2020 Chinese New Year sets will be available to all
Posted by Huw,
LEGO has just announced two sets that are being released to celebrate the next Chinese New Year:
Celebrate the Chinese New Year with LEGO Lion Dance and Traditional Temple Fair
Today, the LEGO Group revealed its 2020 Chinese New Year sets - 80104 Lion Dance and 80105 Chinese New Year Temple Fair. The launch follows on from this year’s popular sets: 80101 Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner, 80102 Dragon Dance and 80103 Dragon Boat Race, the first LEGO products created to mark the festivities. [This is not true -- Huw]
The Lion Dance set vividly reproduces a well-loved scene of the Spring Festival and is sure to evoke fond memories of the traditional festival. The set features 5 beautifully decorated small lion figurines and a percussionists’ stage with an awesome drumming function.
An accompanying temple gate is decorated with LEGO tiles featuring traditional patterns. The set also comes complete with 8 minifigures including lion dancers and a man in rat costume to mark the Year of the Rat. Additional accessory elements such as the red ‘best wishes’ scroll, red orb, cabbage, calligraphy brush and a rocket firework are included to inspire unlimited role-play.
The Chinese New Year Temple Fair set captures a beloved event often seen in towns and cities throughout China around the lunar new year. The set includes stalls displaying a vast, colourful array of LEGO versions of authentic items you would find at a Temple Fair. Everything from barbecue dishes to candy, toys, vases and dough figurines are lovingly re-created ion LEGO form. The set also includes 14 minifigures. Eagle-eyed LEGO fans will notice that the family from last year’s Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner set make an appearance, continuing the story of their Spring Festival celebrations.
LEGO product designer Markus Rollbühler, designed the sets to be as authentic as possible: “We were incredibly thorough with our research when designing the sets. For the Chinese New Year Temple Fair, we looked closely at the types of things vendors sell in the market stalls and all of the various goods on offer.”
It was also important that children could act out scenes to make the sets come alive: “Both sets include amazing minifigures and details to encourage role play. The Lion Dance set comes with many interesting play features. For example, you can fully pose the lions and you can also open and close their mouths to help recreate the spectacular dances we all know and love.” Markus explains.
The two new LEGO Chinese Traditional Festival models will be ready to discover in China and Asia Pacific markets from December 26, 2019 and the rest of the world from January 10, 2020.
So, LEGO is being true to its word of no more regional exclusives.
We've been given one price, £64.99 / $79.99, so I'm not sure if that is the price of one or both of them. If both, then 80105 Temple Fair, with 13 minifigs and a baby, will be bargain!
Nice one, Markus!
Here's a video that shows just how awesome they are:
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89 comments on this article
Instant buy.
Well done LEGO for continuation of CNY sets and for some awesome builds!
Agreed - lovely work!
Markus Rollbühler bringing his "A" game! They are beautiful sets, and I look forward to getting them. I wonder if LEGO would ever do a re-release of last year's sets?
The sets look great! I'm thinking they would complement NINJAGO's 70670 Monastery of Spinjitzu very nicely.
A "Maybe" is lacking in the poll options.
These are very good. Nice uses of colors and cool parts. A bit expensive, but nice to know these will be available world wide. I do wonder... it looks like on the lions that minifigure legs are connected directly to a brick. This is a cheat I've used before, but has it ever been done before in an official set?
Those lions are great. And maybe a little bananas, in a good way. I won't be buying these sets as I'm not that big on the CNY festivities, but I know people where I live will be gobbling these up as usual.
@xccj: As early as 2001 Alpha Team with Tee Vee https://brickset.com/minifigs/alp007/tee-vee, and I bet even earlier, but that's the earliest I own and recall off the top of my head. Such a unique character. He's also one of my all-time favorite minifigs for this reason. They turned him back into a regular, boring minifig in Mission Deep Freeze.
Is this the first time an official set has attached minifig legs to a brick like that (on the lions)? Its super weird seeing that in an official product. Anyway, absolutely love these sets and Im so glad they'll actually be available this time.
That Temple Fair set is AMAZING. But then, the other is incredible too. Wow.
Instant buy.
