Love the designs. Think the Mantis is my favourite of the builds as the butterfly looks a little too blocky and is far overshadowed by the bee on the base, and the Rhino Beetle only shines with the wings out.

Price seems pretty reasonable too, though think I may wait till its discounted to £60 as it'll end up in most places.

I hate bees so this is cool!

Looks excellent!

Fantastic looking builds

I really liked the designers original concept for the butterfly, ladybug (or ladybird?) and the bee/wasp. Sad to see none of those made it. :(

Oh... I have completely forgotten about this one. Time from approval till market is maybe slightly longish? :)

Anyhow, great set! Looks like something I'll buy (eventually). I do prefer what they made of it to the original submission (which isn't bad at all, of course).

That's a day one purchase for sure, these looks fantastic!!

The Mantis looks insanely nice!

These are very, very nice designs. Very impressed that the beetle can open its carapace to reveal its wings! I don't know if I can afford to add this one to my cart any time soon, but it is lovely.

Look closely, a bee and some ladybirds are there as well.

Smallest ladybirds ever!

Well they've finally done it. This is the first Lego set ever that I wouldn't take even if it was free. I hate bugs.

Love it! Definitely will be picking this one up. The models are gorgeous.

It’ll go great with The Birds, plus I need to get a bunch of those dotted tiles to make a monarch.

@GrizBe said:
" @LegoBoi69 said:
"Where's the ladybird?"

Its a single round printed 1x1 tile just hidden under the lower flower cluster on the mantis."

There are two more crawling in the dirt on the base. Plus you’ll get an extra, being a small tile.

@Joefish:
The mantis is probably oversized, the butterfly looks like it might be close, I have no idea about the giant beetle, and the bee would really depend on the species. Ladybugs look pretty close, though.

These look really cool! I'm a little disappointed they left out the yellow jacket, but they made a nice little honeybee. The butterfly looks like it is more structurally sound, and there are some really nice recolors like the pistols in sand green. The displays improve the builds so it was worth adding to the price. I'm glad there's another Ideas set below $100! Overall a really great set from Hachiroku!

The mantis with its footie guns. Pow pow.

Day 1 buy for me, just for the mantis. But the other two are great as well!

The mantis would make a good base for a Zorak from Space Ghost build.

Love these SO much! What wonderful scientific-style models. THIS is the stuff I want to see from Ideas!

Gorgeous - what a beautiful collection of colour and shape! And I'm loving the science behind the insect selections that inspired José. Certainly a set of interest for enthusiasts of the natural world.

I just want the butterfly one.

99,90 CHF
Once again LEGO does not take the actual exchange rate into account.
I will be ready to pay 84.90, but sorry not this price.

WOW!!! These turned out fantastic! Can’t wait to build them!!

@mkrey said:
"I just want the butterfly one."

Same here, I would have preferred the option to have these separately, not as a trio.

A little Clockwork Orange vibe in that there Mantis!!

@Kynareth said:
"Smallest ladybirds ever!"
True but not the first of that size. There was a 1x1 round tile ladybird included with the Series 21 CMF Ladybird Girl: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=98138pb177&idColor=5T=S&C=5&O={%22color%22:5,%22iconly%22:0}

Excellent, even if it does make me reach for the insect repellant! September's looking like an expensive month.

@Huw said:
" @560heliport said:
"I don't think the Chinese mantis is PRAYing...

Good grief, TLG, hire a proofreader!!!"

Good spot. LEGO's press releases are often riddled with embarrasing mistakes like this, which myself or @CapnRex101 usually catch before publishing here, but I missed that one :)"
I assumed it was Lego's (admittedly cringing) attempt at humour!

@illennium "unnecessarily dark tone"? Read the sentence prior to the one about the mantis.
"Its wings can be removed..."
Sounds pretty dark to me!
:-D

@AustinPowers said:
"Many of my first English children's books even were from a publisher called Ladybird Books. Still have all of them to this day, including some that I got from collecting Weetabix tokens :-) "
Oh yes... I still have fond memories of 'The Discontented Pony'!

Are there any images of the underside of the morpho's wings? One of the best things about them is how cryptic they are until they open up.

Looks like the stuff of nightmares. Butterfly is nice though. Should of done a 3 pack of butterflies instead.

