In an effort to keep my daughter's playthings very gender neutral, for her second Christmas and birthday, I requested trains for her, specifically, Learning Curve's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends trains. I'd found a great deal on wooden track at Target, and wanted to add the name-brand trains so that my daughter's set would be like her cousins'.

Of course, my mother was horrified that I would get a little girl a train set, and responded with a bag full of trains: every "girl" train she could find. This is how we got Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends: Mavis.

~&~ The Basics ~&~

Since we don't have any of the Thomas videos, everything we know about Mavis has been gleaned from my daughter's imagination and the Collector's Card that is included with every Learning Curve Thomas & Friends train. According to her blurb,

" A fiesty young diesel engine. Mavis is high-spirited and often does things without thinking about their consequences. Her lack of experience often leads her into trouble, but she is smart and learns from her mistakes."

Mavis herself is a standard-length train (approximately 3" long), and made of wood, with a plastic face and wheels, and metal axles. She has a standard engine shape, with a taller engine room in the back and a shorter front. Mavis has mostly square edges with a rounded top to the engine room, and a large plastic "skirt" around the tires, which makes her different from most of our other engines.

Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends: Mavis is black with white and yellow accents. Her face plate is square shaped, and yellow diagonal stripes are painted around it. The engine room has a painted window and painted windowed door, along with her name printed under the window. Mavis also has "THE FFARQUHAR QUARRY CO. LTD." printed on her skirt. As with all Learning Curve Thomas & Friends trains, she has magnets at the front and back to connect her to other trains during play.

~&~ Parents Perspective ~&~

I have to say that for a girl train, Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends: Mavis is not all that attractive. The yellow caution stripes on her front are a dingy yellow (I think they could have used another coat) from bleed-through from the black paint. The colors are fairly blah in general, and both the design and the paint job look boring in comparison to some of the other engines.

However, these trains are very durable, and Learning Curve's guarantee to replace trains any time for any reason, including chipped paint, is enough to sell any parent.

~&~ Kid Value ~&~

I have to say that my daughter agrees with me on poor Mavis here. She doesn't even come close to making the list of the top trains to pull out when playing with the Thomas trains, and as a result, has a fair amount of paint chipping from spending so much time rattling around the train bin in my daughter's room.

In fact, the only reason that Mavis made it out of the bin for me to remember we had her was that my son made a foray into my daughter's room, and must have gotten away with Mavis because his sister just didn't care enough about her to stop him. That's pretty telling, since she doesn't let him touch ANYTHING of hers.

~&~ Overall ~&~

I'd have to say that unless your child is really into Mavis' story line in one of the videos, this is one of Thomas' friends you can just skip right over.

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Check out my other Learning Curve Thomas & Friends reviews:

Learning Curve Thomas & Friends Ivo Hugh & Zoo Cars
Learning Curve Thomas & Friends Spencer

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 9.99
Type of Toy: Trains
Age Range of Child: Other