Earlier in the month I was visiting Denmark, and had the opportunity to visit the LEGO Campus and have a conversation with LEGO Botanicals senior designer, Theo Bonner. In part one, we discussed recolours and the rationale behind new elements being developed in the Botanical theme. Last time, we spoke recolours and the introduction of new elements in Botanical sets.
Today, we discuss the flowerpot design in the 11503 Peace Lily, the fan base for LEGO Botanicals, designing 18+ sets for builders who have never built a LEGO set in their lives before and discover something what LEGO Star Wars and Botanicals have in common.
Interview with Theo Bonner Part 2
Flowerpots
The Rambling Brick: We seem to have three or four contexts that botanical sets to exist in: There are the sets that give you a small little bunch of flowers or a small pot, and it’s more child focused, we have what you might describe as date sets, which I would see includes just about any bouquet, such as the Tulips. Finally, we have the potted plants, and depending on the set, which feel like they focus on a mindful, solo building experience. The building process for the Peace Lily feels like it is 80% pot, and while the final result is very pleasing, a lot of it is putting together of the pot. It’s almost like “We now have a recipe for the pot. It seemed to be very similar to the Orchid, and Hibiscus, as far as that core of circles with Technic pieces, and then giving everything a half twist. It’s genius, brilliant, but… How would you address the criticism of “This is kind of a bit like that last one you did.”?
Theo Bonner: I did a lot of work looking into pots, because that is one of the main criticisms we have: you have a lot of pot before you get to the fun bit, which is the plant. And I think I did a lot of exploration into different ways, different expressions of the pot, different ways to do that kind of build.
I think the unfortunate thing is, Mike Psiaki did the first orchid pot, and he nailed it so well. I tried to refine that thing, but the only real improvement I could make is to colour code all the pins to use with the Technic bars where beams go on to them. That was my only little innovation there. I think we are fully aware that it is starting to get old. I think the Peace Lily is the last one for a while that is going to have a pot built like that, because we’re aware that we need to start looking into new different things. It’s just such a brilliant design that it was really hard to improve on and especially capturing that sort of rounded look with a nice pattern on it. Yes, is remarkably difficult to do in Lego if you’ve ever tried to build circles that are stable and support there.
The Rambling Brick: There are reasons I tend to build 1980s style space ships.
Theo Bonner Oh, yeah, 100% sometimes, I envy you in some ways. So the Peace Lily Pot is the last one for a while it’s going to be built like that. But, I think we were looking at different pot shapes, and we wanted it to fit in with the hibiscus, with the Peace Lily as the sort of third in that, in that style, in that collection, with the same, roughly the same style pot, same size pot. I think going forward, we’re looking to expand into new shapes, new designs, and give that one a rest for a bit, because I think we’ve used it quite a bit. It’s just a problem of it being so well designed that it’s hard to to swap.
Who is buying Botanicals?
The Rambling Brick: I suppose [the re-use of the pot technique] is really only an issue if people are completionists. We know that there are some themes that have collectors that will seek out every X-Wing, Police car or Food truck, year over year. But with Botanicals, is the typical purchaser a casual builder rather than a dyed in the wall completionist? Is it more going to be “I’d like a peace lily” or “I’d like an orchid” rather than “I like building Lego pot plants?”.Do you have any feel for who’s buying and building these sets? Is it collectors, or are people specifically targeting the flowers they really like?
Theo Bonner: What we see is actually a mix of the two. We have found is that it’s a lot of casual fans, people who don’t really interact with LEGO outside of LEGO Botanicals, but they are very, very into LEGO Botanicals and collect every single thing we make. It’s an interesting kind of space where many of the people who are buying them don’t have any ties to LEGO from a childhood perspective. They have no experience building, they are brand new to the LEGO platform, and they’re really only interested in it for Botanicals themselves. So a lot of the people are collectors, but they only collect Botanicals, and they’re not particularly interested in other sets. Some of them branch out into like Ideas and Icons. Some of them start to go into Lego Friends, Lego City, that sort of thing. But a lot of our consumers, a lot of our fans, are a lot more about Botanicals only.
That also opens up some issues that we need to consider: for a lot of people, these are their first LEGO sets, and we are really cognisant of the fact that we need to make sure that first experience is good. I would argue that some of the previous Botanical sets were very much 18-plus sets: very complex, very detailed and fiddly to put together. Now we’re more aware of who is actually buying these. We’re trying to bridge the gap, where we can make things easier or simpler, without sacrificing any of the complexity and the detail that makes them appealing. And that’s also why we have some sets aimed specifically at younger kids or like 12 plus.
