Its time for the third part of our interview with Theo Bonner. If you have missed out on the previous parts, you can catch up with them in our review for the 11501 Tulip Bouquet and the 11504 Peace Lily. Before taking a look at the 11508 Daisies, one of the 9-plus sets in the latest Botanical wave, Theo and I talk about the new colours to be found in the January Releases as well as the importance of Storytelling, even in sets that might not have an obvious narrative.
Interview with Theo Bonner Part 3
On Blue Violet and other Colours
The Rambling Brick: So, onto the [11508] Daisies… What’s the story with this new colour?
Theo Bonner: Yeah, blue-violet? Oh, it’s so nice.
The Rambling Brick: It is. Do we still have the “one in, one out” rule with colours?
Theo Bonner: It’s not as simple as that, to be honest, you know? I think the lines get very blurred between when colours come in and when colours come out. It’s not as simple as one in, one out. For example, I think it’s 102, blue, medium blue.
The Rambling Brick: It seems to have been dying out, with the exception of a couple of minifigure parts?
Theo Bonner : Bluey, for example: we have a really good reason to keep 102 around, and that’s Bluey. But, on the whole as as colours stop seeing use, we will retire eventually them to make room for new colours. But right now, 102 blue still exists, because Bluey is a great, great product. So, I mean, 102 blue is not dead. Over time, as colours dwindle, they will be replaced with new colours. I wouldn’t say it’s a one in, one out. It’s not as clear cut as that.
It [used to be that] one ended and a new colour came in. Now, it’s a little more like… well, we love making Bluey. And Bluey is such a great product for us to have and such a beautiful show to be working with. So we don’t want to kill 102 if it makes sense for this.
And then I think the other new colour is warm pink.
The Rambling Brick: Nice point, but that doesn’t appear in Botanicals this round?
Theo Bonner: Not in the first wave.
With both those colours, we had some input on them. But, I think, across the portfolio, there was a lot of excitement about those two colours and what they offered us. You know, Friends, for example that set, the Garden Restaurant. It was like, the second we heard that, that warm pink was coming in, we were [excited] and that set is where we put a bunch of colour changes, because we want people to be able to get a parts pack for warm pink.
As for Botanicals? We were very excited about that colour. I think blue-violet is interesting because it kind of fills a spot in the colour wheel that we’ve been missing for ages. So I think that was the strategy for that one.
The Rambling Brick: I think that was similar to the red-orange, a couple of years ago with the City Space sets.
Theo Bonner: I think if you look at a colour wheel of Lego colours, you can kind of see where we have gaps. And I think that going forward is kind of where we’re we’re looking to focus is to try and fill things in so we have a fully rounded colour portfolio, and then, with that, we can solve almost anything.
Warm pink is kind of interesting in that it’s not really necessarily abiding by that logic, but it is a really interesting, trendy colour that we wanted to bring in and just see, “Does this make sense? Is this a short-term thing, or is this long-term?” I mean, some of the other colours for example, coral, was meant to be a short term colour. It wasn’t meant to be around. It was meant to be a trendy colour, but it ended up seeing so much use that it’s essentially become a staple. And so I think we introduce colours sometimes just to see, like, “How does this feel?” “ Like, do fans respond to it?” “Is it exciting?” “Does it consistently see use?”
Or is it just like a exciting new pop of colour into the portfolio, and then, in a couple of years, we maybe phase it out?
The Rambling Brick: The thing that I really like about vibrant coral and also vibrant yellow is that they’ve appeared at the time that we’ve seen trans neon orange and trans neon green, retired. And while transparent-bright-green is nice, and it fluoresces brutally, it’s not quite the same (especially for M-Tron and Blacktron fans). Then there’s the yellow, that vibrant yellow: it almost feels like it’s the opaque version of trans neon green. I think my M-Tron MOCs might be going to start getting the vibrant yellow trim.
Theo Bonner: Oh, that would be pretty cool, actually. I love taking older themes, and then just like adding in a modern pop of colour, just to see how that works. You know, that one could be really nice.
Story Telling
The Rambling Brick: Dreamzzz and Friends, as themes, are very story driven, both within the set itself and within the context of the series that runs along with them. We certainly have experience with a lot of the adult-focused sets, where there is a bit of storytelling as you’re putting it together. How does your experience working in those other themes translate into [Botanicals]? Is there a way that you try to tell a story in Botanicals? In some sets, or others? How does that work for you?
Theo Bonner: Yeah, that’s a really good question. Yeah, storytelling is, I think, something that we’re really aware of in Botanicals. Partly, because a lot of what we’re doing is very static. You’re making a beautiful object, right? But we don’t want that to be it for the experience and I think, wherever possible, we’re trying to add something, whether it’s story or something new to the experience – we’re trying to put that in as much as possible.
