James was among the first characters I bought for my son's new Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends wooden railway system. He's one of my son's favorite characters, and would have been asking for him had he been missing on Christmas morning.

The Details
James is a bright red engine who is stated on the videos and in the various Thomas books, to be a "medium-sized engine," and "larger than Thomas." He is made mostly of maple, with a few plastic parts and a bit of steel holding it all together. His magnets are strong enough to pull a very long train over mountains, through tunnels, or all over the house as your toddler sees fit. He somes complete with a matching coal tender.

I'm a Bit Disappointed
If Thomas is "small small small, teeny weeny weeny," as Gordon says, then what makes James medium-sized? When I line my little wooden Thomas up with my medium-sized wooden James, they are exactly the same length. Not counting James' coal tender of course. Also, James' face is noticeably smaller than Thomas, or any of the other engines, a discrepancy that urks me and adds to my confusion. Is James built to a different scale than the other wooden models? If so, why!?

Also - and this is mostly my fault - I didn't know that much about these products when I made my first order of Thomas the Tank Engine. Many of the characters have new paint jobs as of this year. For engines like Henry, Gordon, Percy, James, and others this means they now have stripes which make them look more realistic. I guess AllAboardToys.com had a few older James' they needed to get rid of, so they sent me the James without the stripes, while sending the newer versions of the other engines.

Our Experience
So far, my son loves James. He might be only 2, but he has indeed noticed the lack of stripes on James. Thankfully, though, he hasn't noticed that James is supposed to be bigger than he is. I expect he will eventually and might be bothered by it. For now, I'm the only one annoyed by the discrepancies, and my son loves James as much as any of the engines.

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
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 Switch Track
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$): $14
Type of Toy: Trains
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years