The Rambling Brick: I can only think of one other theme that produces sets for kids and sort of tween and teenagers and adults. Who’d have ever thought that you’d be putting Botanicals and LEGO Star Wars in the same sentence?
Theo Bonner: An amazing crossover waiting to happen, I would say! Yeah, true. That’s, that’s a good point. I would say we are an antidote to Star Wars in some ways, or an alternative.
The Rambling Brick: I guess those earlier Botanicals; were produced under the LEGO ICONS banner. Anyway, so they were supposed to be 18+?
Theo Bonner: Oh yeah, and what we found was a lot of 18 plus builders were buying them, but they did not build. They did not have the familiarity that we typically expect from an 18-plus builder. So that’s one of the benefits of having our nine-plus sets: the same people who are buying the 18 plus sets are also buying the nine-plus sets, and they’re also having a great experience with those because those are calibrated to be a little bit easier to put together, a little less repetitive, a little more variety, a little easier to come together and get a nice result. And so that’s, yeah, we’re very aware of that, but it’s, it’s an interesting kind of news. New [consumer] group for LEGO to be working with, new group of fans to be looking at.
Let’s take a look at 11508 Peace Lily
The solitary peace lily is a favourite of many, slow to flower and difficult to maintain. My Mother in Law was given one for Christmas: I suspect she will keep it going for years.
The Elements
Th elements include a collection of turntables, circular plates and quarter circle tiles, as well as thirty two 2×4 arched bricks thirty two 2×4 plates and 64 1×1 curved slopes, all in pale nougat. We also have Technic Bricks, connectors and beams in light bluish grey; black, yellow and blue. bricks plates. The foliage is made up of a collection of quarter circle green bows, as well shell elements; technic connectors and stem /candle elements. This set includes the brankching bright green Technic connector that we first saw last year. A collection of white leaves, a cow horn and petal elements will contribute to the flowers. We see the two different leaf elements, both appearing in white for the first time.
The Build
The pot takes up around 70% of the construction time. Aspects of the constructions might appear confusing at first, but will be quite familiar if you have built the 10311 Orchid or 10372 Hibiscus.
The Technic bricks and pegs are colour coordinated with the beams – after building the pot up, you twist the layers, so the the colours line up, and secure them with vertical beams. Studs are attached to the beams, allowing plates to be attached.
We build up the leaves and stems, relatively quickly. A collection of axles around the centre provides the basis of the stems, while the shell elements bring the leaves into being.
Story telling is an important aspect of many LEGO Sets – and this is no exception, building up the different stages of flower development, from its earliest stage of development to the full bloom, with the spathe (specialised leaf structure) represented by different leaf elements, while the spadix (centre of this flower) is represented by cool yellow ice cream scoops as well as carrots, depending on their stage of development. The final result is quite pleasant, and multiple points in a flower’s life cycle provides that useful storytelling to tie the build together.
Conclusion
On the whole, the nature of the pot means that this is a set ideally suited to an adult looking to lose themselves in the build process. This is the third Botanical Set that has incorporated a circular, brick built pot. Unfortunately, the design was just about perfected early on, and the only improvements here are with regard to colour coding the bricks, pegs and beams. If you have never seen it before, it is one of those “Aha, wow” moments that you see from time to time. If you have built the Orchid or Hibiscus, you will quickly lose yourself in the flow. If you have built both, it might be a little ho-hum.
The final result is satisfying and bears a good resemblance to the actual plant. Unfortunately, I felt aspects of the building experience were lacking: the flowers took around 10 to 15 minutes of the (slightly more than an hour.) Still, if you are relatively new to LEGO building and enjoy the Botanical range, you will probably get a lot out of the process.
I give it 3.5/5 arbitrary praise units. The final result is solid, the pot interesteing, if not new, and the flowers took on a perfect look very quickly.
The 11504 Peace Lily has 474 pieces, and Goes on Sale on January 1, 2026 and is priced at $AUD99.99 / $USD49.99 / 59.99 € / £54.99
In our next Botanical Review, we will take a look at the Daisies, while in our continuing interview with Theo Bonner, we look at new colours that have been revealed in 2026 as well as the way storytelling is embraced in Botanical sets.
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Until Next Time,
Play Well!
