The Lego Bonsai tree is one of my favorite sets of all time, and Lego knows this. After its release in January 2021, it became one of Lego's highest selling boutique sets of all time. It was a watershed moment where so many people were reintroduced to Lego and experienced how brilliant and clever their model design had become in recent years.
I bought the bonsai tree around 2 1/2 years ago, and it has steadily gotten me into buying more Lego sets to complement it. With the bonsai tree's popularity, Lego has continued to release more and more botanical sets. In August 2025, they released a new set of Lego bonsai trees.
This is the Mini Bonsai Tree Collection. It was released in August 2025 for $65, a $15 increase from the original Bonsai set. This was around 10000円 for me. Ultimately, I try to avoid buying Lego these days because I can buy a lot of other things (toys) for 10000円 that won't just sit on my shelf. I could almost buy two full games for this price!
Leading into Christmas, Amazon had the set on sale for 6000円 and after building the Lego Gameboy, I wanted to add a little bit more flourish to the display on my shelf. So, I bought it. And then I also bought an LED light kit for it. (I always upsell myself on sets.)
The designers at Lego continue to impress with these trees.
They continue to be creative about reusing speciality pieces in new and unique ways. The original bonsai tree used pink frogs for cherry blossom leaves. The new ginko tree uses butterflies recolored light orange for leaves. The pine tree uses recolored green claws as needles. And the wisteria uses a gradient of combined flower pieces for its weeping flowers.
The building experience is also amazing. They reused the sloping technique from the original bonsai tree, so the trees stand at an angle. Each limb that branches from the trunk can be rotated and moved to create the exact density of foilage you want. Even though each pot is the same, they can be interchanged on the stands giving you the freedom to create whatever scene you'd like.
When looking at the trees from a certain angle, they look quite stunning.
However, as other reviewers have noted, when looking directly from the top, the models aren't so flattering. This is especially the case for the black pine tree. The leaves and needles only form a perimeter on the outside. Inside, there's nothing. It looks bad, but depending on how you display them, it probably doesn't matter.
Speaking of which, with these models complete, I could add them to my Gameboy display.
Great. :) I wanted to use the mini bonsai trees to add more color variety and density to the display, and they achieved both of those goals. It looks much better and more balanced now. (Although, the bonsai trees don't match the scale.)
But! There was still something missing. I bought a light kit for the Gameboy and when the whole scene is illuminated, these new trees don't do anything. All the focus is on the Gameboy. It's the centerpiece so, of course, it should stand out the most. But it shouldn't be the only thing that stands out.
So, I bought a light kit from Lightailing. I like their sets because they use custom LED Lego studs rather than adhesive strips of LEDs or singular LEDs you need to place inside of pieces. LED Lego studs are idiot proof and non-destructive.
The lights do an excellent job of creating a mood rather than putting a spotlight on themselves. The ginko tree lights look amazing because the yellow glow isn't over powering. The green and purple lights look okay, but they do not complement each other. Too much contrast.
Construction was a bit annoying. My hands were too dry so I could not get a solid grip on the wires to guide them in the right spots. Also, the lights for each of the trees are connected together, rather than having separate lines. This means that you can't completely separate the trees from each other, and there is very little slack. The ginko tree and the wisteria tree are currently at their max distance apart. They can barely move without pulling the other.
Overall, they create the scene I was hoping for. Even by themselves, the trees and lights look great. :)
I wouldn't recommend anyone spend $65 on these Legos, but I don't think many people did. Again, I bought them on sale for 6000円 leading into Christmas, which is about $40. I think they're worth it if you can find them for cheap.
Here are the instruction manuals for each of the trees if you want to take a look at piece usage.
gdocs/ Ginko Instructions.pdf
gdocs/ Black Pine Instructions.pdf
gdocs/ Wisteria Instructions.pdf
