quick help - electric train set for 7-8 year old

[m448]

under $100.

I'm trying to track one down for my son and he's a very patient, meticulous kid who cares for his things but the typical lionel stuff is coming up as fussy and/or hard to keep together but I'm not sure geotrax would work for him since he's a bit older (although he still plays with all his wooden train sets).

Then I saw the thomas trackmaster stuff. Any ideas for a reliable electric train set that won't break the bank?

[megs4413]

My DS has been playing with his Thomas trackmaster stuff for years. I think we started with it maybe 3 years ago and just kept buying additional stuff for it since then. They take a beating and we haven't broken a single piece. I keep it all together in a fabric cube and it's lightweight despite having a ton of tracks and trains, so DS can take it out and play with it without help. I'm not a tiny train afficionado, but I can't imagine a set working better for us than the Thomas stuff does.

[Gena]

At that age, some kids consider Thomas too babyish.

The Tomica World trains are nice and run well. They are actually compatible with the old blue-track Thomas trains (the forerunner to Trackmaster). DS has several of these sets at his grandparents' house and he plays with them almost non-stop when we are there.

TRU carries them and so does Amazon. This is a great set:
http://www.amazon.com/Tomica-Mega-Station-Hypercity-Set/dp/B00444OQ1W/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1354296782&sr=8-5&keywords=tomica+train

At home we have wooden trains, HO scale trains, and Lionel, so we leave the Tomica sets at the grandparents' house.

[m448]

Ooooh thank you both so much! DH really wants a realistic G or O scale set but unless you're a collector and willing to shell out $$$$ the reviews for the ones in the past couple of years say they are beautiful but break within a few months.

I'm leaning towards the Tomica stuff and took a look at it in Toys r Us the other day. The best part is that with an adapter piece you can use the Thomas Trackmaster stuff from current set or if I can find the old Thomas motorize stuff from before the Fisher Price those will fit since they were made by Tomica.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our 8 and 11 year old neighbors love our Geotrax. They make super cool layouts. I wouldn't rule them out.

[MizMojoLaveau]

Just saw some Tomica track and a train in TJ Maxx the other day FWIW...