Those retaining wall blocks are THE classic thing to use for a stable and permanent retaining wall. Since they never budge, they are always tidy (no "straightening them up".)
I think they are heavier than I need for my little 8"-16" above-ground semi-raised beds. Instead of putting 10-15 in the trunk of my car, my suspe4nsion might only be happy with 4-5. And I can easily carry 1-3 of my little pavers, in my arms. Those "real" blocks look like I would struggle with just one.
Maybe over ten years, my little leaners would bow outwards and NEED to be tweaked back into alignment (like by shoveling a little soil away from the inner edge of each, and leaning it 15 degrees "IN", instead of a random amount "OUT". But over those ten years, I expect to have fiddled with them 2-5 times, re-aligning as needed.
Also, in my yard, it's a big deal that the "real" retaining wall blocks are 6-8" deep. That takes up a whole square foot of bed space for every 1.5 feet or two feet of wall length. When I use my concrete-paving-stones-stood-on-end, I save all but 3/4" or 1" of that 6-8" wall width.
My yard is tiny and my scattered beds are even tinier. Every square foot that gets sun is precious!
