Review: 10289 Bird of Paradise
Posted by Huw,
LEGO launched the first two botanical collection sets in January this year. They proved to be so popular that they've been out of stock or on back order at LEGO.com for most of the time since.
The third in the series, 10289 Bird of Paradise, is due for release on June 1st and is likely to be just as well-received, owing to its life-like and attractive appearance.
The Bird of Paradise plant, or Strelitzia, is native to South Africa, but can be found growing in many other places that have an appropriate climate. I photographed this flower in Madeira in 2019.
They are also popular houseplants and this model, designed by Chris McVeigh, builds a potted example.
Parts
The 1,173 parts are packed in numbered bags. The bulk of them, in bags 1 and 2, are used to make the pot.
Parts in bags 3 and 4 build the foliage and flowers, while bags 5 contain the 'soil'.
Construction
The pot is surprisingly solid. It uses plate hinges and 3x6 corner plates to form a octagonal shape with SNOT brackets on the vertices which will be used to attach the sides.
Look closely around the edges of the central circular section and you can just about see gold minifig rings. These are slipped onto axle-pins and are used to provide just the right spacing between the 4x4 circular brick in the middle and 1x2 axle bricks attached to the main assembly. They are marginally narrower than a standard half-bush and, it seems, just the right width.
The sides are formed from 2x2 and 2x8 curved slopes. The four connected to the lime-green vertices have inverted 2x2 curved slopes on the inside which closes the gap between them and their neighbours.
I particularly like the strip of medium nougat pieces around the circumference which looks like a line has been left in the paint before the pot was glazed.
The finished pot is surprisingly heavy, about 600g, which will certainly help prevent the plant from being knocked over.
With the pot complete, attention turns to the plant itself which, save for the flower heads, is constructed almost entirely from Technic pieces. The stems utilise 3-long axle connectors in dark green and, new in this set, sand green.
Three different angle connectors are used as well and if I have any criticism of the set it's that only one of them (#3) is dark green. The others are black or dark grey. This may well be so that they can be differentiated easily when building, but the completed model would have looked better if they were all dark green.
The leaves can be twisted in several directions to enable them to be positioned individually in an organic way.
The leaves are constructed from four Technic panels which have not been produced in dark green before. Together they form a perfect leaf shape, and I'm sure when they were first designed the designer did not imagine they'd one day be used for life-sized foliage!
The best part of the build is left until last: the flower heads. There's nothing particularly complicated about their construction, although I'm sure they were not easy to design in the first place. The purple parts, including a fencing épée, are new in that colour, as is the sand-green 'helicopter blade' and click-hinge connector at the top of the stem.
The end result is beautiful and exquisite, just like the real flowers.
The top of the pot looks a bit unsightly so all that remains is to fill it with 'soil': 200 medium nougat and 100 brown 1x1 round plates.
The completed model
Overall it stands about 45cm high and looks spectacular. From a distance it appears very realistic indeed and therefore likely to surprise those who don't know it's LEGO when they come closer.
I guess some people might complain that it's all leaves and not many flowers: that's the reality of houseplants, I'm afraid, especially this one, which takes many years to produce them indoors.
Verdict
The botanical collection continues to surprise and delight me, and I am particularly impressed with this one: it's large, realistic, fun to build, and nothing more is needed to display it, unlike the flowers.
There's no doubt that the botanical collection has been well-received, and I am certain that this set will fly off the shelves and out of the LEGO.com stockroom as rapidly as the flowers and bonsai. My advice, then, is to order it on day one because it's likely to go out of stock soon after.
It's priced at €99.99 / £89.99 / $99.99 / AU$169, which is a little on the expensive side particularly when compared to the previous botanical sets. Perhaps their low price fuelled unexpected demand which LEGO has been unable to fulfil, so to help prevent that happening again, this set has been priced accordingly.
It will be available at LEGO.com from the 1st June everywhere but North America, and on 1st August there. It'll make the perfect gift for those that have a knack for killing their houseplants: you can't over- or under-water this one -- it'll just require a light dusting now and again!
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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55 comments on this article
Great review. They are really pushing it with the pricing though.
Thanks for the review. It's a beautiful and unique set. Not my cup of tea, so won't be buying it, but I do still appreciate it.
Like the idea but i think its the least of the botanical sets. The price makes this set even less appealing. Unlike the suggestion at the end of the review i dont think lego are trying to do us a favour by doubling the price to reduce availability issues, they just see easy profit...
