LEGO Botanicals fans have been begging for brick-built vases for the bouquets, and the LEGO Group has delivered – but does 10345 Flower Arrangement still offer good value?
10345 Flower Arrangement feels like the inevitable blend of the popular brick-built bouquets we've seen in sets like 10342 Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet and 10313 Wildflower Bouquet and the ready-to-display LEGO flowers like 10311 Orchid. While the bouquets manage to represent a variety of flowers, you need to find your own way to display them in a vase or some other creative way – unless you prefer simply lying them on a shelf.
10345 Flower Arrangement bridges the gap by similarly showcasing lots of different flowers but also – as the name suggests – arranging them for you in a brick-built pot. You even build the flowers much like doing an elegant flower arrangement, pushing the stems into the container like florists would do with real plants into floral foam.
The concept is strong – but how well does the latest LEGO Botanicals set achieve its goals? Let's take a closer look.
Release: February 1, 2025 Price: £94.99 / $109.99 / €109.99 Pieces: 1,161 Minifigures: 0 LEGO:
Doing what Botanicals do best
FIrst things first: the flowers. LEGO Botanicals has become synonymous with bright colours, creative building techniques, and stunning visuals and 10345 Flower Arrangement doesn't disappoint. Some particular favourites include the bunches of LEGO butterflies to represent the purple hydrangea and the unique building technique for the Persian buttercup ranunculus (in orange and yellow).
You create four 'petals' on hinges and then press them in together to lock them in place, creating a true-to-life appearance of interlocking petals. It actually looks as though the flower has just bloomed.
Because you have seven distinct flowers to build, as well as the vase and the foliage, the build stays relatively engaging throughout. However, it's not one for people who dislike repetitive tasks. Most of the flowers require repeating steps eight, 10, 12, or more times – especially the hydrangeas.
Deceptively flimsy
What makes those repetitive tasks still more frustrating at times is how delicate some of the flowers are. Chief among them is the lily, whose petals can ping off at the lightest touch. This makes not only building them tricky but also arranging the flowers one by one. You might think you're done with the Night Rider Camellia and then need to slide the lily into place and break off some of the leaves.
Thankfully, once the build is complete you won't really need to touch the flowers again, as you can move it using the white base – but the fragility is a definite flaw in both 10345 Flower Arrangement and a lot of LEGO Botanicals as a whole, especially the bouquets.
An expensive vase
Once all arranged together, it's undeniably an appealing set. The range of colours work beautifully together and you're left with a brick-built arrangement that appears full and full of life. However, it's hard to say that it feels worth the relatively hefty price tag of £94.99 / $109.99 / €109.99.
Many of the 1,161 pieces are used for capturing the minute details of the flowers, which the LEGO designers have undoubtedly nailed. However, you get roughly the same amount of flowers as you would in the average LEGO bouquet – but for a price that's nearly double the typical outlay.
That £40 for a brick-built vase, however sturdy and practical it might be, feels like a steep price and the size of 10345 Flower Arrangement doesn't leave you feeling you're looking at a £95 set. It's an engaging build, a feat of creative building techniques, and a vibrant centrepiece that would likely get an unhesitating recommendation – if it was just £10 or £20 cheaper.
Nonetheless, if you're a LEGO Botanicals fan, you're sure to have a good time building this set, the culmination of all the tricks and techniques that the theme has gradually built up while under the LEGO Icons banner and now into its own theme.
Honest opinion: 10345 Flower Arrangement is admittedly impressive, combining engaging flowers with a neat vase, but it's worth waiting for a discount on.
This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.
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