Review: 40648 Money Tree
Posted by Huw,
Mandarin or kumquat trees are associated with wealth and good fortune in China, and apparently it's common to see pairs of them, decorated with red envelopes, either side of doorways during Chinese New Year.
40648 Money Tree is dripping with citrus fruit, envelopes and gold coins and is now available at LEGO.com.
Summary
40648 Money Tree, 336 pieces.
£21.99 / $24.99 / €24.99 | 6.5p/7.4c/7.4c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A colourful and unusual display model
- 20 pumpkins and plenty of other useful pieces
- Top looks a bit strange
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The tree is planted in a shallow oval-shaped pot, decorated with gold.
It's constructed around a central Technic beam which prevents it from breaking.
The individual fronds are securely fastened to the trunk, and the and hanging decorations are pinned to them using either carrot tops or espresso plates, so the whole structure is very robust.
The completed model stands about 17cm tall just about every frond is laden with either fruit, envelope or coin.
The piece used for the mandarins, of which there are 20 in this set, started life as a pumpkin, 51270 VEGETABLE, NO. 3. 14 envelopes and 10 2x2 round coins, which have a new print, 101521 FLAT TILE 2X2, ROUND, NO. 1249 complete the decorations.
The tree appears very organic, except at the very top, where the 45-degree corner roof tiles look a bit out of place when compared to the pieces used for the rest of the tree.
Two gold yuanbao ingots in the shape of boats which, like the tree, are symbols of prosperity and wealth, sit upon the rim of the pot and complete the model.
The set offers no playability, but it does make a lovely display model, particularly when placed between the two parts of 80110 Lunar New Year Display. Additionally, If stripped of its decorations, the tree could have utility as a normal tree in your LEGO city.
It's available now at LEGO.com, priced at £21.99 / $24.99 / €24.99.
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20 comments on this article
The overall build is lovely, though I'm torn on the use of pumpkins. I love re-envisioning parts, but even I'm having trouble not seeing those as pumpkins in this particular instance. Perhaps the technic ball piece in orange would have worked? Or would those be too small for the model?
Regardless, I'm tempted to pick this up just to have another tree "framework" to work with.
Doesn’t do anything for me, I’d prefer to see a monkey (puzzle) tree.
Okay, so looking into what a “yuanbao” is, I now understand that the 2x2 radar dish is meant to approximate a lid that is a common feature of ones shaped like boats. If anyone wants to make a paper boat, I came up with the same basic design shortly after the release of 21326, but using a pair of cheese wedges where the jumper plate is attached.
>espresso plates
Is that what that weird little piece is usually called? I always think of it as the “saucepan piece” or “dalek head piece”
@EvilTwin said:
">espresso plates
Is that what that weird little piece is usually called?"
I believe so, but I can't remember who first coined the name.
Very nice set. I plan to grab a couple when the next GWP releases. Lego seems bent on catering to Lunar New Year's releases as far as printed pieces and PPP.
I like them all, and they go with my anime-Asian-future-robo-punk city. I'm glad there's still a source of good design, production, and price.
I love this, not too big, so can always still function as a normal minifig scale tree out of season with some things removed, or maybe apples/squirrels etc. added.
I think it's beautiful.
Although I have to agree. I'll always see those orange pieces as pumpkins. But I still really want this set.
It's not bad. I agree the top looks funny, and I agree that pumpkins weren't the best choice here. The texture is all wrong, for one. But I don't know how well proportioned Technic ball pieces would have been compared to the rest of the plant, which looks good in its own right.
Currently undecided about this as a parts pack. I have little use for so many pumpkins!
It looks nice, but I intensely dislike tree builds.
@briandrewz86 said:
"It looks nice, but I intensely dislike tree builds."
I love trees. I love LEGO. I don't really enjoy building trees out of LEGO. Is there a name for our condition?
@ForestMenOfEndor said:
"I love trees. I love LEGO. I don't really enjoy building trees out of LEGO. Is there a name for our condition?"
There has to be. Building Lego trees is, for me, one of the most frustrating aspects of any set. So, to have a whole set centered around one, no thank you.
A very neat set. One I picture in the middle of a courtyard with the CNY Temple Fair temple set behind it.
@briandrewz86 said:
" @ForestMenOfEndor said:
"I love trees. I love LEGO. I don't really enjoy building trees out of LEGO. Is there a name for our condition?"
There has to be. Building Lego trees is, for me, one of the most frustrating aspects of any set. So, to have a whole set centered around one, no thank you."
Lego POOParborphobia?
I like this tree, although I feel like the 'pumpkin mandarins' would perhaps have looked better when using 'BB-8 body spheres' in plain orange?
I mean this part: https://brickset.com/parts/design-37837
(This was also used in red, printed, as lanterns in previous Chinese Traditional Festival sets 80102 and 80104 )
Thanks for the review @Huw !
Shocked there's no "Money doesn't grow on trees" jokes yet
Great looking set. I do like the pumpkins.... I come to Lego for a bit of wackyness, not necessarily the ultimate in accuracy. Pink cherry blossom frogs spring to mind!
@BulbaNerd4000 said:
"Shocked there's no "Money doesn't grow on trees" jokes yet"
Fully covered in
https://brickset.com/article/84754/40648-money-tree-official-images
:-)
That is a very blocky, unnatural-looking tree. That green top is absurd. Lego did fantastic job with the bonsai tree, it's a shame they went here with such an inorganic build.
But having multiple copies of new printed pieces makes it a bit tempting.
@Stoker_stu said:
" @briandrewz86 said:
" @ForestMenOfEndor said:
"I love trees. I love LEGO. I don't really enjoy building trees out of LEGO. Is there a name for our condition?"
There has to be. Building Lego trees is, for me, one of the most frustrating aspects of any set. So, to have a whole set centered around one, no thank you."
Lego POOParborphobia?"
Strong game!
@thor96:
They did a passable job with the Bonsai. It's a much better tree structure with the pink foliage than it is with the green, where it looks like someone used a saw to prune a large tree down to bonsai size very quickly (there are 2x2 stumps on all three branches, capped with the 2x2 log tile).