Small wood trains - what brands do you love?

[Uno-Mom]

Sprog will be three Thanksgiving week and right now she's into trains, trains, TRAINS!!! (Oh, and trains, trains and trains. And ladybugs.)

She has a small set of interlocking wood tracks and several trains: a couple Maxim and two Thomases.

I'm making her Amazon wishlist at her grandparents' request. I'm trying to decide which brand of train set to add. From what I see, there's: Maxim, Thomas, Brio and M&D on Amazon.

Sprog does love Thomas but she's tv-free still (except for the ocassional youtube video) so she doesn't have the Thomas bug like kids who adore him for the cartoons. I like the Maxim for the more realistic looking cars and because they're not "characters." I like that they don't have faces. That's just my quirk, know.

I also like Maxim because they're slightly cheaper. Still, Thomas is adorable and I know they're well-made.

Oh...and for some reason the engines are magnatized opposite from each other. So, if the black Maxim engine is pulling the train and Thomas is attached, Thomas gets dragged backwards! Poor little guy. I can just hear his cute little voice calling "heeeeeeellp!!"

What can you more experienced parents tell me about the different brands? Are there quality reasons for choosing the spendier brand names?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

We have some from IKEA, imaginarium and Thomas..no experience with Brio or Maxim so I can't comment on that. I personally like the Thomas wooden trains. They are pretty good quality and have pretty decent resale value. Also, DS likes acting out stories with the different characters...hearing him play is almost like a boy version of "playing house." :)

And honestly I don't think watching or not watching TV has much to do with interest in Thomas...DS was into Thomas well before he even watched a Thomas show..he started getting interested into trains & Thomas around 18 months, but it wasn't until he was maybe 2.5 that he could even watch a Thomas episode without getting really scared (the voices and faces, especially of the old-school ones really frightened him). He mostly became enamoured with trains (especially Thomas ) from board books we would read to him..he always asked to read about Thomas and he really liked pointing out all the different characters.

[Uno-Mom]

And honestly I don't think watching or not watching TV has much to do with interest in Thomas...DS was into Thomas well before he even watched a Thomas show..he started getting interested into trains & Thomas around 18 months, but it wasn't until he was maybe 2.5 that he could even watch a Thomas episode without getting really scared (the voices and faces, especially of the old-school ones really frightened him). He mostly became enamoured with trains (especially Thomas ) from board books we would read to him..he always asked to read about Thomas and he really liked pointing out all the different characters.

Yep, I agree that Thomas is charming even if kids aren't primed by the cartoons - I just commented about the tv thing to explain that Sprog won't be disappointed if it's NOT Thomas, kwim?

Are the IKEA ones compatible with the Thomas tracks? (Thomas/Maxim/Brio all use the same tracks as far as I can tell.)

[KpbS]

I LOVE these trains. Check out the animal, vehicles, and name trains. Cow train anyone? Bus? Reindeer? So cute! They are very well made and in the USA.

http://www.maplelandmark.com/nametrains/nametrains_wrs.lasso

[Jai]

We have the M&D set, and we all love it. I got a really good deal (about 75% off) on a new set a couple of Christmases ago. I dont have experience with any of the other sets, but we o have a couple of Thomas and Chuggington engines that are compatible. There is another brand, Bigjigs, that seems relatively inexpensive that I have wondered about as well.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Are the IKEA ones compatible with the Thomas tracks? (Thomas/Maxim/Brio all use the same tracks as far as I can tell.)

Yes, they are compatible but they don't always fit to the Thomas tracks as perfectly, IME. The IKEA ones have a plastic piece on the connector.

The great thing though, is the IKEA train sets are SO darn cheap! I think when DS was 15 mo we bought him the basic starter set (it was like $14.99 or something ridiculous like that) and it came with 3 or 4 trains, and tracks for a figure 8 loop set. DS loved it and would play with it everyday.. and that is what started his train obsession. :) I always recommend the IKEA sets for those who would like to get a starter train set for their DC but aren't sure if they'd really play with it. If you want a train table and/or a larger sets, I know TRU had a crazy sale last year....The train table (IMaginarium) in our playroom was from a Black Friday deal last year..it was $39 or something crazy like that (train table + trains, tracks, bridge, some people, etc).

The downside to the Thomas sets is that they are expensive. The vast majorty of our Thomas collection comes from craigslist, or Christmas/birthday gifts from my ILs :)

[candaceb]

We have had problems mixing Ikea and Thomas tracks - some fit together and others don't. I am hoping to buy a bunch of used Thomas stuff from a neighbor - that is what seems to work the best.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

We have had problems mixing Ikea and Thomas tracks - some fit together and others don't.

oh yeah, and i think with the IKEA tunnels, Thomas trains are too tall to go in them (the IKEA trains are pretty basic and short).

[kaharris83]

I bought a ton of Thomas sets from Target during the after Christmas clearance sale for 70-75% off in January last year. I also bought a train table(Circo brand-which is really Kidcraft) with tracks, people, trains, etc. during the same sale. Just in case you're looking to add to the collection after Christmas. I still have unopened Thomas sets in the closet to give DS1 for Christmas. And he's been getting sets almost monthly.

