Denmarks

This mainly concerns the Christmas Penguin set 40498. If you will look at step 9 you will see what looks like a snowflake. Each edge has a hinge so it can be folded up. Step 10 completely covers it up and it is never opened again. Why is it there? Is that pretty common in sets?

I have trouble distinguishing small parts in the part count for the step. For example one that is blue may look black. I find that the assembly picture has better colors and I am usually able to tell the difference. There have been times late in the build where I did not have a part but found that I used it in the wrong place.

The manual will indicate how many bag numbers are in the set. The problem is that there can be 1 or 2 (or more) of each number. It would be nice to see the count in the manual so you can immediately tell is one is missing. I assume there is a limit to the number of parts in a bag therefore a second must be used. Has anyone ever seen a third (or higher) bag with the same number?