The extent that you'd have to twist the logic to make Lego a shady villain here is impressive.

The ghostbusters headquarters fantasy is thoroughly played out. Are you honestly trying to imply that Lego stole the build and then used none of the building techniques? They just completely, from the ground up, made an entirely new build and they somehow owe the other guy credit for it? When he wasn't even the first guy to build the Firehouse? It would be funny if you weren't being genuine. I don't see how someone can actually get the idea in their head that these things were stolen.

The same goes for Dimensions, a handful of the successful Ideas licenses went through WB, Lego worked with WB more for the game, and a handful of unsuccessful Ideas licenses were also through WB. I hadn't even heard of this one before. Did Lego take designs for the three-in-one packs? What got stolen? 99% of Dimensions wasn't actual sets or builds, it was minifigs packaged with a handful of parts because that's how Lego gets away with doing action figures. Where was that on Ideas?

@LegoSonicBoy said:
"Just noticed that there is a brand new mold for the smaller orchid flowers. They made a whole new mold for my country's national flower... that's crazy."

The reality is even crazier... those are repurposed Demogorgon heads from the Stranger Things theme.

"cringe-worthy talk of mindfulness and de-stressing removed"

well, that's a very laddish take on it.
perhaps less cringe-worthy commentary on whats cringe-worthy in the future?

@MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558"

they look nothing alike

@durazno33 said:
" It's not so much plagiarism as maybe considered fraud. They used that project to test interest in the theme under the pretext that the idea could become a set, then said they weren't going to produce it only to turn around and make their own that benefited from the marketing work of the original creator. "
That's not the reality though. Clearly they already had plans for this type of set, but they couldn't immediately reject the Ideas submission at the outset, so they had to let it run its course, then decline to produce the submitted set. No fraud, just unfortunate timing due to the intricacies of product development timelines.

Don't assign malicious intent where there is none.

"They will be launched officially on May 1st, just in time for Mother’s Day in many markets."

This is cool and all, but I can't wait to build the "Cordless Brushless 1/2-inch Premium Hammer Drill" we'll get for "Father's Day" as part of the "Power Tools Collection".

@CapnRex101 said:
" @Lyichir said:
"I don't know why the talk about mindfulness and relaxation is "cringeworthy"...

I think inside the AFOL bubble it's easy to forget that for other adults, the appeal of Lego building isn't always self-evident. Heck, even INSIDE the AFOL community you sometimes get builders who scoff at builds of "real-world objects" for being more complicated and expensive than just buying the genuine article. But for all sets, and especially ones like these, the build experience itself is a big part of their appeal—not just the finished product."

Addressing the potential relaxing qualities associated with LEGO is absolutely worthwhile, for the reasons you describe. However, presenting those qualities using only empty buzzwords is counterproductive. I think LEGO press releases sometimes read like a parody of what they are intended to be."

And where was this cynicism about all the marketing-speak and buzzwords when the Technic McLaren F1 was announced (https://brickset.com/article/70587)? All the talk of how it "offers racing fans a meticulous translation of McLaren’s pioneering design and cutting-edge technology that’s so crucial on-track", and "offers Formula 1 enthusiasts a chance to recharge and relax with a hands-on, focused building activity that helps them explore their passion for the sport"? How the designers "never stop trying to excite and inspire our fans by pushing the limits of possibility ", and "have truly embraced the spirit of [McLaren Racing's] brave and bold approach to design"?

How are all those buzzwords any less empty than a press release that talks about "ways to destress" or "moments of mindfulness"? Brickset news stories regularly regurgitate LEGO press releases like these with minimal editorial commentary on their wording. But for some reason Huw decided the "mindfulness" talk in this specific press release was "cringeworthy" enough to both omit AND scoff at in the article's text. It just feels needlessly condescending to me.

