Metanoios

I used the longer Dumbledore hair for my version of Aberforth and the dark brown Luke torso from the Advent Calendar. It would be so cool if they made a goat patronus for him in the Hogsmeade set, which would mean they could bring the regular goat back in sets as well

The new "smokey" leg attachment piece in the Hidden Side castle could be used as a recolour (black with trans-black instead of trans-blue) in the Diagon Alley set or the (not confirmed) Ministry battle set for the Death Eaters or in the next wave for a flying Voldemort

I experimented with some different beard colors and beard types with the new viking helmet:

I really like the new sets. The designers did a fantastic job with their budget and design restraints. As soon as I get the Room of Requirement set I'm gonna modify the mechanical Death Eater training dummy though. Also since we aren't gonna get Ginny in her Christmas party outfit in the Astronomy Tower I'm gonna add my custom version:

It's another weird angle. The bed is 4x6 large, meaning it's bigger than the dorm room beds

There is a tan 1x1 plate next to 1x4 dark tan plate directly above or below the masonry bricks which you think are new 1x1s. Count the studs on the plates in connection with the bricks. These are 1x2 masonry bricks 100%

No it's just the angle of the render. Look for the plates. It's definitely 2x1

You mean in dark tan? That one on the front is a 1x2 but it is built into the side wall. I'm not seeing anything else that could be a 1x1

New pics are available, for example on Promobricks (higher quality and back of box etc.). The Mino-Monster acutally does have new pieces on the shoulders and head

It's interesting that the knight and grey statue leaked figures come in the other sets and not the castle. Which means except for the (kind of bad) white ghost we haven't seen any figure leaks for the castle yet. Although the knight could also come as a repeat in the castle

At least the leakers got their priorities straight. The new DOTS wave is so much more appealling than stupid wizard or even space wizard (Star Wars) toys. (heavy sarcasam)

Maybe you should overthink your Discord servers then, because they probably have a mole in them when the notification happened before the pictures hit Instagram

These sets are primarily designed for kids. You can see it on the box where it says 6+ or 10+. A line with the traditional Journey to the West with buildings of temples and scenery would be for adults. But you can't tell me mechs and trucks with play functions are for an older demographic. Look at the modulars, UCS sets or the new helmet busts. Those are purely display pieces and therefore 18+. Chinese parents in certain demographics and cities are more well off than the standard American consumer, I grant you that, and will buy more expensive toys for their one kid.

Because some of the specialised pieces require new moulds and they wouldn't buy them for every factory because they amortize only at certain (large) quantities. I'm not saying that every part is produced in China. For example a white 1x4 brick is produced in Mexico, Hungary and China. But the new specialised pieces and printed pieces are not produced at every factory because you have to reconfigure the assembly line or buy specific new equipment. That is why the medium legs for the normal retailer Harry Potter sets were unprinted because only the factory in China has the equipment and assembly line to print on them. They can be moulded in Mexico but not printed. China produces the CMF (with printed medium legs and dual molded printed arms & legs). Let's take Pygsy's new printed medium legs for example. This part has to be produced in China. Same goes for the parts of the Monkey King or Mei's and Monkie Kid's printed hair piece. As to the currency conversion that was my initial assumption as well, but PenPlays mentioned a source saying those prices were real Dollar prices, so the hypothesis about the price increase for the US due to the tariffs made more sense, if we take the veracity of the source for granted. I questioned Falconfan about the currency conversion on Instagram but he has since deleted his post with the prices and has not responded yet.

Read this article about tariffs and the inital delay in the NYT, where Lego is mentioned alongside Mattel and Hasbro: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/us/politics/china-tariffs-toys.html The tariffs concerning toys went into effect December 2019 and the Chinese New Year sets were released in January 2020. You are right that there are some price differences but normally not more than 10 $. in the case of 80105 it's 20$. If we use this price difference on the bigger Monkie kid sets, the resulting prices are much more reasonable for the part counts and normal price per piece ratios. Concerning the supply chain: This line is designed for the Chinese market and will therefore be produced mainly in China at Lego's biggest plant that was built exactly for the purpose of gearing up sales in the Chinese market. It is cheaper to ship a few thousand sets to America and Europe than millions of sets from Mexico or Hungary to China.

So the prices are from an American retailer or Lego Store employee then, not converted from the listings of the Honk Kong toy store? There was some weird pricing going on with the Chinese New Year sets (119,99 $ US vs 99,99 €). The prices might still differ from region to region. Furthermore is this source confirming that normal retailers in the US and Europe get these sets? I was under the impression these would remain Lego store exclusives, which would mean normal sources for these prices wouldn't be available and the prices would have been leaked from a Lego employee The price increase on the US market for the Chinese exclusives (or rather sets produced exclusively in China) like 80104, 80105 and the Monkie Kid line could be the consequence of Trump's tariffs on imported Chinese products.

It could be Tom the Innkeeper from the Leaky Cauldron

Pigsy has printed medium legs by the way (first time outside of CMF)

The first arc of the animated series is about protecting the city and civilians from the invasion of the Demon Bull (Mech) King's army and the evil demon sorceress behind him (Princess Iron Fan). It's nice to have a few screaming and running civilians to complete the scene

It's google translated from Chinese because most of the current leaks and pics are from a Honk Kong toy store

Most well-off Chinese like exclusivity in a premium product. The same goes for cars with Americans or Europeans for example. This is a commonly used marketing strategy. The psychology behind it, is also the reason why there exist "limited" editions and con exclusives. It is to bolster your brand through exclusivity. This also apllies to a new and fresh theme especially for the Chinese

It is needed to capitalize on the Chinese market. Ninjago doesn't sell well over there but the hope is that a Chinese IP does

The prices on Instagram are probably wrong because the leakers just found the sets with the prices at the site of a Hong Kong toy store and applied the current conversion rate to US Dollars. But Lego is priced higher in China due to a different tax system. Normal Ninjago sets like Unagami's temple (71712) cost over 90 US Dollars there (if you convert it directly), but around here it's just 79,99 $ US/€. So the cheapest set in the monkey kid wave would be less than 30 $...

Great job!

I applied the stickers for sets 4565, 4532 and 4552 (some of the old 9 V train stuff from 1996) as a kid during Cristmas 97. All stickers are still on there with no peeling to this day. That's over 20 years. Those stickers are clear-backed. But also the paper ones that came with some of the first Prequel Trilogy Star Wars sets (like 7256 from 2005 which I hold in my hand as I write this) are still good (15 years). Same with the sticker in 4702 Harry Potter The final Challenge which is made of a thicker material. I did play with all those sets when I was a kid and then stored them for a long time during my dark ages. I am an engineer and have to deal with quality issues on a regular basis. Environmental and thermal conditions play a big role when it comes to long-term stability of adhesives. Edit: Concerning the cracks and disintegration of the paper: Did you by any chance leave your sets with the stickers in a room with prolonged exposure by direct sunlight through a window?