Along with several displays of colourful flowers, the LEGO® Botanicals range has also replicated several plants. The latest is the Golden Pothos, a popular houseplant which originates from the tropical island of Mo’orea in French Polynesia. The evergreen plant has trailing vine-like shoots, dotted with heart-shaped leaves.
The Golden Pothos’ trailing vines make it an interesting-looking plant, but does that result in a good LEGO Botanicals set? Here’s an early look at the upcoming Hanging Golden Pothos plant set.
Product Details
Set Name: Hanging Golden Pothos | Set Number: 11512 | Pieces: 372 | Theme: Botanicals
Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Sticker: n/a | Minifigures: n/a
RRP: £54.99/59.99€/$59.99/99.99AUD/84.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & LEGO retailers from August 1st
The Build
Similar to its release mate, the Dark Flower Arrangement, the Golden Pothos also includes a container to display the plant in. This set differs thanks to that display method being a small white pot, which sits on a small stand. Although both are built separately, they are fixed together with a long Technic axle, which protrudes from the bottom of the white pot and slots into the top of the plant stand.
Once the pot and stand have been built, the instructions give you the option to build the plant in two different ways. The main differences between the two options are how long the vines are:
- Option one provides the plant with longer hanging vines, which would be better suited to being displayed on a corner or shelf. (See box image for this build option)
- Option two offers shorter vines, which makes it a little easier to display as the vines do not extend beyond the pot and its stand. (As shown in this review)
Regardless of how you choose to build the plant, the use of the fork joints for the vines offers a large amount of movement.
Within the pot, you’ll find several plates with shaft pegs. These become the fix points for the plant’s eight vines. These are each built from a series of fork stumps featuring friction joints between each link, which offer a large amount of positional movement. Because of this, the plant’s vines can be positioned to replicate a more natural look, whilst also being able to maintain the positions they are placed in.
Each of the vines is decorated with a series of leaf elements. These were introduced last year and have been used as both petals and leaves. Although most of these are solid bright green, several of them use gradient colours, giving the tips a lighter shade of green. This does mean there is a slight uniqueness to each of the elements.
The Verdict
It’s quite a simplistic build, especially once you’ve built the pot and stand. But that doesn’t result in a poor build experience or a bad-looking set—quite the opposite. Although it doesn’t use any unusual elements similar to other Botanicals sets, the gradient-coloured leaves, green fork joints, and even a Super Mario island plate are used to create a pretty convincing and pet-friendly recreation of the Golden Pothos plant.
On the flip side, that also results in a rather costly set. It includes almost 200 elements less than the Dark Flower Arrangement set, but carries the same price point. Which is a shame, as you could increase the density of vines using the four unused pegs in the pot, but that would mean combining two sets, which would be even more costly.
It is a neat little set and shows just how versatile the Botanicals sets can be, but the price point makes it difficult to recommend. Maybe wait for it to be discounted or for double points promotions. The Hanging Golden Pothos arrives next month and can be pre-ordered now.
The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts in this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of it