And as for the usual "LEGO stole this from an Ideas submission!" nonsense… come on, now. How long are people going to keep kidding yourselves? Do you really think that LEGO is hiring designers too clueless to come up with an idea like this independently, same as any fan would — but also creative and talented enough to create a highly detailed model that bears little to no resemblance to the MOC you think it was based on?

I applied to a design job at LEGO myself, and from that experience, I can assure you that "being able to generate concepts or ideas of your own" is among the most basic skills they tend to look for.

@CCC said:
"Same with the bit about not needing to water them. There are much cheaper options if someone wants plastic plants they don't need to water, so that is not really a selling point. And surely taking time out to water real plants is a mindful activity, at least as much as following instructions to build something, just that they cannot make money from people caring for real plants."

It seemed pretty obvious that this was a cheeky joke about the nature of the product (i.e. a lifeless plastic toy) rather than a serious selling point they're trying to advertise.

@quixotequest:
Hard plastic is still ABS. Soft plastic like they used for 40320/40435 is polyethylene, which is made from ethyl alcohol. Same stuff you find in beer. Regardless of the source, it’s the same chemical, so PE was the lowest of bars when it came to shifting away from crude oil. ABS isn’t something we can make from plants, so that will probably require inventing a new plastic, or finding a way to modify an existing plastic to yield similar qualities. There’s no guarantee they ever come up with a solution to that problem.

@sir_vasco:
My best friend had always had an interest in LEGO sets, but had never really been a consumer. During the pandemic, he said he started buying and building lots of sets for stress relief. I told him I had the exact opposite experience. If I’m building a set, the point is to finish. If I’m designing a MOC, there’s no guarantee a solution exists, and an can spend days, weeks, even months turning part of it around in my mind until I come up with something. Those are the most satisfying to finish, but getting there can feel like trying to repeatedly ram a square peg into a round hole.

@SlimBrick1:
Really large sets like the Colosseum can take a few years to develop. When it came out 10276 had the most pieces of any set by a margin of nearly 1500, and there’s not much of it that’s actually repeated across the build. It’s based on a real structure, so there would have been a lot of work needed to keep the dimensions accurate. It’s not like they knocked it out over a long lunch break.

@fakespacesquid:
Ghostbusters is also permanently banned from being an Ideas set because they already did the Ecto-1 as an Ideas set. Any licensed IP that they select is a one-and-done. If they want to make more sets based on that IP, it has to go through another design team, and can’t be part of the Ideas program.

And any similarities between the two models are entirely due to them both being based on the same real building. Even then, they looked wildly different, even to the extent of not being in the same color group. The set is dark-red, like the actual building. I think the Ideas project was dark-orange, which is how the building can sometimes look in photographs taken when the sun is near the horizon.

@sjr60:
21301. Everything is an original idea the first time someone thinks of it.

@headcrabking:
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?v=3&pg=1&colorPart=157&catType=P

Closest I can find is the tip of the dinosaur tail.

@durazno33:
10280 and 10281 launched over two weeks before the Ideas succulent was posted. To say that they used it to gauge interest in a theme that was already on store shelves is grossly inaccurate. More likely, the announcement of the Botanical Collection inspired someone to create and submit their own plant to Ideas.

@ShinyBidoof said:
" @MainBricker said:
" @thor96 said:
" @MainBricker said:
"The succulents look rather familiar:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/cc0c490f-0962-46e0-afed-0f05a857f558 "

Enough of this conspiracy tinfoil madness. Succulents are a staple of western homes. They are in every big shop to buy in my area. How hard is it for designers of already established Botanicals theme to come up with such idea? The ideas project is completely different from lego realese. Only thing common is the subject. "

How exactly is this a tinfoil conspiracy theory? This isn't QAnon, this isn't lizards ruling the world. An idea that was submitted at the start of 2021 was declined (not sure if it was before or after the original botanical sets were announced), and then a similar set is launched. At the very least it is suspiciously coincidental.