I kind of love these (I love that it's not another damn sitcom set even more)

Looking at the piece count...

"1, 1, 1, err... 1!" -Soldier from TF2

@PurpleDave said:
"There are two more crawling in the dirt on the base. Plus you’ll get an extra, being a small tile."

I need to go back to Specsavers, thought those two were flowers.

@TheOtherMike:
Nah. Killer Moth or Firefly, maybe. And Blue Beetle would be very timely…

@lippidp said:
"Well they've finally done it. This is the first Lego set ever that I wouldn't take even if it was free. I hate bugs."

I’m with you. As much as I admire the realism of the butterfly and praying mantis, I would feel icky while building the beetle. Same feeling as when I walked past a moderately large beetle this morning, while walking the dog in our desert climate (southwest U.S.). Ick. I have something of a bug phobia.

Well done on the set, though. I’m sure many will enjoy displaying it as another impressive lifelike set that will surprise visitors: “Is that real LEGO? No way!”

The original Ideas submission was great but it didn't appeal to me as I'm not that much into insects. The final version really does though (not 100% sure that's a good thing, at least for my wallet!).

It kind of feels like an extension to the Botanical sets, which I love.

Ooh, I like this! A bit of a shame that there's three insects instead of the original five, but hey, I'll take it. And the three that they chose to include, the praying mantis, blue morpho butterfly, and Hercules beetle, all look great!

@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike:
Nah. Killer Moth or Firefly, maybe. And Blue Beetle would be very timely…"
Those two would be thematically appropriate, but can't shrink, so would look out of place. If you're going to do DC characters, you need somebody who can shrink, so this guy: https://brickset.com/minifigs/sh293

Love that insects are getting their due.

Years ago I was researching how to build a butterfly dragon, and discovered scant examples of Lego butterflies. The blocky wings in this set illustrates the challenge, though the designer did their best with the options.

They can print the bee stripes on an egg (which looks amazing) and the butterfly wing edges on quarter circle 2x2 tiles but they won't print the logos for Chevrolet, Ferrari, Toyota, Lambo, Mercedes, etc. in the Speed Champions sets. :(

@TheOtherMike:
Hmm, how about Bumblebee? We'll go with the TTG iteration.

@graymattr:
Egg has compound curves, so is unstickerable. The macaroni tiles, I believe, are deemed too difficult to line the tiles up on correctly, so they also go straight to prints. A new print is treated the same as a recolored part, so the more prints they use, the less they can clean up the color scheme.

I miss having the giant honeybee included, but the final set as a whole is great--having a special stand for each insect (or pair of insects in some cases) does drive the price up but IMO adds a great deal to the final product. It does look like a great companion to the Botanical Collection, and the praying mantis would be a great monster for attacking the Friends' Botanical Garden! Not sure if I'll actually buy it, but at least I will certainly add it to my Want List. (Heavy sigh from my wallet, of course!)

@Zander said:
" @Kynareth said:
"Smallest ladybirds ever!"
True but not the first of that size. There was a 1x1 round tile ladybird included with the Series 21 CMF Ladybird Girl: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=98138pb177&idColor=5T=S&C=5&O={%22color%22:5,%22iconly%22:0}"

And as that one’s almost the size of her head, biggest ladybird ever!

@Zander:
Hmm, this appears to be a new print, where the CMF tile has appeared in 19 sets so far.

@monki:
"a Chinese Mantis prays on a small seven-spotted ladybug"
As originally written, this would be equivalent to "a Chinese Mantis has religious communion with God on a small seven-spotted ladybug."

@PurpleDave, Yes, it is a new print. My point was that it is the joint smallest LEGO ladybird and not the first of that size.

But, how does the preying mantis compare to the praying-box version?

Nice set. Decent price. Waiting for Godot or a good GWP... or sale... whichever arrives first.

@Zander:
Yeah, got that the first time. I just hadn't looked that closely at the new print. In my defense, I was at work, so I was using a tiny mobile screen on lunch break. Now I'm at home and have a laptop computer. It makes a big difference. And I also hadn't pulled up the old print, but I was pretty sure there was one. Of course, now there's also a molded version, I believe.

This is phenomenal! I really love this.

I've been itching to get my hands on this one since it passed the threshold. I'm a sucker for bug builds, and this lot is such a delight!

