LEGO Ideas The Botanical Garden (21353) Review

The newest LEGO Ideas set on the market is The Botanical Garden (21353) which has 3,792 pieces and retails for a whopping $329.99. Let’s take a deeper look to see if it is actually worth that price.

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Minifigures

A part of the higher price point of the set is the inclusion of 12 minifigures. These includes four members of the staff, the manager, the barista, and two gardeners. The rest are visitors to the garden.

The manager has on a dark blue puffy jacket and has a similiar colored satchel. The minifigure is designed to resemble the fan designer, Valentina Bima.

The barista is an older lady and she has on the typical brown apron. The beanie is molded on to the hair and she has a double-sided head showing a smile and a stern look.

The two gardeners have on the exact same brown overall outfit. The male has a leaf blower and a plant as accessories while the female has a pair of shears.

For the visitors, we have a variety of adults and kids going to the garden. The more notable one is the visually impared visitor who has his eyes closed and uses a wand as a walking stick. There’s also the photographer who looks a lot like LEGO fan and designer, Chris McVeigh.

For the kids, we have one that is excited and shocked at the plants of the garden while the other is a little troublemaker, pulling a flower out.

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Build

The Botanical Garden sits on two 32×32 baseplates which gives it enough space to fits a lot of detail for both inside and outside. LEGO advertises the set having over 35 plant species and we have about 7 just in the front of the garden. The right side also has a water fountain with a yellow bird sitting at the top.

There are some stairs that lead up to the double door entrance with some vines used as handrails.

Right when you walk in, there’s a concierge desk that sells tickets and headphones to use inside the garden. One Easter egg for the set is the bulletin board sticker behind the desk showing the Valentina and her dog.

All around the area, there are different plants scattered around with printed 1×1 tiles specifying what plants they are. Another Easter egg is the missing flower that one of the minifigure kids took.

Towards the back of the garden, there are some of the larger plants and trees. It is next to some stairs that lead up to the balcony where a couple of minifigures can stand on.

Tucked away in one of corners is the Arid Garden where you can various cacti. Right above the area is another bird that has made a nest on top of the lamp.

On the other side, there’s the small cafe complete with a coffee maker and a computer register. There’s no seating inside but you can head out the doors to a small patio area with a table and a couple of chairs.

Lastly on the opposite side of the cafe, you have the area where the gardeners’ tools are at. A shovel and broom are propped against the wall and there a hose that’s leaking water. There’s also a squirrel rummaging through the trash.

To have easier access to the inside of the garden, the glass roof is able to be removed. The whole roof section is connected using different trans-clear panels to get the bubble shape. This also helps cover the taller trees in the back without hitting them.

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Results

Overall the LEGO Ideas The Botanical Garden (21353) is a very pretty set with lots of little details throughout the set. The amount of plants that are packed into it is astounding and you can read up more on them at the beginning of the instructions. The only downside I have for the set is the very high price point. Considering the set has almost 3,800 pieces and packed with the amount of minifigures, I would say that the price could be justified but we’re getting to the point where LEGO Ideas sets are heading towards the $500 mark.

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Thank you to LEGO for sending in this set for me to review. The content above represents my own opinion and not the company. Review sets sent in does not guarantee a positive review.