REVIEW – Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands Jakks Pacific

Have you heard of the new Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands?? If you haven’t yet, you will soon be hearing about them – and for die hard Harry Potter fans young and old, this is something that is likely to be in demand this Christmas! You can check out me and Erin putting them through their paces, as well as a me introducing the full five modes of game play in the video link below, but for now, here’s what you need to know about them.

I have always been an avid Harry Potter fan, having read the books religiously when they were first released, ordering them to arrive on the day of release and reading them cover to cover with anticipation and excitement. When the films came out I always said that nothing could compare to the quality of the books, however when the films were released I soon found myself really falling in love with the dramatized versions of Harry, Ron and Hermione and watching their adventures unfold. With the new film Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald hitting cinema screens this Friday, there is a new sense of excitement arriving around the launch, with the arrival of lots of new Harry Potter toys and games.

Having seen the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands and giving them a whirl at #BlogOnToys earlier in the year, I was very excited about their release, and am chuffed to be able to share with you our review of these brand new toys.

What are the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands?

There are a number of different designs of the Harry Potter wizard training wands including Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort and Hermione Granger, all of which have a slightly different design. The Voldemort wand is particularly impressive, and Erin actually asked to swap hers over when she realised he was the baddy!

How much are the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands?

The Jakks Pacific Wizard Training Wands retail at £34.99 and are available at Amazon

How do you use the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands?

Each wand has 5 different play modes from Free Play to the infamous Wizard Tag; two of which can be played alone, and three of which require a second wizard training wand to play. It’s worth pointing out here that you don’t need more than one wand to have fun with this product, however in my opinion the real joy of the Wizard Training Wands come when you combine gameplay with other players and other wands (available to purchase individually).

The wand allows wannabe wizards to learn 11 different spells which they will recognise from the movies including the locomotor, alohomora, incendio, tarantallegra, finite incantatem, arrestor momentum, wingardium leviosa, and mimblewimble, each perfected by creating different movements with this motion sensitive wand, with each spell producing a different sound and lighting up at the tip.

There is an on/off switch at the bottom of the wand, but quite reassuringly, the unit will shut off after 5 minutes of inactivity to preserve battery life which is always handy should you forget to turn it off when you’re finished.

The Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands are award winning – having won the 2018 National Parenting Product Awards Winner & 2018 Toy Insider Hot 20 award.

How do the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands work?

The instructions that come with The Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands are quite complex, and therefore the easiest way to quickly learn how to play is to watch my overview video below.

The Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands come with 5 different play modes as follows:

What play modes are there?

Spell Training Mode (Single player) – In this mode, (the first button on the wand), wizards have the chance to really perfect their wizarding skills, performing one of 11 different spells, many of which will be familiar from the movies. When the first button on the wand is pressed, the wand will light up with the pattern of the spell it wants you to perform. Players will then refer to the spell chart to see the motion they need to perform with their wand in order to produce the spell. Wizards should stand upright with shoulders back and wand out in front of them and produce the pattern in the air. If they produce the spell effectively, the wand will play a clapping sound to celebrate their success, but if they fail, the wand will produce a fizzle noise and ask them to repeat. Wizards should keep practising until they get it right.

If any of the spells are a bit too tricky or they want to skip a spell, the first button can be pressed again and a new spell option will be produced on the wand, with a new pattern of lights representing the spell on the chart.

Although they may look straight forward, some of the spells are quite tricky to perform, and practice really does make perfect.

Spell Practice Mode (Two players)

In this mode, two wands can compete against each other to see whether all that practice has started to pay off. Both players press the 2nd button on their wand, which syncs the two wands together. Both wands then light up with the spell which they are instructed to perform. Players should stand opposite each other (around 2 feet apart) and at the same time perform the spell as if battling against their opponent. Loud chants of the spell name should be encouraged for dramatic effect! 🙂 The player who performs the spell quickest and most accurately will hear a melody on their wand and be declared the winner.

