^® Japanese Red Maple Bonsai Tree - 10348

A pretty monotonous build. The planter pot is symmetrical on both sides so that was a bit lame. The tree trunk itself is neat to build, but the branches are all designed the same; there are 5 branches in all, and each branch has 2 main leaf branches and 1 cover leaf branch. The 2 main leaf branches are mirrors of each other, as are all the cover leaf branches, so when building the branches, you're building 10 of the same thing over and over again for the main leaf branches, and 5 of the cover branches the same. It was a bit boring to say the least, and I was looking forward to being done. Another disappointing aspect is that the main branches of the tree can't be moved and the design was meant to be viewed from the front. So if you're looking at it from the front head-on, it looks good, but looking at it at other angles and the tree looks disproportionate or looks like branches are missing. Being able to move the branches up or down or side to side would have been a great featrue and one that I don't think wouldn't have been too hard to make instead of fixed branches. Lastly, the pieces that hold the colored leaves onto the tree are gray in color. This doesn't make any sense, as the tree trunk and branches are a light brown or tan color. It makes no sense that these pieces would be gray. It's almost like not making them the same color was an oversight and an obvious mistake. The finished tree itself has great colors when viewed from a few steps back and it helps that I can't kill it, as I've already killed 2 real bonsai trees I've tried to grow. A cool enough finished product but could have been a lot better.