31 July 2025

Review: 10373 Mini Bonsai Trees from LEGO® Botanicals

Posted by Thomas Jenkins

LEGO® Botanicals are going back to their roots with 10373 Mini Bonsai Trees, available from midnight tonight. The subtheme first sprouted within the LEGO® Icons line four years ago with the fan-favourite 10281 Bonsai Tree, and it’s been blooming ever since. Now a thriving line of its own with multiple highly anticipated releases each year, it continues to produce some of The LEGO Group's most interesting and popular models.

The Lego bonsai ginkgo, black pine, and wisteria pictured among various new loose pieces included

This latest set offers a charming trio of miniature trees—ginkgo, black pine, and wisteria—each showcasing the design ingenuity and clever parts usage that made the theme so beloved. Let’s take a closer look and see just how much the LEGO Botanicals have grown. 

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

10373 Mini Bonsai Trees

  • Release date: 1 August 2025, pre-order available now from the links below
  • Pieces: 709

Price

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Lego Botanicals 10373 Mini Bonsai Trees

 

 

Recolours

Seven elements have been recoloured for 10373 Mini Bonsai Trees.

First, some foliage:

pink lego flower and yellow leaves
  • 12x Plant, Sunflower 2 x 2 with 16 Petals in Bright Pink (6572910 | 6901)
  • 12x Plant, Leaves 4 x 3 in Yellow (6561362 | 2423)
The yellow foliage is a surprising recolour: we've seen plenty of trees with yellow leaves in sets, but clearly they used other elements to achieve the effect. This element opens up new ways to create trees in autumn colours in our MOCs: a useful element indeed!


Next, some new tan elements:

3 tan lego parts
  • 5x Arm Mechanical with Clip [Thick Support] in Tan (6561364 | 98313, 49753)
  • 1x Brick Curved 1 x 2 x 1 with Curved Top in Tan (6538178 | 5841)
  • 2x Plate Round Corner 5 x 5 with 4 x 4 Round Cutout in Tan (6566759 | 80015)
Tan has long been used as a fleshy colour in large figure MOCs. Those recoloured droid arms would make great fingers in such subject matter.


Finally, some dark tan:

2 dark tan lego pieces
  • 1x Animal Body Part / Plant, Tail / Neck / Branch / Trunk, Middle Section with Pin Holes in Dark Tan (6561359 | 5717)
  • 12x Handlebars with Angular Handles in Dark Tan (6561360 | 98397)
They’re used to represent branches and connect the trees’ foliage, so it’s great to see them in new colours that give builders more options when creating trees.

Rare elements

The following elements currently appear in 3 sets or fewer:

13 lego bricks
  • 12 x Plant, Sunflower 2 x 2 with 16 Petals in White (6545156 | 6901) in 2 sets
  • 24 x Plant, Plate 1 x 1 Round with 3 Leaves in Yellowish Green (6541652 | 32607) in 1 set
  • 3 x Brick Round 1 x 1 diameter Tube with 90 Degree Elbow (2 x 2 x 1) and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at each end in  Tan (6541476 | 25214) in 2 sets
  • 1 x Technic Brick 1 x 1 with Axle Hole in Tan (6528173 | 73230) in 1 set
  • 12 x Bar 1L with Clip [Cut Edges and One Side Hole] [Full Clip] in Green (6541878 | 3484) in 3 sets
  • 1 x Brick Special 1 x 2 with 1 Center Stud on 1 Side, Bottom Stud Holder in Lime (6528558 | 86876) in 3 sets
  • 3 x Brick Round 1 x 1 diameter Tube with 90 Degree Elbow (2 x 2 x 1) and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at each end in Dark Tan (6490610 | 25214) in 2 sets
  • 4 x Plate Special 1 x 2 with Clip Vertical on End in Dark Tan (6540811 | 78256) in 3 sets
  • 3 x Plate Special 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical [Thick Open O Clip] in Pearl Gold (6540813 | 44860) in 1 set
  • 14 x Hair Small Tuft in Olive Green (6541489 | 68212) in 3 sets
  • 2 x Plate Special 8 x 8 with Grille [Hole in Center] in Dark Orange (6561357 | 4151b, 4047) in 1 set
  • 3 x Brick Round 1 x 1 diameter Tube with 90 Degree Elbow (2 x 2 x 1) and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at each end in Reddish Brown (6407771 | 25214) in 2 sets
  • 3 x Plate Round Corners 6 x 6 x 2/3 Circle with Reduced Knobs in Reddish Brown (6301634 | 66789) in 2 sets