This isn't particularly for me, but I still think this set looks great.
I got the Bonsai set on Day 1 and it has been sitting out since then. I love that they are doing with the Botanical Collection so far. I think Lego has really been trying to produce sets that appeal to adults, and sets like this prove it.
I just can't wait for a succulent garden set to come out.
EDIT: And I agree that it seems to be slightly overpriced. I think $80 USD would be perfect, but I'm guessing that those big Technic panels are pretty expensive.
This feels like you're buying and building the pot, and getting some plants as the proverbial cherry on top. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it does highlight why it's probably better value not to include a pot or vase with these sets.
Brought both the previous Botanical Collection sets, and also have the two smaller LEGO Store exclusive ones. I love this sub-theme but this one does seem the weakest, not to say it is bad though as this set look beautiful and I appreciate the included pot.
Is it worth £90 though, not sure. The Bonsai and Bouquet combined have about 1634 pieces for the same price as this set by itself with about 500 less pieces. i think this one should have been at most £80 not £90.
May I just say it's a simply gorgeous creation?
More of this, please.
I think it would have made more sense to sell the pot separately as they already have another botanical set that could easily have utilized this pot and then the Birds of Paradise wouldn't be so expensive on their own.
@Minifig290 said:
"Brought both the previous Botanical Collection sets, and also have the two smaller LEGO Store exclusive ones. I love this sub-theme but this one does seem the weakest, not to say it is bad though as this set look beautiful and I appreciate the included pot.
Is it worth £90 though, not sure. The Bonsai and Bouquet combined have about 1634 pieces for the same price as this set by itself with about 500 less pieces. i think this one should have been at most £80 not £90."
This is my comparison as well. I'm not a plant fanatic and I don't keep many sets built, but I got both Botanicals on day 1 and they're still built. This entry doesn't feel nearly as interesting, and given that in USD I could either get this, or one each of the Bonsai and Bouquet, it's really tough to justify
Really don’t like this. Too many leaves. I’ll stick with my own real houseplants and buy the Lego flowers for colour.
Plastic plants just rub me the wrong way.
I loved the previous set with the flowers, but this one just doesn't do it for me.
I don't like the looks (I find neither the original plant nor this rendition very attractive) and I like the inflated price even less.
Somehow the flowers to me look like someone set fire to some of the leafs.
Easy pass.
Sand green is such an “unnatural” shade of green to use for plants’ leaves and stalks. I wonder why the designers keep using it.
I see some problems with dark-green shades, again.
Can you show a side by side with the previous flowers?
I'm not getting this one, half the set is in that dumb vase. Lego is charging another $50 just for that. Ignoring the vase, the bouquet was a significantly larger and better build for half the cost. I would have preferred they left out the vase and extended the stems to work in a real vase like the bouquet, all while keeping the price below $60.
Why did it take me this long to realize the FRANXX in Darling in the Franxx is named after this plant (Strelizia)
Looks better then the box art at least with different lightfall on those panel leaves, really couldn't unsee the panels on the box art.
With regard to the inclusion of the pot here and its omission from 10281 Flower Bouquet, I think the nature of this plant necessitates including the pot. While the bouquet can simply slot into a vase for display, placing the Bird of Paradise inside a real pot would require packing the pot with something to support and secure the stems.
I do like the idea of LEGO creating a separate set to build your own pot, with parts for many different shapes and sizes.
Does it tap to add one mana of any color to your mana pool?
If it sells, then LEGO found the right price point. This staggered release, though, seems like it’s going to create an unhealthy grey market.
While the bouquet was missing the crucial vase, here we have a pot but at twice the price. The choice was also poor for this specific flower as it's not so popular worldwide and looks very boring.
I also see at least 4 shades of dark green in there and Panel No.13 is significantly lighter than the rest. Better hope this part won't go into the next flag ship Technic set or it's Lambo 2.0 all over again.
Tempted by this but the price is insane.
Nice set. If it had been priced the same as the others I would probably get it but for the same $ I'll be getting the Creator Castle instead.
You'll never look at this plant the same again:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/bradesposito/bird-of-paradise-face
Looks so much better and vibrant in these pictures than on the box art, like it a lot more here.
Should come with a Superman minifigure, as he gave one to Lois in Superman 2.