@TomKazutara: I'm guessing it's because far more people celebrate Chinese New Year than like dinosaur fossils (fossils! Not even toy dinosaurs).
The rat costume’s hood piece bodes well for a mouse costume guy CMF.
@magmafrost
Legs attached to bricks has been done in official sets. You may want to check out TeeVee of alpha team (see for example 6775)
Great sets.
Pretty sure I count 13 figs and a baby in the picture
They are truly beautiful, I'm stunned! defiantly a first day buy
Omg! they’re both beautiful!! I can’t believe this is true. Every city now gets a authentic China town. Very well done!!
Due to the price I wont buy it.. but wow... it's a beautiful set very detailed and will sell quite well I think, well done lego!!
They look absolutely gorgeous, amazing. Colors, details, minifigs, theme. All is good there to me. Hope I'll be able to get them all. Gorgeous.
As an AFOL from China I LOVE the lion dance set sooooo much! But it's a pity that dancers cannot be fitted inside. Definitely need to buy and find a way to fix it lol
No more regional exclusives? Then can someone tell me where I can get those recent seasonal vignettes.
The details and overall look of these sets are phenomenal, but its not a 'theme' that interests me. I'm rather jealous of the effort and quality put into this. I wish the winter village line could be given the same treatment- they're beginning to stagnate somewhat.
These look fantastic! I've been working on a Chinatown for a while now and can't wait to add these to it :)
OMG, the level of detail is just crazy!
These sets look great. Very well designed and presented. Definitely pick these up to go with the dragon boat race from last year.
There is also a good designer interview video for these sets aswell that shows these in greater detail.
Absolutely gorgeous.
The lions are awesome . Straight away I could see them dancing & hear the clashing musice in my head.
Straight on to the wishlist
I'm not a big fan of the subtheme (not a fan at all actually). But depending on it's price I might pick up the bigger set of the 2 for the parts
The detail in the temple set, the food stands, the fireworks, the red pumkins for paper lanters, are all incredible details. But I've got a feeling that set is going to be really expensive.
But if the price quoted is for the lion dancers, that's still pretty good value and a gorgeous set. A little bit of a shame there are no children in this one, as that little girl's pigtail hairpiece is great. But with five lions, the gate, the display stand, and those drummers, it looks like a pretty good second-choice to me.
Love these sets! Very glad regional exclusives have stopped so I can pick these up, though I’m still sad about the dragon dance and dinner sets from this year.
@TomKatzura- I don’t think you realize that every theme has its own budget. Speed Champions cars are insanely detailed and require stickers, so they choose to sticker everything and print nothing. Clearly, the budget is higher for this CNY sets and it’s not hard to see why- LEGO wants more of an influence in China and wants to beat out Lepin, so they’ll pour their heart and soul into making great CNY exclusives to attract new buyers. I’m certainly not complaining.
Those sets are totally awesome.
And kudos to LEGO for keeping their promise that these won't be regional exclusives.
Was the reference to the family from this year's set included in the same press release that denied those sets exist?
Really nice.
Both sets look absolutely stunning!
I might get the Temple Fair set. It looks beautiful and seems like a good parts pack as well (especially those white ingots, hope those will be included in more sets).
Lego: Printing is expensive!!!!!! No a lot of prints in big sets!!!
Also Lego: Puts a lot of printings in 80$ set
These are amazing, love the guardians! SO CUTE!
I'm Chinese myself and think this is cool, but personally I mostly get lego for the more unrealistic stuff so it's not for me, but great for people that love the more earth-bound elements. I do agree that lego going all in on the prints and stuff is annoying when so many other sets are full of stickers. i cant stand stickers (OCPD and i cant get them absolutely perfect) and would love to see similar quality prints in SW and other themes
@TomKazutara : you can, but nobody here will listen. Trust me, I tried many times. ;-)
I love the "This is not true--Huw". Sometimes fans know more than the manufacturer) These sets are very cool, but I can only have them on discount.
A blue brick separator too.. is that the first time they have deviated away from the orange?
Magnificent!
These look amazing. Now if we could only get a worldwide release of last year's Chinese New Years Eve Dinner...
These are AMAZING!! Day one purchase for sure!!! And in multiples!
