Moms (and Dads) of train-loving kids, WWYD? (long)

[ciw]

Ok, thanks to some great sales, it appears I've bought more types of trains than any one household needs. So someone, please help me decide which of these to keep as Christmas gifts, which to keep for when DS is older and which to return. DS will be 21 months at Christmas.
Here's what I bought:
- Step 2 Deluxe Action Train set. Paid a little under $50. http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1471
- three Thomas Trackmaster sets. Paid $14.99 a piece. http://www.amazon.com/Trackmaster-Railway-System-Thomas-Morgans/dp/B002V4PQJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1258058194&sr=8-1, http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Friends-At-the-Station/dp/B001TBI00G/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1258058831&sr=1-12 and http://www.amazon.com/Take-Along-Thomas-Friends-Engine/dp/B00128LZ12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1258058937&sr=1-1
- two of the 70-piece Kidkraft wooden train and track sets. I bought the rescue version and the construction version. Paid $9.99 a piece. Here’s the construction set; I can’t find the rescue version online: http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-Construction-Train-Set/dp/B000098XFR .
- one 100-piece Kidkraft wooden train and track set with a construction theme. Paid $29. http://www.shopping.com/-kidkraft+100pc+construction+train+set
I'm thinking I should keep the Step 2 Deluxe Action Train set (or maybe return it and buy the Step 2 Deluxe Canyon train set http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1354 which is $25 more?) because DS is not quite ready to build track. Plus, I'm guessing I can resell it on CL later for about what I paid. He would get this at Christmas. Then I’d return the Thomas Trackmaster sets and keep two of the KidKraft sets and give them to him later. Which of the Kidkraft construction sets would you keep? Which of the Step 2 tables (or would you forego these and go straight to the wood or plastic tracks)? And which of the Kidkraft construction sets would you keep, the 70-piece or the 100-piece?

[rlu]

We went straight to wooden track (Brio) and helped DS set up it until he figured it out himself. He got his first set as a 1st bday gift.

We have two types of train sets at our house, Brio/Thomas wooden and Geotrax. Only the geotrax are automated/remote control. Is Trackmaster the same as take-along-thomas? I remember that the wooden trains don't really work on the take-along-thomas track but I'm sure other momma's with more extensive train collections than ours can specifiy.

DS is still playing with his trains at 5.5. He had geotrax out yesterday and over the weekend as he made new layouts and about two weeks ago had his Brio track running along the kitchen/dining room.

Personally I'd start with wooden trains without the batteries. We have an old coffee table we use as a train table, it's a little bigger than most train tables and we just put the track in a rubbermaid box that fits under the table (along with other boxes of toys). Now that he's older, DS rarely uses the table but builds layouts all over the floor.

eta: FWIW, I rather spend money on the actual track than on the little pieces like stop signs that tend to sink to the bottom of our box and never pulled out for use. I was the one who would pull out the trees and set them up along the track, not DS. As to your question about the 70 vs 100 piece sets, how much of the difference is additional track vs "stuff"?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'd chuck them all and buy Geotrax. :)

My boys use Geotrax more often as push along trains than with the remote. The remote feature is pretty cool though when you want to see what your track would really run like and to have running around the tree at Christmas.

I'd probably return the Step 2 one for sure.

My ds2 is almost 2yo and is getting the hang of building with the Geotrax. As he gets older, like ds1, he'll be building cool stuff but right now he's just happy to snap some tracks together. I wouldn't worry about him not being able to build a track thus needing that Step 2 one you linked to later. In no time at all he might find that very limiting.

We have Thomas and Geotrax and b/c of how my boys play with them I am very biased towards Geotrax. I enjoy them too. I wish they took u a bit less storage space though.

If you want to stick with the ones you already have and choose from there, I'd choose the 100pc Kidcraft one. It looks like the most fun. :)

Beth

[rlu]

I'd chuck them all and buy Geotrax. :)

We have Thomas and Geotrax and b/c of how my boys play with them I am very biased towards Geotrax. I enjoy them too. I wish they took u a bit less storage space though.


Beth

I agree with Beth about the storage. Much easier to store our wooden track as we did not purchase any of the larger pieces. We have the Geotrax Grand Central Station (whatever) that was a big deal last year and that thing is huge. We store our Geotrax in a large rubbermaid tub nearly as big as our two drawer lateral file cabinet.

[ciw]

I know everyone loves Geotrax which is why I'm leaning toward returning the Trackmaster stuff. It seems like if you're going to do plastic, Geotrax is the way to go. So I guess the big question is, does the Step 2 table serve any purpose or should we just start with one of the cheaper wood sets (and possibly move to Geotrax later)?

[nabigus]

I really like the wooden ones. Ds is 4, and he's still as into the trains as he was at 2. If you're anywhere near an Ikea, they have compatible tracks (and bridge/tunnel packs) that work well. We ended up getting multiple sets of the wooden ones, and one of ds's favorite things to do is set up a track that takes up most of our empty floor space--then he plays with the trains by sitting in the middle or lying on his stomach to push them around. If it were me, I would, honestly, return the rest and just stick with wooden ones.

[hellokitty]

The plastic Thomas set is total crap. My kids like it, but it is cheapo and the trains break very easiliy. It's so annoying, I'm irritated with my husband for buying it.

Personally, I would just get geotraxx, b/c it grows with your child and the tracks stay together pretty well. They can just push trains around on it when they are younger, as they get older, they will be more into building their tracks and also using the motorized trains. Geotrax is also a LOT cheaper than Thomas. I'd just avoid Thomas as much as you can if possible, b/c it's like a $ pit for parents. My boys are train freaks and we got lucky that we scored a HUGE brio/thomas wooden train track from one of DH's co-workers for only $100. It's probably worth about $1000 if you paid for everything new. Otherwise, I would never stomach the idea of paying full price for Thomas stuff.

The step 2 table would be a good idea for a younger child too. I'd prefer it over a regular train table. I just got rid of our wooden train table last wk, b/c it took up space and my kids never used it for tracks. They just built it on the floor, b/c the train tables are too small. However, if the step 2 would have existed when my kids were younger and not able to build tracks yet, they would have played with it a lot (with a lot less frustration, I got so sick and tired of building tracks and DS1 was always upset when DS2 would break his tracks). They could also use this with other things like matchbox cars.

We have so many train sets, I would still say that the geotrax is my personal favorite in terms of being practical and price. If I could do it all over again (we have like 5 different train systems), I'd just stick with geotrax from the start.

[ett]

I would return the Step 2 and trackmaster sets and just go straight to the wooden train sets. DS2 at 21 months was already playing with our wooden train sets. He didn't use the tracks as much but loved playing with the trains.

If you're looking for a plastic alternative, Geotrax gets good reviews as PPs have recommended.

[GraceH]

I like wooden, as there is a larger variety of brands and track types out there that are compatible (Thomas/Brio/Melissa&Doug/Circo... vs. being locked into the GeoTrax brand and pricing)
Also, we've been very happy with our Nilo Table -- works for trains PLUS has inserts to use with Duplos/Legos

[JTsMom]

Before I returned anything, I'd seriously consider re-selling it instead. You got some great deals!

I think the Step 2 stuff is really cute, but will have a short lifespan. If you can resell it for about what you paid though, it couldn't hurt, unless you don't want it taking up space. I think most kids can do well with a small, flat track set up around 2 though, so if you want to go straight to the wooden stuff, you certainly could. Start small, and make sure he'll even stay interested in it.

I would return all of the plastic Thomas stuff- I just don't care for the quality.