I will say its odd that the bee and ladybugs don't appear to be in scale with the main three. I guess that's understandable since they're not the focus, but especially with the ladies it makes them way too hard to see.

I mentioned in a previous RSotD that BIONICLE day just happened. Something interesting they did for the stream this year was highlight projects that aren't directly based on BIONICLE but were inspired by its overall themes. The one that stood out to me was Colony by Hexahedron. It's essentially one of those fantasy RPG-type worlds but all the races are different types of insects. Stag beetles weren't featured, but in that world Mantis were a clan of ninja-like astrologers and butterflies were powerful wizards. After it I was once again craving a LEGO Mantis, so this announcement came at a great time!

@sjr60 said:
" @monki said:
"Am I missing something? It is described as a 'praying' mantis species on wikipedia..."
No dispute over it being known as a praying mantis.
The only dispute was when the Lego Ideas press release said "a Chinese Mantis prays on a small seven-spotted ladybug" if prays was a deliberate pun on preys, or an error!"

Of course! thanks

What's with the "Will you be buying this set?" response that just says "on"? After I vote, I can't unvote to see what it looked like before I clicked the radio button.

This ladybird/ladybug debate is kinda funny.
I learned ladybird in school which is strange, since it is not a bird. Why do you call them like this?
Ladybug sounds more correct. Some says it is a beetle, not a bug, but for me it means the same. Insect with Volkswagen-shaped back.

That link about its name in different language is quite informative, but wrong for Hungarian name 'Katica'. It says it doesn't mean anything, but it is not true. Katica is a nickname for Katalin, Hungarian version of Kathleen. Full name is katicabogár, which is Kathleen's bug. Maybe there is a story about a girl who liked these bugs or something.

@King_J said:
" @Huw said:
" @560heliport said:
"I don't think the Chinese mantis is PRAYing...

Good grief, TLG, hire a proofreader!!!"

Good spot. LEGO's press releases are often riddled with embarrasing mistakes like this, which myself or @CapnRex101 usually catch before publishing here, but I missed that one :)

Spelling ladybird as ladybug is another :)"

Is ladybird what they are called in the UK? I've only ever heard ladybug here."

Ladybug is so cute and apt. Ladybird is what a big-earned redneck calls his wife... or hound dog.

@Huw said:
" @560heliport said:
"I don't think the Chinese mantis is PRAYing...

Good grief, TLG, hire a proofreader!!!"

Good spot. LEGO's press releases are often riddled with embarrasing mistakes like this, which myself or @CapnRex101 usually catch before publishing here, but I missed that one :)

Spelling ladybird as ladybug is another :)"

A praying mantis is actually a predatory insect. I don't know if they eat lady birds IRL, but they definitely PREY on other insects.

The name PRAYING mantis comes from the fact that these creatures look like little monks, praying.

A PREYING mantis is just a Praying mantis that is on the hunt.

Know you homonyms people!!

Drastically different middle than the submission, but I like the changes.

Fantastic looking set! I will be getting this, no doubt. This one, alongside 41757 and 10315 are my favorites for this year, they show how good lego bricks have become in imitating plants in various scales.

21343 probably next :)

Easy pass for me. Probably the most disgusting lego set ever made. Praying mantis is the most horrible and disgusting creature on earth and I cant even imagine buiding it. Even a photo of it makes me sick. What was the point lego??? This is a nightmare!!!

@GSR_MataNui:
Real ladybugs are like Chicken McNuggets to an adult praying mantis, and depending on the species of bee it’s most likely larger than it should be in relation to the blue morpho (each wing is about the size of a full monarch butterfly).

@Yooha:
Entomologists refer to insects if the order Hemiptera, or even sub-order Heteroptera:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemiptera

Beetles are insects that have a pair of “wings” that actually form a protective shell that covers their hindwings when they’re not in use. The hindwings are used for flying, but the forewings (aka elytra) don’t do anything during flight.

And if you see some missing information on that page, see if there’s a contact link so you can inform them. Maybe if they have a new lead, they’d be able to track down the story behind it.

@Zander:
As far as I know, ladybugs only prey on aphids, which are still definitely harmful (and “true bugs”).

@Ridgeheart:
Or the Blaving Mantis, which cheats at cards, most likely while eating an MLT, a mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that.