Training Mode (Two players)

In this mode (our least favourite of the 5 but still good fun), each player presses button 3 on the wand. They then produce one of the 5 training spells from the chart. A little bit like rock paper scissors, one will trump the other and play a melody to declare them the winner. If you both produce the same spell, it will be a tie.

Wizard Tag Mode (Two players) – The Wizard Tag mode is our favourite, and in my opinion the most suitable competitive mode for younger players as it requires very little skill in terms of spell production. Each player starts with 5 lights (or lives) on their wand, and similar to lazer tag or lazer quest, you must try and avoid being hit by the other player, who can simply point and press the cast button to try and spellbind their opponent.

Each time you are hit you lose a light on your wand, and when your lights run out you lose. You can refill your lives by pointing your wand and turning a counter clockwise circle which makes a rewind noise (rewinding time) and the lives refill.

The Wizard Tag mode is great for getting everyone running around, and would be a really fun game to play at a birthday party or other Harry Potter event. I absolutely love the idea of a house full of wizard training wands playing wizard tag, I think it would be such a laugh, and would go down an absolute dream with Potter fans.

Free Play Mode (Single player) – The final mode, and the one with the least restrictions or rules is free play mode, in which you can perform whichever spells you like whenever you like. Unlike the Spell Training mode, it doesn’t matter if you get them wrong, and you are not told which spell to perform or in what order, making this mode ideal for those who are a little less accurate with their wand flinging (younger children perhaps).

Overall verdict of the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands

Overall, the kids (and adults alike) in this household have had a real laugh with the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands, and I think these are likely to be a huge hit this Christmas.

The Pros:

• I love how realistic the wands look, and for die hard Harry Potter fans, they will love the fact they can choose between some of the most prominent characters from the series. With a Harry Potter dress up outfit in addition, you really would look and feel the part.
• The lights and sounds on the wand are great, with different sounds for each spell produced making you really feel like you have cast a spell against your opponents.
• With 5 different play modes to choose from, there is a mode for every type of player young and old, whether playing alone or with friends.
• You don’t have to have two wands to play (although in my opinion the most fun part is competing against someone else).
• At £24.99 each I think these are relatively good value for money and perfecting the spells could create hours of fun interactive play

The Cons:

• The instructions are fairly horrific – not only are they on one A4 document with tiny text and very few images, but they are not particularly user friendly (with multiple languages on one sheet) and as such, I found it much easier to watch a video online than actually try and follow them.
• The spell chart showcasing the 11 spells to perform is justt on the front cover of the instructions rather than being on their own document, which I have to say is a bit naff and the quality almost looks like someone has photocopied someone else’s sheet and stuck it in the box. As the player (at the beginning of using the wand at least) is going to need to reference the spell chart quite a lot, it would’ve been nice to have seen this on a small laminated card or in colour at a very minimum. As it is, its on a folded up piece of paper which is going to get thumbed and tatty pretty quickly. This was a real let down of the product for me and something that with just a little more thought could’ve been great. They could have even presented it like a Maruader’s Map with some attractive visuals, so this seems like a real opportunity missed.
• I guess with younger children there is the slight risk that they may actually want to try and duel with these and use them like swords (Erin at first tried this a couple of times!). Obviously that’s more about parent supervision than the product itself, but it’s more than a little tempting when in battle mode.

Overall I think the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands are a really fun toy, and something which I think Harry Potter fans (young and old!) would really enjoy playing with. Unlike some toys which can be a bit of a gimmick, I think this one has the potential to be played with for the long hual, and with 5 different play modes and 11 different spells to perfect, I don’t think children would bore of it too quickly.

You can learn more about the Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands on the Jaks Pacific website. The Wizard Training Wands have an RRP of £34.99 and are available to purchase from Amazon.

*Disclosure – we were sent these Harry Potter Wizard Training Wands free of charge for the purpose of this review, however as always all thoughts and opinions are my own*