Review: Malaysia LEGO Cultural Mini-Build Bunga Raya

Sunday, May 28th, 2017 by Brickfinder

The LEGO Bunga Raya (Celebratory Flower), is the first set that is redeemable during Malaysia’s Cities of Wonders campaign.

This is actually Malaysia’s national flower and the words “Bunga Raya” literally means “Celebratory Flower” but it is better known in the western world as the Hibiscus. The word “Bunga” in Malay means “Flower” and the word “Raya” means “celebratory” or “grand”

It comes in a very nice bright yellow tuck top box with the Cities of Wonders key graphic plastered on the front. It flips open to reveal the instruction sheet and a zip lock bag with all the necessary elements.

The box is really lovely and it seems that it is only for Malaysia at the moment as the Singapore campaign has theirs packed in just the ziplock bags.

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Build Experience

The set consists of 133pcs and it took close to 20 minutes to complete the flower model which was a bit longer than I had anticipated for a model this size.

It is not because that there are intricate techniques involved or that there were a lot of elements but because the instructions included were not completely clear.

Granted they had to find a way to fit a set of instructions for a 133pcs build within two pages and in doing so, they reduce the number of steps in the process.

There are parts of the build where you have to figure out which element goes where as there are several steps compressed into one.

Take for example the first couple of steps, the plates are laid out all in a row and then the very next step shows us the layer on top which ‘braces’ the elements below but it does it all at once.

Intermediate builders might be able to it figure out the process with ease but for a novice or someone new to LEGO, this could prove challenging. I feel that the instructions could have been a lot clearer if the steps were broken down even further instead.

There are parts of the build which are very fragile and falls off easily because certain sections are just held by one or two studs.

It is only at the end when the base of the petal connects everything that it becomes a bit more stable but it is still not by much.

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Design

The LEGO Bunga Raya was inspired by AFOL builder and LOM (LUG of Malaysia) member, Wing Yew. That design was then modified by Nicholas Foo, Singapore’s only LEGO Certified Professional for public release.

The main characteristics the Hibiscus flower translated over nicely with the curve petals and the vertical stamen.

The resultant build is stable enough to be place on the table for display and it looks lovely on a desk but I would not move it too much as the stamen can fall off quite easily and if you add a bit of pressure to the petal edge, some plates might get dislodged.

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Conclusion

This was clearly designed to be a display piece as it looks and feels just as delicate as a real flower. From a builder stand point, the selection of tiles, curve slopes and plates are pretty good considering it is a Gift-with-Purchase.

The Malaysia LEGO Cultural Mini-Build is redeemable at the Cities of Wonders event when you spend a minimum of RM300 on any LEGO products at the Pavillion KL shopping mall. If you are the first 150 customers to redeem it, it will only cost you RM200.

Pros:

• Decorative display piece
• Good selection of LEGO elements
• Reasonable redemption mechanic

Cons:

• Fragile build
• For intermediate builders and above

Now that I’ve done the first one, I can’t wait to start on the next one in the series which will be the Rumah Kampun mini-build!

A sincere thank you to LEGO Malaysia for sending me this set to review. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in this review do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the LEGO Group. Review sets sent in does not guarantee a positive review.

Also a big thank you to fan designers Wing Yew and LEGO Certified Professional Nicholas Foo for their work on this set.

One response to “Review: Malaysia LEGO Cultural Mini-Build Bunga Raya”

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