@PurpleDave, Aphids are definitely among their prey, but not exclusively. Other small insects are also on the menu.

@Ridgeheart said:
" @dutchbrickdad said:
" @Huw said:
" @560heliport said:
"I don't think the Chinese mantis is PRAYing...

Good grief, TLG, hire a proofreader!!!"

Good spot. LEGO's press releases are often riddled with embarrasing mistakes like this, which myself or @CapnRex101 usually catch before publishing here, but I missed that one :)

Spelling ladybird as ladybug is another :)"

A praying mantis is actually a predatory insect. I don't know if they eat lady birds IRL, but they definitely PREY on other insects.

The name PRAYING mantis comes from the fact that these creatures look like little monks, praying.

A PREYING mantis is just a Praying mantis that is on the hunt.

Know you homonyms people!!"

And then there's the elusive Puréeing Mantis, who just wants to see the world blend."

Or, the paying mantis who has no real friends, but accumulates many hangers-on because he always trying to be the biggest baller.

How does the preying mantis pray? And how does it compare to the other version?

@yap said:
"99,90 CHF
Once again LEGO does not take the actual exchange rate into account.
I will be ready to pay 84.90, but sorry not this price."

While I agree, the price for this in stores and online will probably be closer to 70 or so since it is a non-exclusive. With any luck you could even order it through Amazon.de (if they carry it) for 60 or less due to our lower VAT, and the strong CHF vs EUR. That is how I manage to get quite a few sets for very cheap (close to 50% off the official Swiss MSRP).

Tbh, the only time I order directly from LEGO is for the large exclusives, or when they have a nice GWP that I really want. For other sets, even with double VIP points, it is just not worth it at all, definitely not here in Switzerland.

@edmi said:
"Easy pass for me. Probably the most disgusting lego set ever made. Praying mantis is the most horrible and disgusting creature on earth and I cant even imagine buiding it. Even a photo of it makes me sick. What was the point lego??? This is a nightmare!!!"

They all look really good would go great next few bird sets, they could always eat them

@Ridgeheart said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Ridgeheart :
Or the Blaving Mantis, which cheats at cards, most likely while eating an MLT, a mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that."

I AM THE BRAYING MANTIS, THERE WILL BE NO SURVIVORS."

Just stay away from the RAVING MANTIS... that's guys crazy as a loon.

@Ridgeheart said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Ridgeheart:
Or the Blaving Mantis, which cheats at cards, most likely while eating an MLT, a mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that."

I AM THE BRAYING MANTIS, THERE WILL BE NO SURVIVORS."

The more important issue is: do praying mante consume their prey mostly dead or all dead?

@Zander:
All I’d ever heard before is “aphids, aphids, aphids”. Ladybugs eat them, and ants herd them like dairy cattle. I do remember how weird it was to learn that these decorative little jewels are actually voracious predators. And then again when you learn that farmers order crates of them to use as a natural form of pesticide.

It’s weirder still, to learn that, like sharks (yes, sharks), not _EVERY_ species is strictly carnivorous. Just as the bonnethead shark has been observed to hit the salad bar on a regular basis, some ladybugs eat plants.

@Murdoch17:
On the plus side, the raving mantis should be easy to spot in a dark alley, with all the phosphorescent necklaces, and dubstep pounding over speakers.

@PhantomBricks:
As I understand it, they usually chomp down on the head first, so the answer would be “briefly alive”.

I really like this set on first pass but I’m disappointed LEGO did not include name plaques, much like Birds 21301. I suppose it avoids an additional production cost, but I would have liked the genus and species names for sure!

The Dutch word for a mantis is "bidsprinkhaan" (literally: "pray grasshopper").

Concerning the ladybug being a ladybird, one could always be excused even if it were incorrect: it's just a bug ;-)

@Wrecknbuild said:
"The Dutch word for a mantis is "bidsprinkhaan" (literally: "pray grasshopper").

Concerning the ladybug being a ladybird, one could always be excused even if it were incorrect: it's just a bug ;-)"

... and the portuguese name is "louva-a-deus", which means "pray to God"...

This particular comment section taught me more about bugs and religion than 20 years of schooling. ;) By the way, my set is scheduled to arrive on Monday.