Review: LEGO 10309 Succulents (Botanical Collection)

April 18, 2022 | 2

Following on from my review of 10311 Orchid, I’m now happy to share my review of 10309 Succulents, the latest addition to LEGO’s Botanical Collection.

They will both be available from LEGO.com on 1 May 2022 but can be pre-ordered now direct from LEGO or through Amazon.com, and looking at my traffic and engagement statistics, I think these are going to be wildly popular with all types of LEGO fans (and even non-LEGO fans).

I’m a big fan of succulents, and have a small garden patch filled with them (and would like more, naturally), so these are exactly right up my alley.

The Succulents provide a vastly different experience compared to the Orchid, from the build, to the model’s aesthetics, making both sets a great paired experience, if you can afford it.

Let’s jump into the review!

See below for regional pricing and links:

• 10309 Succulents [US] – US$49.99 [Amazon]
• 10309 Succulents [AUS]  – AU$89.99
• 10309 Succulents [UK] – £44.99
• 10309 Succulents [EU] – €49.99
• 10309 Succulents [CA] – CAD$69.99

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review

10309 Succulents – Set Details

Name: Succulents
Set Number: 10309
Pieces: 771
Price: AU$89.99 | US$49.99 | £44.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK] [Amazon]
Exclusive to: LEGO.com / LEGO Stores initially
Theme: Creator Expert / Botanical Collection
LEGO Designer: Anderson Ward Grubb (@mrbrickerson)
Release Date: 1 May 2022

Unlike the Orchid, the LEGO Succulents set is designed to be built collaboratively, either with a partner, or in a small group of up to 3 – there are 3 separate booklets allowing you to tackle the Succulents in whichever order you like.

There’s also an introduction to the prickly, and colourful world of Succulents, alongside a profile of designer Anderson Ward Grubb (@mrbrickserson on Instagram), who also worked on the Boutique Hotel Modular, as well as the Flower Bouquet which kicked off the Botanical Collection.

Anderson Grubb is one of my favourite designers for his mastery of colours, and as demonstrated by the Flower Bouquet, I can see why he was handpicked for the LEGO Succulents set.

Throughout the build, the manual includes plenty of interesting factoids on the succulents you build, and all but one are named/based on real-world succulents.

With 9 different succulents to build, the build was especially enjoyable. Each succulent occupies a 6 x 6 black pot which has slots for red Technic pins to attach and connect the pots to one another – it’s a fun and clever feature that allows you to manipulate and arrange the succulents together the way you’d like.

Let’s take a look at all 9 succulents.

Orange Monroe

The Orange Monroe is one of the more simpler succulent builds, but adds a burst of bright light orange to the clump of Succulents.

I really liked the use of the plant with 3 leaves across the base of the pot which look like leaves spreading outwards from the flower.

Aloe Plant

The Aloe Plant is one of the most well-known succulents, well known for its long, claw-like prickly leaves, but also its many applications, from its use to treating burns, to moisturise skin, or even as food.

The Sand Green Hero Factory claws, which are made of rubbery plastic, which has a matte texture giving it a slightly more organic look & feel. Doesn’t work well when seen from all angles as I don’t like the cavernous undersides of these elements.

Hens and Chicks

Hens and Chicks, named for its tendency to rapidly produce offspring, with new plants forming around the “hen” – it’s one of the more common succulents found in garden beds, or even in pots as they propagate rapidly once established.

This is one of my favourites in this set, mostly because of the geometric 8-pronged construction, and the blend of different green elements (5 in total) which help make the leaves look visually distinct as well.

A really clever part usage is the ice cream swirl for the core in mint green!

Lavender Echeveria

The Lavender Echeveria, is also known as Afterglow, and its pale purple leaves are super effective at introducing a gentle burst of colour to the build.

The medium lavender shoulder pads are arranged in a beautiful, and otherworldly manner, doing a brilliant job at replicating the look of a Lavender Echeveria that’s currently in bloom – which probably makes this a juvenile variant.

The sand blue and sand green core are also great at making them look like undeveloped parts of the succulent, and I especially like the use of the Sand Green BB-8 heads in the middle!

The Lavender Echeveria is one of the more visually intriguing succulents in the set, and one of my favourites.

Moon Cactus

It wouldn’t be a succulent arrangement without some Cacti, and standing tall amongst all the other succulents is the Moon Cactus.

Contrary to popular believe, these colourful cacti aren’t one singular plant, as the red, yellow or orange cacti are their own distinct species, which have mutated to lack chlorophyll which causes their colours – these are then grafted onto other succulents to create what is known as a “Moon Cactus”.

I really like the olive green body, and the use of bars with 3 prongs as thorns!

Ball Cactus

The next Cacti featured is the small but unassuming Ball Cactus which is one of the smaller succulents, but its simplicity is one of its strongest properties.

I love the use of green claws, which fold almost perfectly to create a dome-like shape, with a flower to top it off.

