Northern Lights Diorama

"With a BrickScore of 67.4, the Northern Lights Diorama is a pretty shelf piece hampered by a repetitive build and a design that sits uneasily alongside its series siblings — worth grabbing if the €150 spend threshold fits your plans, but it's the weakest entry in the Wonders of Nature quartet."

The Northern Lights Diorama (40785) earns cautious praise as a visually attractive GWP with some standout special parts, but reviewers consistently flag its repetitive build and its awkward fit as the fourth entry in the Wonders of Nature series. The aurora colors, glow-in-the-dark moon, and blacklight effect win admirers, while critics point to a monotonous construction process, a checkerboard-like reflection floor, a back wall that breaks series consistency, and a noticeable absence of any animal or fauna elements found in its three predecessors. Sentiment splits between those who find the serene night-sky composition charming and those who feel it fails to deliver on its Northern Lights premise.

Where they split: Jay's Brick Blog called it their personal favourite of the series despite its faults, while Bouwsteentjes gave it the lowest expert score and considered it a thematic disappointment. One LEGO.com reviewer reported no one they showed it to could identify what it was meant to depict, while another (who lives far enough north to see real auroras) found it a convincing mini-representation. Notably, Jay's felt no animals were needed at this scale, whereas both Zusammengebaut and Bouwsteentjes specifically lamented the absence of even a single reindeer or polar animal.