So in the Petite Sunny Bouquet, which I worked on, a 9+, $30 bouquet. That was one of our first nine-plus sets, and I think we were really aware that repetition and “x2” and “x3” were going to be a bit of a tough sell to a younger crowd, and, honestly, for an older crowd too. It can be a little demotivating getting towards the end of a really long stretch of things with fiddly parts, and then it’s just a big “”times three.” So, one of the ways we wanted to make that experience better was by splitting it into two. So there are two instruction booklets, and the bouquet is essentially split in two, in a way that you never build the same flower twice. That was intentional. So, even if you’re building it alone, you don’t have a times two. You have sort of a break between rebuilding something and if you split the set, two people have the same experience. Everyone gets to build, four of the flowers, not all are duplicates. So you get to build the same four flowers, and then two in each, each half are different And, you know, I think in some ways, that is kind of a form of storytelling, in that you’re, you’re breaking up that experience, and you’re telling the story of building this bouquet, and you get a nice little break between building duplicates.
How you pick the flowers is another kind of storytelling: In the Wildflower bouquet, for example, those are all wildflowers. And Milan was really cognizant of which flowers made sense for this bouquet. You know, where they existed, in relation to each other. Could you find all of these in a field? The story there was: you go out into a field and you pick wild flowers. You could make this bouquet in real life, and we’re just giving you the Lego experience of that. And I think wherever we can, we’re trying to add a little bit of story to it, because it is such a static model and a static building experience.
In Friends, for example, we often try to have a little, small build with a character and a pet early on, because we found that a lot of kids are just so excited that they want to start playing right away. So, we give them something very quickly that they can play and interact with and fiddle around with, and then they get that release. Then they can go into the rest of the build, which is going to be bigger and longer and all of that stuff. And we put those in wherever we can, we try and tell stories within that. And I think I wanted to bring some of that into Botanics and make sure that, you know, wherever we can, we put that in, put in a new experience, a new approach, try something new, tell a story. That’s partly why the fun facts are there.
The Rambling Brick: Thinking about this,one thing we see, particularly with these bouquets, is that evolution from bud to opening bloom to full bloom to just about ready to fall apart. And that in itself is a bit of storytelling.
Theo Bonner That is actually a really good example of kind of the storytelling we do.
The Rambling Brick: With the tulips I noticed the recurring flowers might have only been two of the four that have the identical stem. That kept me on my toes, which was good.
Theo Bonner: Yeah, and telling the story from buds to bloom is definitely something we do and something we’re really aware of. Because I think, in one branch, having that narrative, and if we can we even try and build it in that order? So you start with the bud, and then it starts to open up, it starts to unfurl, and then you have that the final step, ideally would be making that big, beautiful flower. And, yeah, I think, like Wes Talbot’s mini orchid, the last of the four gentlemen sets that one, for example, also had that kind of narrative through where he looked at what the buds look like at the very end, and then I think he used an egg for, like the sort of as it started to grow, and then flared open into the flower.
The Rambling Brick: And indeed, now I think back on it, we had a similar experience with the hibiscus.
Theo Bonner: Absolutely.
11508 Daisies
This is a small delightful set aimed at younger builders.
There are a couple of interesting aspects to elements here: the 3 leaf plate with plant (design ID7264) is recoloured in white, in this set. Fun Fact: this was an element created initially for LEGO Friends, and then recoloured in 2 Botanical sets to date.
The ‘Daisy/sunflower’ element (Again, first used in Friends and LEGO Ideas) appears not only in white, but also in a new colour: Blue-Violet. As discussed in the interview with Theo Bonner, above, this colour fills a gap in the LEGO colour wheel.
The small daisies are identical, with 3 flowers on the end of a 16-module-long bright green axle. The larger daisies have a printed tile at their centre, supporting a collection of the 3-leaf plates (in white). Rather than build 3 identical larger daisies, one has a straight stem, and the other two have angled stems, with a leaf on opposite sides – certainly more engaging than “Repeat x 3”.
Unfortunately, we see this repetition with the lavender: building up the stems using the blue-violet flower; a medium lavender peony element, and then topping it off with the medium lavender stud. and then stacking up the alternating floral elements. You do get to choose which lavender stem will have a small, clip-on ladybird. The lavender does come with the advantage of giving us a new colour to appreciate as we stack up the elements involved in its construction.
This set is a simple set, both in construction as well as composition, but also highly effective. It provides an elegant decoration without being overly complex, ideal for younger builders, as well as adults who might be returning to LEGO building after being dragged out of their dark ages (or indeed, taking their first ever steps with LEGO Bricks ), enticed by the decorative beauty of the Botanical sets.
3.5/5 Arbitrary Praise Units
What do you think of the Daisies? Is this a set for you? or your children/Grandchildren? Please leave your comments below.
LEGO Botanicals set 11508 Daisies is on sale from January 1 2026. It has 133 pieces and is priced at $AUD24.99 / $USD14.99 / 14.99 € / £12.99
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. All opinions are our own.
Come back when we review the 11509 Flowering Cactus, and we discuss the value of recolouring the roses bouquet (there’s more to it that I thought), more new elements, and the fact that there is not nearly enough Spinjitzu to be found in Botanical sets. Or is there?
If you missed the earlier parts of the interview, you can find them here:
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Until Next Time,
Play Well!
