Brio vs Thomas the Train? Discuss.

[sntm]

I bought Jack the "Jack" train from Thomas after being an angel for his first haircut. DH and I had a load of fun looking at all the coolness you can buy to go with it all.

But, in general, do you like Brio or Thomas better? Or one for tracks, the other for trains, another for accessories...?

Appreciate comments. Also on value of a train table.

[egoldber]

Well we have omse of both and also some cheap Target track. I think the Brio and Thomas quality are about equal. I like that the Brio stuff is less commercialized, but DD actually really does love the Thomas trains more.

There has been a fair amount of discussion about train tables in the Around the House forum lately:

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=12&topic_id=19669&mesg_id=19669&page=3

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=12&topic_id=19765&mesg_id=19765&page=3

There tend to 2 very divergent opinions on train tables, LOL. We have one, but we don't use it very often for trains.

HTH,

[muskiesusan]

We have Brio and Target trains. Maybe its just me, but the faces on the Thomas trains freaks me out a bit! But I also tend to prefer toys that are not tied into tv shows- they seem to have a more lasting appeal IMO.

We have a train table, which I love. We use it for all sorts of things (right now there are puzzles on it). We use the floor when we want to build a complicated train structue, but the table is nice for when there are other kids over to have it out of the way, or if I just want the playroom to have a more picked up look!


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01/01
& Alex 04/27/04

[MelissaTC]

We have track from Brio, and TRU. Most of our train cars are Thomas cars. DS is obsessed with Thomas. Actually, he loves Percy. But I digress. DS lives, breaths and sleeps his train characters. It is strange. He always loved the trains but he seemed to get into it more and more over the past couple of months. He can name all the characters (he can barely say his own name!) and loves to read the books and watch the DVDs.

We have a Nilo train table and love it. It is well made and well used in this house! It puts up with a lot of abuse!

[lisams]

We got DD the cheap set of tracks from Target and they have worked fine - they are compatible with the Thomas tracks. She also has a few Thomas tracks and a hill. She really enjoys her Thomas trains much more than the ones that came with the Target tracks.

We have a train table and it is well used, check out Beth's links!

Lisa

[sntm]

Jack's never seen the TV show (I'm ignorant, I thought it was a book :)) so I don't think that will influence him. Our target should be complete in a few months, so I'll have to check there for track!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[egoldber]

The Thomas trains are based on a book. There are a series of videos out, but I don't think they are on regular TV. Honestly, we have one video and DD likes it, but I hate it, so we don't watch it, LOL! But we have several Thomas books, and she knows all the trains from the books. I think that kids tend to be attracted to the faces on the trains.

[Momof3Labs]

Colin is verrrrry attached to his Thomas trains. He knows them all by name (the toys, in the books or even on TV) and will correct you if you are wrong (c'mon, how easy is it to mix up Mike and James??). He feeds them, gives them milk, gives them his plug, shows them things on TV and out the car window, this kid is very attached to the trains...

[sntm]

Lori, I remember you posting about him wanting you to nurse his train :+

Jack found the collectible card for his Jack train the other day and kept point "dat, dat, dat" until I finally located the train in the bottom of a toy bin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[nigele]

I figured my Thomas would love Thomas trains since they share a name. I've bought mostly Thomas but do have a Brio Curious George set stashed for him later (too cute to resist.) Tom loves his trains, epecially his battery-operated Thomas!

[pamela mom of 3]

Have not read the other answers but..

We have both, and i have train tables.

Um, basically i like both brio/Thomas and each for different reasons, i know my dh isn't as fond of the "new" style of the Thomas track, he liked the older styling.

Now as one or the other the Thomas going with the stories is nice, you know the kids learn the charactors quite quickly at 2yrs my son knew quite a few, actually he's still better at them than me LOL ;)

Accessory wise, i do like some of the add-on type pieces, like the engine wash, and some of the other neat items..offhand i can't think of them though :P

As to brio, well we have some of their older busy town items and even some of the bob the builder{which allbeit are not trains, but do go on the tracks} Brio also has some neat bridges and tunnels just as Thomas.

Basically we have quite a mix of the products, we do have more of the Thomas trains though since ds likes the charactors and such but my girls also enjoy the more people choices of the Brio line, we have some elevators and other little "houses"

Train table wise, well we've always had one as the "set" my mother originally got my eldest dd came with one{this is brio} my kids enjoy the table and still will use the tracks elsewhere and the train table for other purposes too, like little people etc.

The trains themselves have been a great investment as we've had them since my eldest was 2yrs old, she's 8.5 this september..and while we have added greatly to the collection many pieces have seen the lifespan of three children.

HTH :)
~Pamela Mom Of 3

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[Momof3Labs]

Man, I forgot about that story - Colin's Henry has been up to so much since that happened...

[jubilee]

It used to be a PBS TV series back when my oldest (who's 12) was in preschool (I didn't realize it is not on anymore.) THe series featured animated Thomas stories and live-action people that worked at a train station. I remember that Didi Conn was on it and George Carlin was a conductor. I was never excited about this show, but my son had a real love for it. He would have loved a Thomas train table.