Brio or Thomas or something else?

[TwinsItIs]

Which train set would you recommend? I don't know much about train sets, but want to get the best that's out there.

[dules]

IMO it depends on how old your kids are and whether they've got the train addiction bad or not. ;) I've heard of kids who LOVE the train sets at B&N etc. but then don't play with them at home.

My mom gave DD a Brio figure 8 set last year and she plays with it occasionally (it's set up right now) but gets easily bored and we will put it away for 1-3 months at a time. Then when it comes back out we play with it daily for a week or so, then total loss of interest again.

I'm glad we didn't spend a lot on a big set up front and table etc. since they wouldn't have been used. We thought we'd be adding on to the figure 8 at some point but I don't see the need.

I'm sure others with bigger sets and more train-crazed kids will chime in. :)

Best,
Mary

[holliam]

I agree with Mary in that not all kids will be drawn to these. We started with an inexpensive set from Ikea. DD seemed to like them so we got a set on sale at Target. Then we got a good deal on the M&D set. So, we've just been slowly adding as we find good deals.

Many people claim Thomas is the best quality, but we've been perfectly happy without any of that brand.

Holli

[kboyle]

we got charlie a train table/set for his 2nd bday and while he plays with it, he does like the bookstore tables better, i'm sure because it's glued down. i'm either selling our table or taking it to my mom's house because i'm getting the boys this table for xmas...the roadways, tunnels & bridges are molded into the table, and if he wants to get creative and build tracks that's a fun project for him and grandma or papa.
http://www.step2.com/images/products/754700_popup.jpg

[kijip]

I would just get an inexpensive starter set and see how much your kid actually plays with it. If you end up with a kid that loves trains, you can easily add on to it with more complicated pieces or accessories (like towns or cranes etc). We started with the Ikea set, then added some other sets and now we seem to be adding a couple of Thomas branded sets or destinations each at birthdays etc. It is all money well spent, especially if you divide it by the number of active play hours Toby gets from his train collection.

As for quality, I have been happy with all of the sets we have (we have Ikea, some generic sets from discount stores, the TRU brand (Imanginarium?), Brio and Thomas) with these exceptions:

-The Ikea track does not fit together as easily as I would like with the other brands of wooden railroads. To the point that we took it to Grandpas house where he only has to use it with other Ikea stuff- their plastic connectors are a tad bigger than the wooden ones so it was taking adult hands to force an IKEA peice into anothe track brand.

-The generic sets we have with the plastic round ball track connectors for every piece are now worse for wear- the platic ends keep popping off. I am getting ready to thin them out.

Brio used to make the Thomas railway stuff but that ended awhile ago. I would say that the quality of current Brio and Thomas are similar. Brio was in short supply for ahile due to cutbacks in their supply system and apparently a warehouse move but they are stocking more and more now. My son has a penchant for the Thomas destinations (like Cranky and the Collapsing bridge) so we have added in some of those sort of pieces. My husband wants that Brio Polar Express set, but that is really something HE wants and not Toby, LOL.

[mommysammi]

Wow, your son is very blessed to have such an elaborate and complete train set. We're starting to build ours too. I was wondering if you have any experience with the electric trains. We don't have one yet but the other day, DS was so intrigued by them at the museum. I wonder if the electric ones would inhibit creativity or something like that as DS would probably just watch the trains go round and round rather than pretend that he's the driver. What do you think? Thank you. Sorry to the OP. Don't mean to stray from the original question.

[kijip]

I had electric trains as a child. Well, really my entire extended family did. My great grandfather built the orginal set for my dad and we all just added on and on from there. :) Frankly, I think Toby is too young for them. I see electric trains more as a hobby for older kids (like 8 year olds) than as a toy for an active preschooler. I don't think electric trains are less creative, but they are perhaps less active. Toby can tear apart the wooden trains at will and put together new ones. Electric train tables are awesome to look at but more of a job for an older kid or even adult to set up. Also, electric train collections are REALLY expensive. I guess I see it like this: electric trains are to wooden play trains as porcelain collector dolls are to cabbage patch kids. :) If Toby is still down with trains at age 6-7 and we had a room for it, I would be ok with letting him build an electic set as a family project.