I still don't see where they put 1200 parts...IMO adding around 300 1x1 round tiles as sand is just a way to justify the price increase
@dancmill said:
"Why did it take me this long to realize the FRANXX in Darling in the Franxx is named after this plant (Strelizia)"
all the franxx are actually named after different plants, and also their mechas are designed with some elements inspired by the flowers.
The AU RRP is outrageous, based on the European pricing, though all are way too high for an unlicensed set. Perhaps they over-price in anticipation of deep discounting at retail.
I like this better in the review photos than on the box art. Hopefully will get to see it in person at my local LEGO store. But I'm not sure I'll get it because it does seem very expensive for what you get and it's not as appealing to me as the other botanical sets. My LEGO budget will probably get spent on other things.
The set looks great. But the price turns me off, so I won't be getting it.
And with the bouquet still not available, who knows when I'll pick that up either.
I do think this set NEEDS the pot though, so that is unfortunate in pricing.
One other reason why people over here might think the set is overpriced is the fact that the piece count isn't shown on the packaging here in Europe. People pick it up, look at it, look at the price and go "WTF?" and put it back again.
From the box art you'll never guess this is over 1K pieces (even though a quarter is just 1x1 round plates).
The amount of stuff you get for the money is laughable. And that's not even taking into account what an unknown and ugly plant this is. I wonder why they decided on this particular specimen instead of something more presentable and recognizable.
This set will be a nice replacement for the real birds of paradise flowers I used to have in my front yard before they were attracting swarms of bees. Of course I wouldn't put the LEGO set outside in the sun, but just as a nice momento of the birds of paradise I used to have.
@genecyst said:
" @dancmill said:
"Why did it take me this long to realize the FRANXX in Darling in the Franxx is named after this plant (Strelizia)"
all the franxx are actually named after different plants, and also their mechas are designed with some elements inspired by the flowers."
oh my god, thank you for telling me lol
@bacon1986 said:
"I think it would have made more sense to sell the pot separately as they already have another botanical set that could easily have utilized this pot and then the Birds of Paradise wouldn't be so expensive on their own."
I don't know how you would display this plant without the LEGO pot. You can't just stuff the stems in a jar and expect them to arrange correctly, like you could with the random flowers from the previous set.
Love it, but it's out of my price range.
@minhvo said:
"Sand green is such an “unnatural” shade of green to use for plants’ leaves and stalks. I wonder why the designers keep using it."
Sand green is actually perfect for the bird of paradise stems
$50 for the Bonsai was good, but $100 for this - hell no! But I like the set itself.
What lets this down is the box image. It really looks quite awful and offputting compared to the actual model which is quite attractive.
Love the first 2 set that Lego made, but this one is a beauty with a heavy price tag on it.
This will be a fine addition to my lego flower collection. Huzzah
I'm sure they could have made a simpler more hollow flower pot to reduce the number of pieces, and allow another three flowers, as this is the part most buyers would be interested in.
Plastic plants, it's just not my thing... I'll go to the park now and enjoy some real trees, bushes, flowers and plants.
I love lego but it's still a toy for me so I should find some playability in each set I buy..
And oh, the price is shocking in my opinion.
Unfortunately, this is a pass for me as the climate where I live is too cold for this plant.
@MainBricker said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"And that's not even taking into account what an unknown and ugly plant this is. I wonder why they decided on this particular specimen instead of something more presentable and recognizable. "
Birds of Paradise is a well known and recognisable plant, but the plant is not hardy in northern European climates so is perhaps why you may not be familiar with it.
"
Probably. Then again, plenty of exotic and not hardy plants even here, but this I have never seen or heard about my entire life.
In any case, to me this looks so ugly I would want neither the actual one nor the LEGO version. Wonder why they didn't go with something pretty instead. This is basically a bunch of dark green leaves with three tiny specks of colour added in to not make it look completely drab. Awful choice imho.
I wasn't initially over keen on this, but it's growing on me! I think the subtle splash of colour fits nicely in the set line-up between the greenery of the Bonsai and the multi-colours of the Bouquet.
@AustinPowers said:
" @MainBricker said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"And that's not even taking into account what an unknown and ugly plant this is. I wonder why they decided on this particular specimen instead of something more presentable and recognizable. "
Birds of Paradise is a well known and recognisable plant, but the plant is not hardy in northern European climates so is perhaps why you may not be familiar with it.
"
Probably. Then again, plenty of exotic and not hardy plants even here, but this I have never seen or heard about my entire life.