These look spectacular!
Wow, really like the use of that new pumpkin piece in red as lanterns and those white printed porg head pieces in one of the stalls. I'll hopefully be getting both of these!
@dmcmonagle there are other ones with the teal brick separator, i know i got one, maybe from the steamboat willie set?
Temple of light?
@dmcmonagle and @SilveR96: actually, quite a few sets now contain this new teal brick separator:
https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-6254100
There was also a green one, available in 10232 Palace Cinema
It's funny, at Lego, Chinese new year = food spoiled and vomit guaranteed (a face vomited on each set).
I think that will annoy and displease the Chinese ...
https://www.hothbricks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/80104-lego-chinese-new-year-lion-dance-minifigures.jpg
https://www.hothbricks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/80104-lego-chinese-new-year-lion-dance-minifigures.jpg
OMG so much want!!
Must. Have. Both.
I believe the $80 price tag USD is for the temple set. I believe the other will be in the $50 USD range. Or so I have have rumored around the web.
It just occured to me that this is probably why we don't have Winnie the Pooh in the Disney CMF line... China, lovely culture and history. Terrible modern totalitarianism...
Ah!! I will need these!
WOW Chinese New Year Temple Fair is so amazing, I love it. And price 80$ seems like a bit to high for lions and a bit too cheap for Fair imo.
These are awesome!!!
Those are beautiful and look to be chock full of lots of lovely pieces in new colours.
I will definitely be buying Temple Fair. VERY glad the whole "exclusive to APAC" annoyance is over.
These are amazing. I’ve got 2 of 3 of last years sets and still working to get that last set, but THESE? So thrilled they will be easier gets. I’m in.
The last week or so I’ve been completely thrilled with what I’ve seen coming out of TLG. I’m a happy middle-aged little boy...
Missing CCTVs in these sets...
I'm still waiting for 80102 Dragon Dance! Give it to me!
I really like the look of these sets, which like last year's look fantastic! I see some fantastic recolored parts, many of which will hopefully also appear in other sets for next year.
@TomKazutara: Ideas sets are produced in much smaller quantities (at least initially) than more regular releases, and as a result get smaller budgets. That's a big part of why they sometimes have fewer recolors and avoid new molds altogether.
Also, in regards to Speed Champions not having printed logos—I actually remember a period when Lego apparently had a specific policy against printing other companies' logos on their bricks, presumably out of fear of brand confusion especially in used lots. They've clearly relaxed that policy somewhat since then with certain logos like the Volkswagen or Mercedes logos being printed on parts, but I'm not certain exactly what limits, if any, remain standing. Another possible factor is that, as with any licensed theme, part of the budget for that theme goes toward acquiring the licensing rights themselves. Speed Champions in particular has the unique challenge of requiring separate licenses for a wide variety of auto manufacturers, rather than being able to license franchise and character rights for a movie or TV show as one complete package deal.
Ah-freaking-mazing! I love, love, love! the small lion dance set. I loved that as a kid. I need these all now!
I like them both, but my purchase really depends on the price. If the Temple is the $80 one, then I'll probably get both. If the Lion Dance is, then I don't know, it seems high.
Oh wow. Oh yes. There is so much to comment on! Most excited for those printed tiles under the roofs, though. Just perfect.
I've been looking for display sets, but couldn't quite pull the trigger on anything...this changes things.
These designs are fabulous! It's sad that all those Chinese counterfeiters could have come up with sets like these for local fans all these years, and instead put all their efforts into copying other LEGO sets. At least now their counterfeiting will be even more popular at home!
@speshy
The "legal knockoff" Xingbao makes Chinese modulars.
No way is that Temple the set that £65 / $80 refers to. That has to be the Lions.
There are lots of recolours for elements I notice (besides minifig & prints):
White bananas, Teal 1x1 w/ curved top, Dark Azure 1x2 plate w/ handles, Red Pumpkin, Red Scarf, Orange & Magenta Statuette/Trophy (microfigure), Tan 1x1 round plate with bar, Orange Plume feather w/ pin, Dark Red wheel (for the drum), White Frog, Pearl Gold hot dog/sausage, Bright Green 1x1 plate w/clip
What else?
