Rocklin Broad, 11, never expected the demand for his hand-carved wands to explode.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Carla Broad
May 08, 2022 - 2:14 PM
A Lake Country boy’s passion for carving may soon lead to his creations being shown in series like Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Star Wars.
Rocklin Broad, 11, started carving when his dad bought him a pocket knife and he wanted to learn how to whittle. He started making wands for his friends since he’s an avid Harry Potter fan, he said.
“I started making wands and eventually I got really good at it,” he said.
He had no idea his mother Carla’s Facebook post on Thursday, May 5, listing his wands for sale would go viral and now he has orders to make more than 200 wands.
“The first day I had more than 200 likes on the post,” he said. They thought he would sell two wands.
Wands that Rocklin Broad has hand-carved.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Carla Broad
People in the film industry have started reaching out, Carla said, and his wands may be shown in the upcoming Lord of the Rings series. They're also sending samples of his hand-carved walking sticks to the producers of Star Wars.
“I couldn’t even believe it. It went crazy. In the first hour, I had at least 100 likes and so many messages,” she said. “He has been asked by a person in the film industry to offer to pay him substantially more to rush ship him to take them to New Zealand for the Lord of Rings TV series.”
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Local boutique stores have also reached out and asked if they can carry them and there's interest for the wands to be sold at farmers' and crafters' markets.
“It’s pretty crazy. I’m grateful for all the people who reached out and made this a reality. I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m flabbergasted,” Rocklin said.
Yesterday, the family went to Tappen at the request of a resident to gather more wood for the wands in exchange for a magic wand of his own.
“Now we have a garage full of material,” Carla said.
Sadly, they couldn’t find any unicorn hair for the wands, but Rocklin did do a special order for a young girl and added jewels and a feather, he said.
His next plans are to expand his business through Lake Country friends Active Humans, a deodorant brand, who will show him how to market and brand himself.
He’s planning on using the money he’s made to put towards a 1950s Ford truck, he said.
“The truck will be ready and built before he can drive it,” Carla laughed. At this time, the wands are being listed at $20 a piece but they’re currently back ordered at this time.
READ MORE: Meet the Kamloops carver who brings out the mysterious faces of trees
Eventually, he will launch his own business with the name ROCKWANDS, he said.
Carla said the world’s been crazy these last few years and the love and kindness they’ve received about the wands have restored their faith in humanity.
“This is kind of what the world needs right now,” she said.
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