Pieces in large quantities

LEGO Botanicals sets often use elements in repetition to mimic leaves or petals. In addition to some of the elements mentioned above, there are 2 elements in particular that are worth mentioning for their appearance in unusually large numbers:

bright light orange lego butterfly and green wolverine claw
  • 36 x Insect, Butterfly in Flame Yellowish Orange/ Bright Light Orange (6370534 | 80674)
  • 72 x Weapon Bladed Claw Spread in Dark Green/ Green (6329651 | 10187)
The Wolverine claws and butterflies are particularly good gets as they work brilliantly well as pine needles and leaves, respectively.  The quantities present in 10373 Mini Bonsai Trees far surpass any other sets which contain them. 

Along with the other foliage elements and parts in brown, tan, and dark tan, this set makes a very good parts pack for those interested in building horticultural creations. 

Build experience


instruction booklets for lego set 10373

Each tree has a dedicated instruction booklet, so the build experience can be enjoyed as a group, or easily split over multiple sessions.


two construction shots showing how the pots are made, which are square with quarter circle recesses on the corners. The second pic shows a plant being attached: it has two clips pointing downward, which attach to two parallel bars in the middle of the pot

The trees are planted in identical pots, which helps bring the models together as one cohesive trio.

While not the most elaborate pot design in the LEGO Botanicals range, they still offer a novel connection between trunk and pot using bars and clips. This setup allows for some clever SNOT techniques in the trunks, adding some extra visual interest to the trees.


2 construction pics of the Black Pine. One shows identical bunches of leaves constructed and waiting to be attached; the other shows the bare branches

It wouldn't be a LEGO Botanicals set without a little repetition! Each tree has branches for 12 subunits of foliage to be attached, assembling which can get a little repetitive. 

The Black Pine might be the worst offender requiring 72 green wolverine claws to be pushed into stud holes. The patience is worth it however, as we'll see in the finished model...


a high and a low lego dai table. One has a frog on it

The kit comes with a selection of pedestals (or dai) on which to display the finished bonsai. The designers have included an olive frog hiding in one of the tables, most likely an homage to the original 10281 Bonsai Tree which famously used 100 pink frogs as sakura blossoms!

Finished models

side view of the Lego ginkgo, black pine, and wisteria from Mini Bonsai Trees

The fully assembled kit provides a beautiful triptych of trees.


a higher view of the Lego bonsai black pine, ginkgo, and wisteria

I think the models are best viewed in profile but they can be admired from any angle.


3 views of each of the 3 plants in Botanical Lego set 10373

Since all three trees share a common connection point for attaching the foliage sub-assemblies, the leaves can be swapped between trunks. Above are the nine possible trunk-and-foliage combinations. Combined with the option to display each tree on a high or low table—or without a table at all—there are 27 total display possibilities.

The original 10281 Bonsai Tree provided just 2 foliage options and encouraged builders to individualize their models by pruning and adjusting the positions of the leaves. The instruction booklet also provided inspiration for supplementing the base trunk with brick from your own collection to build a more unique tree. 10373 Mini Bonsai Trees takes the concept to the next level with everything you need in the box to provide a truly customizable experience.

Closing thoughts

The LEGO Botanicals collection is indeed flourishing. The finished bonsai trees are beautiful models which, much like the recent 10348 Japanese Red Maple Bonsai Tree which Ben Davies reviewed for us, balance the look of the real world tree and playful LEGO exaggeration very well.

The build experience is what one would expect from the LEGO Botanicals: a mixture of interesting parts usage and techniques, and a touch of repetitive building which culminates in a charming display model. 

From a price per part perspective, 709 pieces for the price of US$69.99/ £54.99/ 69.99€/ AU$99.99 seems pretty average, but perhaps better value for money than some other LEGO Botanicals sets like the aforementioned 10348 Japanese Red Maple Bonsai Tree which contains just 474 parts for the same price. The parts are generally on the small side so it isn't a large volume of parts for the money, however the parts selection is pretty diverse with lots of small, useful, and unusual elements to include in MOCs, so you'll get a lot out of the model even if you tire of displaying it. Of these parts, I'm particularly pleased with the collection of foliage elements like the butterflies and Wolverine claws.

READ MORE: Every new piece included in the LEGO® Technic range launching Friday 1 August

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