In any case, to me this looks so ugly I would want neither the actual one nor the LEGO version. Wonder why they didn't go with something pretty instead. This is basically a bunch of dark green leaves with three tiny specks of colour added in to not make it look completely drab. Awful choice imho. "
It's a royal flower, named after the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Neustrelitz thought it was a pretty enough flower to put a giant statue of one in their town.
Not everybody has the same taste as you, or doesn't know the same things.
Double the price of the Flower Bouquet? That's disgusting TBH...
@stlux said:
"It's a royal flower, named after the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Neustrelitz thought it was a pretty enough flower to put a giant statue of one in their town.
Not everybody has the same taste as you, or doesn't know the same things."
I never said anyone had to.
This is the comments section, and comments by their very nature are subjective.
In that regard every opinion is worth the same. Neustrelitz has its opinion, you have yours, I have mine.
Nothing more, nothing less.
My opinion is that it's an unknown (from my point of view) and ugly plant (and set). I would have preferred something different.
But I won't lose any sleep over LEGO's decision not to produce my favorite ever botanical item. I simply won't buy this set.
Still, I think I am allowed to make my opinion known. After all, what use would a comments section be otherwise?
@AustinPowers said:
" @stlux said:
"It's a royal flower, named after the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Neustrelitz thought it was a pretty enough flower to put a giant statue of one in their town.
Not everybody has the same taste as you, or doesn't know the same things."
I never said anyone had to.
This is the comments section, and comments by their very nature are subjective.
In that regard every opinion is worth the same. Neustrelitz has its opinion, you have yours, I have mine.
Nothing more, nothing less.
My opinion is that it's an unknown (from my point of view) and ugly plant (and set). I would have preferred something different.
But I won't lose any sleep over LEGO's decision not to produce my favorite ever botanical item. I simply won't buy this set.
Still, I think I am allowed to make my opinion known. After all, what use would a comments section be otherwise? "
Of course you are entitled to your opinion. However you said it was an "unknown and ugly plant", not "I don't know this plant and personally think it's ugly."
There's a rather large difference between the 2 statements.
@minhvo:
There isn’t a shade of green (except maybe trans-neon green or trans-bright green, but even regular trans-green would work for algae) in the LEGO color palette that’s not perfect for at least one plant. You live in Viet Nam, so I’m guessing most of the plants you’re familiar with look closer to dark-green. Sand-green would work for a lot of garden flowers, succulents, and cactuses.
@AustinPowers:
I’ve got a brown thumb, and I immediately recognized it both by appearance and by name. I don’t think my mom ever had any, but it’s one of the more iconic exotic flowers in this part of the world. Bearing in mind what we talked about before, this may not be targeted at your part of the world, but it’ll probably do well over here (especially since we do get to see piece counts on the box, and therefore can tell that it’s priced below what we’d expect).
My best friend always liked playing with LEGO sets growing up, but didn’t enjoy building them (the reasons are complicated, but changes in the way instructions are printed has helped). He is now trying to buy every Botanical set, and already knew about this before I told him.
@stlux said:
"Of course you are entitled to your opinion. However you said it was an "unknown and ugly plant", not "I don't know this plant and personally think it's ugly."
There's a rather large difference between the 2 statements."
My apologies, I am no native speaker of English.
I thought it would be clear that what I write is always and only my own opinion.
@PurpleDave said:
" @minhvo :
There isn’t a shade of green (except maybe trans-neon green or trans-bright green, but even regular trans-green would work for algae) in the LEGO color palette that’s not perfect for at least one plant. You live in Viet Nam, so I’m guessing most of the plants you’re familiar with look closer to dark-green. Sand-green would work for a lot of garden flowers, succulents, and cactuses. "
Plants in Vietnam have all shades of green, but sand green is pretty rare, except for in certain succulents. In this set (same as in 10280 Flower Bouquet) its use coupled with dark green results in a drab and plastic look in my eyes. As a (part-time) gardener, I guess I just prefer more vibrant shades of green when it comes to plants :)
@minhvo:
So where they did get it wrong, judging by photos of real BoP plants, is that the leaves shouldn't be that dark. The tricky part is, the real leaves look like they fall somewhere between regular green and dark-green, and there's really no suitable equivalent. This is going to be one of the bigger issues with the Botanical collection, since they can't just create new shades of green to precisely match real plants, and have to pick which one they feel is closest. In some cases, it may not be, but the overall look may work better. I can't think of any color that would look better than sand-green, and between green or dark-green, the latter pairs much better.