3 stars = Durability 1 stars = Fun 1 stars = Educational 1 stars = Overall

We were very excited to receive The Force Trainer as a gift. Unfortunately, it does not work as advertised and appears to fit in the catagory of "you see what you want to see." Five family members (adults and children) used the product and had the same result: no matter what your state of mind, the trainer advances you through the first "Padwan" level automatically. Each phrase and ball movement is identical from person to person.
The "Jedi Knight" and "Jedi Master" levels were similar: the ball and voice seemed to proceed in a pre-programmed pattern. There is no way to tell whether your brain waves are affecting the ball's movement or whether it is a programmed random change in the fan speed. You should be able to check this with the "free play mode" where ball movement and light indicators are supposed to reflect your brain wave patterns. However, in our unit the ball stayed in the middle position no matter how hard we "concentrated" or "used our feelings." The lights only blinked on and off in a regular pattern.
One other minor point: while it was cute at first to hear Yoda quote lines from the movies, he grew tiresome after the fifth time he quoted the same line, "Reach out with your feelings! Use the Force. Do or do not, there is no try."
All in all we were VERY disappointed in this item. And would highly caution everyone to stay away from it. It is overpriced at best and intentionally deceptive to children at worst. My son was so proud to achieve Padwan, I didn't have the heart to tell him it worked the same for everyone. They all got frustrated and quit at the Jedi Knight level as no amount of concentration or relaxation could move the ball in a predictable way.
However, I am sure some will use the toy and see exactly what they want to see. They will thrill to hear Yoda and R2D2 verbally pat them on the back. If this item sells, as it surely must with the slick marketing and idea that "you too can be a Jedi Knight", I believe it has more to do with P.T. Barnum ("There's a loser born every minute") than The Force.