Burro’s Tail

The Burro’s Tail (Burro is Donkey in Spanish) is my favourite Succulent in the bunch, because of just how effective the design is. Burro’s Tail succulents are best known for their globule-like leaves, and the use of eggs in Yellowish Green is inspired.

I love what you get so many of them, and I really enjoyed what designer Anderson Grubb has done with the way the stems appear so organically.

It’s tall, and is probably one of the best takes on a well-known succulent, that just exemplifies nice part usage.

Sedum luteoviride

This is the only unnamed succulent in the set, so I’ve taken the liberty to name it – I think it’s either a sedum luteoviride OR Graptopetalum but I went with the former purely on colour.

It’s a really small succulent, but it contains some really clever secrets. My favourite thing about this succulent, is the presence of 4 Green Forestmen hats, returning in Green using the new Robin Hats from Series 22’s Troubadour) – Forestmen is one of my favourite vintage themes, so when I saw these, I got really excited dreaming of a Forestman return.

It would make sense, given these elements are now in production, and it would be a massive shame if they went unused..

The Forestmen succulent also has a tiny secret – you can lift it to reveal a small compartment to store your extra pins in!

Red Echeveria

Last but not least is one of the most visually striking succulents thanks to the dark red pointy leaves. The Red Echeveria looks more like a flower in full bloom, and because of its large footprint, it takes up a quite a lot of space amonst the other succulents.

The design is also really cool and I love the use of the 1 x 1 pyramid for the tips of the leaves, giving it that sharp-tipped look you’d often find for Echeveria.

I’ve left the best and most unorthodox use of elements – these sub-machine guns used in the trunk of the Red Echeveria! The handles are used to attach the outer leaves to the stem, and are quite an ingenious method to take advantage of the gun’s unique angles.

Here’s the completed succulent model! This is the compact configuration where all the pots are arranged closely to one another – as you can see, some of the smaller succulents and cacti do get a little lost amongst some of the larger plants.

Thankfully, you’re encouraged to personalise how the succulents are displayed, and you can form all sorts of different shapes, or even display 2 or 3 of them on their own, depending on what setup works best for you.

And yes, if you do collect and cultivate succulents, these look great next to them.

Succulents are pretty hardy on their own (just don’t over-water them, and ensure they have plenty of airflow!) and are great to keep and display, but these are a fun alternative that you can keep indoors, or on your desk, or even next to your real succulents!

What I liked:

• Absolutely ingenious and at times surprising parts usage
• A plethora of new recoloured elements
• Modular display format encourages personalisation
• Build Together format encourages turning this into a group activity
• Makes for a great display piece that’s unlike the other Botanical sets
• Forestmen hats!

What I didn’t like: 

• Hens and Chicks sometimes gets knocked over easily
• Build is over fairly quickly
• Doesn’t have much height

Final Thoughts:

Like the LEGO Orchid, 10309 Succulents is another excellent addition to the fast-growing Botanical Collection, and takes this theme in a brand new direction.

By building nine different succulents, this set provides plenty of variety which keeps the building experience fresh, and for those new to LEGO, can really showcase just how versatile and creative this medium can be, as you’re putting these near-lifelike plastic succulents together.

Home interior stores often sell “fake succulents” that people use to decorate their living spaces, and these are a huge step up from those. They’re perfectly balanced, straddling the lifelike but still looking like LEGO once you get a close look at them, which makes them great conversation starters.

I’d say, like the Bonsai, this feels like a very accessible, and non-threatening introduction to the LEGO Botanical collection. I loved the generous helping of new recoloured elements, and all the fun ways designer Anderson Grubb has incorporated to bring these Succulents to life.

That said, the LEGO Succulents are quite subtle, and because of its relatively small and short profile, it doesn’t quite pack the same levels of display presence as the Orchid, or Bird of Paradise, but that I think works in its favour, as like actual succulents, are more assuming in nature.

If you enjoy novel and vastly interesting build experiences, I can highly recommend adding 10309 Succulents to your collection, and it works so well together with the other Botanical LEGO sets. This is also pretty decent value too, and would make a great, inexpensive gift for succulent-loving people.

Rating and score: 4/5 ★★★★✰

Build [5] – So many fun builds contained in one, with creative and interesting techniques
Real Value [4] – For the price-point, this is great value, and even better value if you can get it on sale
Innovation [4] – So many fun builds, and a fresh new direction for the Botanical collection.
Coolness [4] – Succulents are very popular houseplants, and these are terrific renditions of them. Plus, so many new and fun recoloured elements!
Keepability [4] – This is a great set to keep on display, and should encourage fans to design their own succulents

Thanks for reading my review of 10309 Succulents ! Be sure to also check out my review of 10311 Orchid if you missed it!

The LEGO Orchid and Succulents goes on sale from LEGO.com on 1 May 2022, but can be pre-ordered now online or on Amazon.com, so make sure you don’t miss out as I expect these to be wildly popular!

What do you think of the LEGO Succulents? If you had to pick one, would you pick this or the Orchid?

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Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review