WOW! PODS Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak - Standard Edition

This product uses green screen technology to mimic the invisibility cloak effect used in the Harry Potter movies. Using the App, you get a background image (like your living room) and then can move in to frame, turn the cloak inside out revealing the chromakey green lining which is digitally removed by the Wowstuff app in real time.Some folks had a bad experience with the app on Christmas day, but I had no such issue. The app downloaded easily on my Pixel 3XL, and once I entered the unique product code that came with the cloak, the app worked seemlessly.Pros:Watching someone vanish through the phone in real time is really neat!The cloak looks gorgeous, suitable for costume or cosplay purposes.The cloak is heavier weight material of good quality and feels great, almost like upholstery or tapestry fabric.The app worked flawlessly.The instructions built in to the app were clear and thorough.The included phone stand worked ok.Cons:The cloak feels like it's for smaller users. I'm 5'10 and the cloak comes to about my knees. This may be accurate to the books, but if you are an adult human of average height, you will have to kneel to make your feet "invisible", more so if you want to cover your head as well.I expected the cloak to have a hood. It does not. It is unclear from the source material as to whether or not it did. So this is likely more a discrepancy in my expectation than anything the matter with this product.As such, however, I would refer to this as more of an "invisibility cape" than an "invisibility cloak". Semantics. ;)The included phone stand won't allow your phone to be parallel to the image you are taking. As it's a stand and not a tripod, the phone is held in place by gravity and your phone rests aiming slightly up. You (wearing the cloak) will need to be higher than the height of your phone if you want to take a horizontal photo (movie aspect ratio). You can shoot vertically with no issues.Final thoughts:All in all, this toy married a great app performance with a quality costume piece for an excellent experience. I know there were some server issues around the holidays but best I can tell they seem to have resolved those.

Kool

I gave this to my nephew for his 11th birthday yesterday, and it’s already a ton of fun for him and the rest of his family! He immediately had so many ideas for fun videos to make, and I love seeing his creativity in action. Based on other reviews, I was nervous about how well the app would work, but we had no problems with it at all. If all else fails, you could accomplish the same thing using the cloak against green screen filters on Tiktok or Instagram.My nephew would’ve been happy with the cloak even if there was no app, but the app made it so much fun. Within ten minutes of opening the box and downloading the app, he was already performing magic tricks (making his siblings disappear), threw it over a stool and lied down so it looked like he was flying, made himself look headless… he and his younger siblings (6 and 8) were just having a blast.My sister already had a tripod for their phone, and although the phone holder that comes with the cloak could work for a tabletop, having a regular tripod gave my nephew a lot more flexibility with where to film. The camera has to be completely and totally still in order for the video to record (if it’s not, the app will show an error saying the camera moved), so you definitely need to use the phone holder or a tripod.My nephew is about 4'6", and I got him the full-size cloak. Unless you’re buying this for a someone under the age of 5, I think the full-size cloak would be better than the junior version. The bigger version makes it easier to be “invisible” with friends and siblings, and it’s also easier for kids to cover their entire body, head to toe.

Fun to play with but the software download had some issues signing in and adding this toy. Also- the quality of the cape is a bit lacking given the price. The two sides of the fabric are not stitched in the middle anywhere so the front and back often go mismatch seems and you can a part of the green outside when it’s not supposed to be and vice versa. Biggest complaint is with the movie software. It only works if the camera is completely still. If you move it slightly the sync for green screen removal quits. I hoped we could make little movies but the action will be limited to one shot , non panning scenes. Oh well- the kids are only 7. They’re not Peter Jackson.

GREAT CLOAK AND IT REALLY WORKS

Worked as advertised!

Bought this for our granddaughter and she’s had a great time making movies with her invisibility cloak. Great fun!

My grandson loved it