Considering that Lego have form in this area with the Ghostbusters Headquarters, and we also saw a number of licenced sets declined in Ideas only to suddenly appear in Lego Dimensions.

Whilst Lego (and their fans may not want to admit it), Lego Ideas is exactly that. Lego will take ideas from the submissions and run with them, whether or not they give the Ideas submitter any credit."

To be fair calling your weird obsession a "tinfoil conspiracy theory" is probably giving it more credit than it deserves. It is almost comforting knowing that if a new set has even the smallest similarity to a rejected Ideas submission you'll be straight on here to claim Lego has stolen the idea. Just like AustinPowers will criticise Lego at almost every opportunity. The place wouldn't be the same without you both."

I think its worth noting too in the cases presented, these claimed "stolen Ideas" things are either

1) Obvious I.E. there is no tangible IP tied to them (plants, historic buildings, etc.)

or

2) IP Related (Ghostbusters, Lego Dimensions, etc.)

In the case of 2), Ideas is a terrible place to cry wolf over Lego then "stealing my idea for sets" because I hate to break it, no matter how much some Lego fan claims to have the idea of "Ghostbusters HQ" or "ET" or "Beetlejuice" or anything else, the only critical parties to the matter are Lego and the actual IP holder and anything the Lego fan does is really irrelevant from a legal standpoint. There is no theft, when the Lego fan has no ownership to begin with. Yes, Ideas can produce some licensed sets like Wall-E, TRON, Minecraft or the sitcom apartments; but there is in every legal sense Lego has the ability to cut out the fan participation entirely and go straight to the actual IP holder. That's what they'd end up doing if the idea got 10,000 and was approved anyways.

In the case of 1), the clear answer is to create something non-obvious with true novelty. A plant based set that was put on Ideas one year after Lego launched their plant based sets is not original, and has no grounds for theft (especially when Lego's design varies in build technique and structure, copyright law allows the expression of the same idea in different forms as such). But an original idea with true novelty will always stand out. Think of like, the Marble Maze or the functioning Piano. Sure the idea of "Lego Piano" itself is not novel, but the execution is and in those cases we have rarely if ever seen Lego release anything accused of theft; because the Ideas creator brought an idea that was truly unique to the table.

Basically TL:DR, play to loosely with generic ideas or things similar to Lego's current production an Idea has no chance nor a leg to defend itself by saying "Lego stole it." Play with something that is NOT your IP, and Lego has every legal reason to just bypass Ideas and go straight to the actual IP holder. But bring a novel innovatio

I think people are confusing "Lego stole the idea" with "Lego was already working on that".

@Huw said:
" Here's the press release for the two botanical sets that can be pre-ordered now at LEGO.com, with all the cringe-worthy talk of mindfulness and de-stressing removed:"

@Huw said:
" here's the worst of it: "With 73% adults saying they often research new ways to destress and over 72% saying play helps them relax, the new sets could provide a fabulous floral project for those looking to get creative while finding moments of mindfulness in their day.""

While I'm sure this commentary wasn't maliciously intended and is mostly an objection to the PR gibberish itself, I'm still disappointed seeing this coming from Brickset as it's precisely these kind of seemingly-innocent comments that keep feeding men this idea that it's silly or unmanly to care about something as "cringe" as mindfulness or relaxation. It reinforces this idea that as a man, if you're feeling bad you just gotta suck it up. We're conditioned from the start to "man up", not speak about our feelings or care for any of that "girly" stuff (which mindfulness surely fits into). Instead of seeking help we bottle it up, and as a result we men are three times more likely to kill ourselves compared to women.

I hate the silly PR gibberish talk as much as the next person, but like @Aanchir pointed out, you didn't omit any of the just-as-cringe, buzzword-filled gibberish from other press releases for, let's say, more "manly" products. Perhaps it is because you've been conditioned your whole life to react negatively to "girly" stuff, and now you're unwittingly perpetuating this idea that men aren't supposed to care for any of these things yourself.