These are really fun. I was among the few that wasn't terribly interested in last year's Lunar sets, but these look more useful and versatile. Like, an instant celebration in your Lego city town square in a box. :D
I will buy for sure the Temple Fair.
These really look quite amazing, and are some of the best looking sets I've seen from Lego in a while.
Great two sets!
The effort put into the design is great!
Temple set is 99.99€ according to Hoth Bricks
These sets are both gorgeous, and excellently priced for the size of the sets and large Minifigure counts.
With these sets, I wonder why, instead of heavily drawing on odd IPs, why not introduce a world cultures/travel theme--in minifig scale? I think it would be quite neat!
@dmcmonagle the blue green brick separator has been included in several large sets this past year. I have at least one already.
I'm really liking the Temple Fair set so hopefully will be able to get it at a discount at some point. There are some great pieces in the set and I'm a fan of sets that have lots of people.
I’ll take their entire stock!
I really hope I can get these to work on Asian Architecture in my MOCs.
A completionist's nightmare. Still have to spend big $$$ to get those first two exclusive sets. Not sure I'm going down that rabbit hole.
The little "that's not true" from Huw is hilarious!
As with the last wave, both of these are gorgeous and I'd love to get my hands on them, however there are still quite a few themes I'm behind on that take priority. Hopefully I'll get around to 'em one day!
Excellent value. Can’t wait until both of them come out. Better get my wallet ready...
I think that TLG is still correct when they say that these recent sets are the first to mark the festivities, depending on how you read it. Whilst there have been sets previously of large Chinese - style animals named "Year of the [insert animal here]", these are the first ones that are specifically the festivities, such as the dragon boat race and the New Year's eve dinner, rather than just an animal to celebrate the new year.
I think it's kind of interesting that one of the minifigures has a banana on his shirt. I'm guessing it's just a coincidence, but Asians who "act Caucasian" are sometimes referred to as a banana (yellow on the outside, white on the inside). I'm not sure if this is an American thing only.
As an Asian-American, I'm not offended by this, nor do I think it will be controversial, but it's the first thing I thought of when I saw it.
@spacysmoke : a "banana"?
Glad you are not offended by it, but it sure sounds a bit derogatory or even racist to me.
I know for a fact that - especially in the current climate with right-wing parties being highly successful in elections - something like this over here would cause a nationwide outcry.
Great looking sets IMO!
According to https://www.bouwsteentjes.info set 80104 Lion Dance contains 882 parts and will cost €74,99 (BE and NL price).
Set 80105 Chinese New Year Temple Fair contains 1664 parts and will cost €99,99 (BE and NL price).
I personally think these prices -if true- are pretty fair for what you’ll get. (The owner of bouwsteentjes.info is a LEGO ambassador so I assume the info is correct.)
@Lyichir The Mustang icon was also printed on the 1968 Fastback Speed Champions set
I suspect hose lions heads and temple will find an use on MOC but it is a shame that the first two CNY sets are still regional exclusives to my knowledge.
@TimTam22 That was my interpretation of the statement as well... Cue Obi-wan, "Everything I said was true, from a certain point of view".
@AustinPowers It's mostly a term used by Asians against other Asians, so I wouldn't really say it's racist. Some people might also self-identify as a "banana" so it's not totally loaded with negativity unless used that way on purpose.
Conversely, a more naturalized Asian living in a non-Asian country might call another Asian a F.O.B. (Fresh Off the Boat) if they have a thick Asian accent or still dress as they would as in their country of origin. Again, this may just be an Asian-American thing.
@spacysmoke: thanks for the heads-up. Interesting to know.
One from Nigeria ask to "click this link". I don't think so. Hashtag scepticbynature
I definitely want these sets to go with my Ninjago city sets and the Temple of Airjitsu surrounded by two Monastery of Spinjitsu sets. :)
Heard from the supplier that this set will cost MYR550, around 220% the price of the DragonBoat set
Really hope Lego can listen to us and provide a base plate to keep the pieces organized
These are great looking sets and I would love to have them as part of my collection. My hope is that with these LEGO finally releases the other two sets worldwide.