[jgenie]

I bought a ton of Thomas sets from Target during the after Christmas clearance sale for 70-75% off in January last year. I also bought a train table(Circo brand-which is really Kidcraft) with tracks, people, trains, etc. during the same sale. Just in case you're looking to add to the collection after Christmas. I still have unopened Thomas sets in the closet to give DS1 for Christmas. And he's been getting sets almost monthly.

This is what I did but it was 3 years ago and it was Sears. I wasn't sure if the interest in trains would stay that long but I figured I could donate any we didn't use. 3 years later they are still going strong here.

[Uno-Mom]

I LOVE these trains. Check out the animal, vehicles, and name trains. Cow train anyone? Bus? Reindeer? So cute! They are very well made and in the USA.

http://www.maplelandmark.com/nametrains/nametrains_wrs.lasso
Oh wow, those are simple little works of art! Sprog would flip over the letter ones.

[Uno-Mom]

Thanks for the reviews and also tips for after-holiday deals! I'll definitely plan on checking those out if she doesn't get a billion trains for Christmas and birthday.

Thomas is too tall for the Maxim bridge and tunnel, too. :(. Which is funny because the Maxim engines seem plenty beefy. I think they're just more realistically shaped vs Thomas being chunkier and cuter. It is something to know, though, if anybody reads this and plans to mix sets. Thomas does fit very well on the tracks themselves.

[brittone2]

My kids never really were into Thomas as a character, as we didn't do the shows...we did some once DD was maybe 3-4 yo, but that was very rare. We did read the Awdry book a few times.

I went mostly with THomas because at the time I was buying, I could get great deals at AC Moore using 40% off coupons.

We have some Ikea, and a few older Brio trains.

If you want non commercial character trains, I was also going to recommend the Maplelandmark products that PP mentioned. They have several different scales for their trains, but one of the scales is compatible with Thomas and other wooden trains. We never had any of that scale, but we were gifted one of their larger scale trains when DS1 was very young. Our other products from that company have been great (schoolbus people mover and a few scoots over the years).

eta: we also had some Heros trains from a set purchased at Tuesday Morning years ago. Good quality IME. Ours came in a canister like container and was a small set. Here's a very small set on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Heros-Express-Super-Circle-Train/dp/B000LW4M06 Ours might have been one like this: http://www.amazon.com/Hero-48521-Super-40-Pieces/dp/B004IJB63E/ref=sr_1_3?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1351529250&sr=1-3&keywords=heros+train+german
They still make the Heros brand toys in Germany.

[Seitvonzu]

we have (well, had... i brought most everything to my mom's during the summer...she has more space and the trains get new life at her house) thomas, IKEA, circo, and other random sets. they are all "semi" compatible...like people said-- the thomas/ikea tracks don't work perfectly together, but they can be strongarmed if you want to :)

i LOVE maple landmark stuff, and if i had discovered them earlier we'd definitely have at least a name train. i always thing about the holiday trains too... maybe to have around our christmas tree on a track (that just reminded me that i like the idea of a train around the tree.... oh well!) here are a few i saw this morning that would be MUST haves for us if we were in a train frenzy:

we are totally into rainbows:
http://www.maplelandmark.com/detail.lasso?sku=10219

firetruck (just retro adorable to me):
http://www.maplelandmark.com/detail.lasso?sku=10224


and did you say you have a ladybug girl at your house?
http://www.maplelandmark.com/detail.lasso?sku=10338

i thought they used to have annual holiday trains, but i can't seem to find them on the website?
enjoy this phase!

[Jai]

Thomas is too tall for the Maxim bridge and tunnel, too. :(. Which is funny because the Maxim engines seem plenty beefy. I think they're just more realistically shaped vs Thomas being chunkier and cuter. It is something to know, though, if anybody reads this and plans to mix sets. Thomas does fit very well on the tracks themselves.

Thanks For this info. i was considering buying one of the Bigjig tunnels, and I never thought that it would not be compatible with our Thomas engine.

http://www.amazon.com/Bigjigs-Wooden-Expansion-Train-Tunnel/dp/B000YBL7OI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=ZJF90C6SR9UM&coliid=I6F8XKB47SITC

[larig]

Thanks For this info. i was considering buying one of the Bigjig tunnels, and I never thought that it would not be compatible with our Thomas engine.

http://www.amazon.com/Bigjigs-Wooden-Expansion-Train-Tunnel/dp/B000YBL7OI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=ZJF90C6SR9UM&coliid=I6F8XKB47SITC


DS collects Thomas stuff, but I like the big jig train stuff too (http://www.bigjigsrail.com/heritage-collection.html). I think their tunnels and other things are really cute. (http://www.bigjigsrail.com/accessories.html) The grand central station is adorable (don't have it). We have the grey stone & double tunnel and clickety bridge (http://www.amazon.com/Bigjigs-Toys-Clickety-Clack-Bridge/dp/B00745K644/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1351526378&sr=8-7&keywords=bigjig+rail). they all work great with the Thomas stuff.

[abh5e8]

we have thomas, brio and M&D, and the brio are by far the best quality. some of the M&D track pieces stick together, making building and clean up tougher. i also like that the brio trains are not characters, they are plain. the big e bay usually has lots of options...i've bought there before.

[abh5e8]

these trains http://www.happyhentoys.com/whittle-trains.html are very nice too...and made in St Louis, MO.

[AngelaS]

I'm a brio snob. That's what we have. I don't like character toys and the brio ones are sturdy, the paint is holding up great and we love the accessories.