You've Pretty Much Gotta Have It
Written: Jan 16 '03 (Updated Mar 26 '03)
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Pros: Teaches a skill, allows for greater variety in layouts.
Cons: Expensive
The Bottom Line: You pretty much have to have this to keep your layouts interesting, but be sure to shop around for a good deal.
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| dagny21's Full Review: Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends: 6.5-Inch Singl... |
The most unfortunate thing about the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway system is that for your kid to get the most out of it, you've got to have a lot and a great variety of track.
I was lucky - or smart - and found a good deal on a "lot" of track on ebay, where I paid about $1 per piece, as opposed to the average $3 per piece that you will pay in the store. My track was still brand new, it just didn't come in the original packaging. This is a problem for some, but not for me as I'd rather get a good deal than anything else.
Play with this Track
Unless you want to be building boring ovals for the rest of your child's railroading days, you need to have some different pieces of track like this switch track (Other pieces essential to adding variety to your layouts are cross tracks, action switch tracks, track adapters, bumpers, track to surface ramps and - when your child is a bit older than mine - ascending tracks).
Just having started out with this system, at this point we have a bunch of straight and curved track, two of these switch track pieces, and one cross track. This variety allows us to build up to 3 loops into our 1-level (building on more than one level is not recommended until age 3) layout, in a variety of combinations. This is enough to keep our 2-year-old very well entertained, and just enough to keep his parents from going mad with boredom while playing with his trains.
I believe this track - as opposed to the action switch track - is the place to start if you have a very young engineer. Though it might be fancier, the action switch isn't so easy to deal with when you're two. Also, this track teaches a fine motor skill. My son has to make a tiny adjustment with his wrist to get the track to either go straight or turn the other direction on the switch track. At first it was a bit of a mystery to him as to why the train sometimes went one way, and sometimes the other, but after about a week with this track he seems to have gotten the idea.
An Appeal from Your Wallet
Please, Please, Please do not buy this in the ridiculously expensive box that just comes with 2 of these pieces in it. If you pay full retail price for every Thomas item, you'll soon be out of money and your child won't have much of a collection to show for it. Find it on sale, get it in a set, buy it used (Learning Curve will replace it for free if it's damaged), whatever. You do not have to pay full price.
FIND RELATED REVIEWS BELOW
Wooden Railway System
Annie - Thomas' Beloved Coach
Barrel Car
Bertie the Bus
Clarabel- Thomas' Beloved Coach
Edward the Blue Engine
Gordon the Big Express Engine
Harold the Helicoptor
Henry the Green Engine
James the Red Engine
Lady
Percy the Small Engine
Rusty with Construction Cars
Thomas the Tank Engine
Tidmouth Milk Tanker
Toby the Tram Engine
Arched Stone Bridge
Single Stone Tunnel
6.5 inch Curved Track
Circle Set
Books
Diesel's Devious Deed
Thomas: The Really Useful Engine
Buying Thomas
All Aboard Toys
Train Table
Nilo Train Table
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2.00
Type of Toy: Trains
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
dagny21
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 in Kids & Family |
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Member: Christine D
Location: Alaska
Reviews written: 388
Trusted by: 66 members
About Me:
Happily married mother of one boy.
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