Review: 41688 Magical Caravan

Passing by a Magical Caravan near the Funfair, Mia is interested in getting her fortune told by the traveling medium named Claire.

Mia had her face painted by Emma at the entrance (41687) of the Magical Funfair. A pink shimmery spade with matching eye feather plume to go with her top. The gold netting and purple graphics extend around to back printing. Teal pants are an interesting color choice; her dark purple boots with stardust tie the outfit together.

This is probably the first time she's had a different hair style in 10 years -- other than the recolor from dark red to bright red, it's been a ponytail. This hair piece is rubbery and of the same style mold as used by other sets, although hers is the only one in this color.
This is also a very different expressive face for Mia -- as she's usually very confident. Here she seems unsure about herself.


Claire's Owl is white with bright yellow chest feathers, beak and eyes. It would be fun if it were "white glow" like several other pieces this wave -- yet still wonderful. Especially in a purple magic top hat!


Claire's horse is white with black speckles -- one appearing as a heart on its left hind leg. The black mane and tail are rubbery on the hard plastic body of this integrated dual mold. The neck movement feature began in 2021 on many mini-doll horses.


A 4x4 black conical wheel block forms the turning function for Claire's crystal ball. The 8x8 1/2 circle plate as the base is rare in magenta.
You can see that the 2 tan gear pieces with meet up perpendicular and interlock to turn the knob on the top of the dark tan cross axle Technic piece.


Connecting to the knob for turning action is the oracle of the crystal ball, which is a white glow, 2-sided mini head and unique to this set. Sad future or happy forecast?


Once attached, the oracle head gets and actual Crystal Ball dome piece over it. The voodoo ball that turns the top sphere of magical properties is also glow-in-the-dark "white glow" and rare.
The 2x2x5 1/4 circle wall pieces used as tent sides is rare in dark purple.


The shimmery 'spinning' sphere under a clear globe canopy piece makes a great visual to beckon fair goers over to this area. The shiny placard sign makes no mistake this is a Fortune Teller's tent. It is lovely. An all-seeing eye greets customers as they enter through the Teal archway. That 1x6x7 wall with arch is rare in Teal and only otherwise in Andrea's Family House.

With everything bag 1 builds, the horse has its harness attached and we get a spare Teacup.


Beginning to build the caravan trailer for Claire we use 2 rare cool yellow 1x2s with outside half-bow on her sofa/bed.
Speaking of outside ... we build a 'hidden' outhouse toilet right here in the caravan! Awesome! Friends have the best bathrooms and toilets!


The hidden toilet color is a Lavender sticker of a wooden moon cutout like an outhouse door design.
The sofa and floor fabric stickers also have a shimmery foil light-casting color change to them.
Stove top with oven, water spigot and flowering plant are also installed.


All the colors blended with black and white elements match with the rest of the Magical Funfair. Keeping with traditional gypsy caravans, the gold lattice shutters against teal is perfect with purple and magenta.
The magenta 4x4 plate with 45-degree corner over the stove exhaust pipe leading from the oven was newly recolored for this set. The small parts spares from bag 2 are typical.


Claire, the fortune teller is clairvoyant :-) She is new for the magical funfair sub-theme and has a beautiful amulet on her forehead. Her medium azure hair is a rubbery type in the same mold as Disney's Belle.
Her magenta, gold and white winged motif outfit is a lovely connection to her owl. It also reminds me of the LEGO Elves theme, as the angled skirt originated there. Her magenta sandals with gold medallion tie it all together.

The printing extends to her back and she gets a waist cape. It's foil-shiny colorful on one side and magenta on the other. It's quite thick and papery, which makes it hard to pose. I tried curling it gently (like one does with ribbon), yet it stays mostly horizontal.

She has her magic cards -- which is a new printed tile for this sub-theme. She can work the entrance booth too.


A few small details of the caravan get added before we build the roof section with bag 3 parts.
Matching gold lattice and teal windows form the opening side, along with black and white striped curved canopy type roof. The white glow 1x4 bricks with bow are rare. They add fun to the magic of this set!


Attaching the roof has the black and white "nubs" line up with the holed hinge bricks to forma cohesive line. It opens smoothly, stays up, yet closes fine too.
It really has a classic gypsy overall look with its curvy design and bright colors.


The hanging lantern, exhaust pipe chimney, and gold wagon wheels add charm. The curtains are stickers -- which I was first wondering why not brick sloped like the dark purple, yet they are shiny foil type and are beautiful in person. The stars twinkle!


The front has a huge cool yellow star with teal heart above the Lavender foothold. Flanked by gold and magenta flags, it's certain to draw attention.


The roof really does glow in the dark, which makes for a super play feature! I would have loved this as a kid. After absorbing light all day, the glow would be fun under a play tent in the dark.
The pretty horse's harness attaches with ball and socket -- ready to travel. Spares include a Teal heart!


Mia is ready for her fortune to be told. What will the oracle reveal to Claire? Or, has she read the cards instead? An inquisitive Owl wants to know how many readings will it take for Mia to get her confidence back!


Box front shows the rest of the Magical Funfair in the background ... with the setting sun. Perfect for glow-in-the-dark creations!
The upper right BFF heart with core 5 Friends in their funfair outfits is probably my favorite of all time.

The side curvy waistline flanges have the scene continued a bit. The trees with small white lights near the forest really adds to the magical feel.


The BFF heart inset on the box cover upper right will be the last for LEGO Friends, beginning in 2022. I'm sad that a heart motif dissuaded anyone from building these wonderful sets.
Mia in a Jester hat cracks me up.


Box back shows scenes with Claire arriving in her Magical Caravan. Box contains 3 parts bags, instructions book and stickers. Many rare parts have been highlighted here; for a list of all the parts, visit LEGO's instructions site and the last pages of the book.


After a busy day at the Magical Funfair, Claire unhitches her horse for a rest by a tree.


Shiny foil stickers are somewhat hard to photograph under lights, as the shimmer glares. They are very lovely in person and add to the magical feel.


Claire retreats to her Magic Caravan trailer for the night to get some water and cook a pancake for dinner.
Her Owl keeps night watch on the crystal ball tent ...


Summary:

Even though it's part of Friends sub-theme Magical Funfair, this set can stand on its own merit. It could blend with a Castle diorama. The building techniques are great for learning to build with inverted slope bricks to allow the rounded style of caravans.

With so many different colors, at first it can seem over-whelming, and then as you build they meld. It takes bright colors to convey a gypsy type of traveling home. It has to combine a lot of aspects to fit into the interior. So, for the "hidden" toilet to be included is just such a "Friends" design!

As I've mentioned several times in this review -- I would have loved this as a kid! Even as an AFOL, the overall build is engaging enough and entertaining. Glow-in-the-dark doesn't translate well in photographs, yet in person, this set garnered some "Ooooo" comments in my house last night!


Disclaimer: This set was provided by The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer.
Photographs are property of FriendsBricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.

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