Review: 10314 Dried Flower Centrepiece
Posted by Huw,
Since its launch during 2021 the adults-welcome 18+ botanical collection has yielded a diverse collection of attractive and colourful sets which I am certain have proved to be popular beyond LEGO's usual customer demographic.
10314 Dried Flower Centrepiece will be released next month, and I am sure that it will be equally well received.
Summary
10314 Dried Flower Centrepiece, 812 pieces.
£44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 | 5.5p / 6.2c / 6.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A beautiful autumnal coloured display piece that's dripping with detail
- Nice parts usage throughout
- Fragile in places
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The completed model is about 40cm in length and is designed to be displayed on a table or hung on a wall.
There is a wonderful variety of subdued earthy autumnal colours, and interesting textures and details everywhere you look. As you examine it closely you notice elements that have been put to uses that they were never designed for.
Not all of the flowers, stalks and foliage are named but those that are include stalks of wheat, (dark tan nested minifig crowns), millet stalks (tan Technic gears) bladder cherries/Chinese lanterns (pumpkins on the end of whips), and cosmos (three orange epaulettes).
The model is built in two sections and two instruction manuals are provided to facilitate concurrent building. Their black bases are 8x16in size, with one rounded end and Technic pin holes at the other to enable them to be joined together. The dominant flower on the left in the photo below is a gerbera daisy and on the other, a rose.
Until the two larger blooms are added the two halves are largely symmetrical. The individual flowers, leaves and stalks are connected using either bars and clips or ball and socket joints, so there is a lot of scope for fine-tuning the arrangement, giving it an organic look, and disguising the symmetry.
A one-wide slither is sandwiched between them to provide a bit of space so that the foliage overhanging the ends doesn't clash so much when they are butted up to each other.
The rose head dominates the model and is a vast improvement on those in 10280 Flower Bouquet. Its refined form has been made possible thanks to the new shoulder pad piece that was introduced last year in the likes of 76226 Spider-Man Figure, and four cleverly overlapping wheel arches inside them.
It's a shame that the wheel arches are not yet made in red or any other rose colour because I quite fancy making a bouquet of fresh ones.
There are interesting pieces put to unexpected use everywhere you look, such as these orange epaulettes. As you can see, many of the individual stalks are attached to the base using ball and socket joints which enables them to break free from a rigid grid, thus giving the overall display a very organic appearance.
I believe the cool yellow flower heads are new in this set, as are the olive green 1566 plant shafts and small conifers.
Pieces are provided to build a bracket for joining the two halves at right angles and should you buy one or two more sets you can join them together using the bars and clips at the ends to create a larger centrepiece.
Verdict
I think it's a wonderful set that, like others in the botanical collection, showcases the creativity and versatility of the LEGO system. Pieces designed as oars, gears, items of clothing, mudguards and so on have been re-purposed to create organic shapes and textures that look like the real thing from a distance, and demand closer inspection.
My only criticism is that it's a bit fragile in places. Many pieces are held in place with a single clip and while it won't fall apart under normal circumstances you have to be careful how you handle it to avoid pieces coming loose if you want to rearrange parts of it, or remove the rose as I did to photograph it.
The 812-piece set will be released on 1st February, priced at $49.99, £44.99, €49.99 which seems reasonable value to me. It can already be pre-ordered at LEGO.com so as it's likely to be as popular as previous botanicals it would be as well to do so to avoid a lengthy wait for it to be restocked.
Stop nibbling the foliage!
186 likes
35 comments on this article
Good review! The warm, autumnal hues of this set are really striking—they make me want to get this for the centerpiece of my family's Thanksgiving dinner this fall.
I don't think fragility is too much of a con in a set like this, since an actual floral arrangement like this could be just as fragile and significantly harder to repair!
That is an amazing parts pack. I can imagine all those earthy plant parts could really well enrich the surroundings of the A-Frame Cabin.
I was looking everywhere in your pictures for a dark tan minifigure crown part number 71015, but alas none found.
@Lyichir said:
"I don't think fragility is too much of a con in a set like this, since an actual floral arrangement like this could be just as fragile and significantly harder to repair!"
True enough. You just need to a bit careful when handling it.
@Rimefang said:
"I was looking everywhere in your pictures for a dark tan minifigure crown part number 71015, but alas none found."
Wrong crown :)
The color palette is very well done. Definitely a great parts pack.
I do admire the imaginative and clever use of pieces to make these flower sets look so realistic. Although I'm not the target audience, but my sister, who I would describe as an AFOL-Zero in her 40s, wanted to get one of these sets. So well done TLG for appealing to a new demographic.
Looks like something my grandmother would have in the dining room.
Not available for pre-order in US. Says will be available February 1. Was going to get along with a few other for the New Years GWP. But alas.
While those botanical sets certainly have a lot of cool plant parts in different colors, I do miss the Xtra sets , more versions of 40310 : Botanical Accessories / 40376 : Botanical Accessories could've been nice
But I can imagine selling those bigger botanical sets likely are more popular as they are more then just parts packs and also display pieces, and have a much greater variation and better value.
They have the hubs in black if you want to make a black rose
Good for parts if on sale. Add dust and cobwebs for more realism.
Orange epaulets AND pink and purple pirate hats in the other one? My pirates really are going to get FABULOUS.
Parts-packing from this set to give the Boutique Hotel's palm a more natural-colored trunk.
Over here, arrangements like this one are popular as decorations for family graves around All Hallows Eve.
Nevertheless, that's one awesome looking set that I am certain to get when it's available at a discount. Might even get several and build that three-piece arrangement.
Finally goats!!! Wait a minute... awww.
Still, nice set. Not as cool as the bouquet, but definitely will grab it.
Great set. Very realistic. And soooo many great parts in autumn colors. Can't wait to build it and can't wait to dissasemble it to use those parts in mocs
Good to see the goats back! Which reminds me... come on Lego, time to bring back the goat! You've made tons of new animal moulds recently, a new mould for the goat can't be that difficult, let's make this happen!
Sorry if my comment is off topic but I couldn't help it when I saw the last picture :)
Regarding the set, some nice recolours for various parts which is always good news. I'm not a big fan of this theme but I enjoy the recolours and creative uses for existing pieces.
@shedjed said:
"Not available for pre-order in US. Says will be available February 1. Was going to get along with a few other for the New Years GWP. But alas."
weird was before..... recheck in a day... might be an error,,, Try customer service?
@shedjed said:
"Not available for pre-order in US. Says will be available February 1. Was going to get along with a few other for the New Years GWP. But alas."
Pre-orders started January 13. I put in an order then so I could get a Blacktron Cruiser with the purchase of this.
Typically they stop accepting pre-orders a few days before the official on sale date, but that's usually for all items coming out on a particular date.
What's strange is there's a big featured banner on the US Lego website that says "Pre-order a beautiful LEGO Icons Botanical Display" that links to 10313 Wildflower Bouquet. That page says "Pre-order this item today, it will ship from February 1, 2023" while 10314 Dried Flower Centerpiece no longer has the Pre-order option.
I guess they already sold out of their allotment of 10314 for pre-orders?
Beautiful set. …I’m probably doomed to get 4x by Thanksgiving.
@night13flyer said:
" @shedjed said:
"Not available for pre-order in US. Says will be available February 1. Was going to get along with a few other for the New Years GWP. But alas."
weird was before..... recheck in a day... might be an error,,, Try customer service?"
I can confirm that both Botanical sets were available last Friday for pre-order at LEGO, and now this one is not (while the other botanical set still is). I pre-ordered 2 of these from Amazon. I love landscapes and this is an incredible, too good to be true, parts pack.
80s grandmas would have loved it.
Too bad this set wasn't created five or six years ago. My mother would have really been impressed by this set. Sadley to say she is no longer with us today. I would have loved to see the look on her face if she could have seen this.
This set is definitely beautiful. I love it.
I love these two botanical sets, this one especially, the colouring is beautiful, my only concern is that by the time Feb 1st rolls round, they will go from pre order to back order. Although I don't see the point in pre order when they won't ship until they're released.
@dimc said:
"Orange epaulets AND pink and purple pirate hats in the other one? My pirates really are going to get FABULOUS. "
Now we just need some pirate minifigure hooks in teal!
I was very skeptical at first on those flower sets in Lego, but these last two are absolutely amazing and definitely prove me wrong. I really like how they look and the creativity that went into them, using Lego parts in new ways to create new things. Well done Lego.
I want the GOATS!!! How can we order them please? Name any price.
You can't help to show off your goat collection, can you @Huw? :)
One of those set that, in case one decides to buy it, you have to buy 2 of them... 1 because its such a good looking set that you don't want to disassemble once build, 2nd set as a parts pack
In the third photo that shows that the two halves, what are the two black 1x4 plates for?
My wife has suggested putting this display on my coffin… which I am hoping is many years hence…!
The autumn colours aren't really my thing, but the overall effect is very good.
I hope that the rose parts become available in red and white, and other useful floral colours, because it is a much nicer rose than previous ones.
@SithLord196 said:
"In the third photo that shows that the two halves, what are the two black 1x4 plates for? "
They are 1x5s for securing the two halves together.
Glad to see some goats. :-) It’s been a long time.
Great review :-)