Reviews (3)

A quiet meal!!
This is the best ten bucks I ever spent. My two year old doesn't yet know how to sit still or let the grown-ups talk durring dinner out. This toy lets us have a nice relaxing meal. We save it for dinners out or for when company comes. This way he can be at the table with all of us and neither me nor my DH have to take him away and miss the conversation. I will definitely buy a second one for my youngest when he is old enought.

Great entertainment for planes!
I bought this toy for my 20 month old when we had to take a plane across country by ourselves. He loved it - it kept him occupied for a good half hour...which at 20 months is quite a lot to ask! I recommend it to anyone who needs to amuse a little one in a seat for an extended period of time. And you don't need to wait until he is three.

GREAT TOY FOR RESTUARANTS
I just got this for my 3 year old Thomas fanatic son. We were going to a fancy restuarant for my dads birthday and I wanted him to behave. Well, this tiny little toy kept him busy the entire time. He absolutely loved it. My only complaint is that the little peices (the horses) kept falling off the table. Other than that, I cant wait for them to come out with more of these toys. Excellent idea. It fit in my purse perfectly, all the peices fit inside very well with no force necessary- he did all the work himself. For the price, excellent value. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Havey is great but....
My 4 year old adores Harvey and has great fun "rescuing" the other trains when they de-rail.
There is one problem : with the overhead crane feature, Harvey doesn't fit under the Stop and Go station (the crane arm bumps into the Go sign if it is in the forward position).

Harvey Rules
Harvey is a crane engine who was introduced in Salty's Secret. He can pull the other engines along with coaches or trucks. His magnet works perfectly and Harvey is espically good for your money.

Very durable
I was a little worried to purchase harvey fearing that the crane would break, or the string would snap. But to my pleasent surprise, there hasn't been a single problem! My son will use the magnet hanging off his crane to tow other trains around.

A Very Useful Engine With a Crane!
Harvey is a crane engine. He is designed to help if trains get into accidents. He has a bright, shiny face and his crane rotates. As with other engines in the Thomas collection, Harvey is strongly built for hours of fun interactive play. Harvey is sure to be a welcome addition to any Thomas collection. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Compatible with wood Thomas sets; More durable than plastic
This metal battery operated Lady engine and her metal battery operated companions (Thomas, Percy, etc.) are for use with the wooden track. There are larger plastic battery operated engines that fit both the wooden track and the blue plastic track by Tomy.

This is a great product. Very well-constructed. Very durable. It can be switched on, go forward or backward, and it can be pushed manually--another reviewer complained that it could not be pushed, but it can be pushed.

Purchasing recommendation:
* Wait until appropriate age: Our son started with Thomas when he was 18 months old, but we did not buy any battery engines until he was 3. We wanted for him to use his imagination in pushing and pulling for a while. Now he sometimes sits back and just watches the battery engines, while at other times he pushes them.

* The metal engines are more durable: The metal engines cost more than the larger plastic battery-operated engines, but they are far more durable. They feel solid in the hand. They go both forward and backwards, while the plastic engines only go forward. They pull the wooden cars that your child may already have. They're just a better fit!

My son loves Lady
My 2 1/2 year old loves all things Thomas. I had bought this for him a while ago as I thought he would enjoy watching it go around the track on its own. Initially he wanted nothing to do with it. Recently however, he started appreciating it more and now any time he is playing with his Thomas toys, Lady must be going around the track. In fact he never wants it turned off! The train itself is very durable and can pull almost all his other trains (and he has a lot of them). I also bought him battery-operated Percy but he doesn't work as well as "Big Lady". In fact I returned Percy to the store twice already as they were defective. I would recommend Lady to anyone who had the train setup, it is great to watch and also makes my son try to logically constuct tracks that she can follow to get around to all the buildings, bridges and tunnels

Lady IS a really useful engine!
My son enjoys the battery powered Lady VERY much. We recently got the battery powered Percy for his 3rd birthday, and Lady appears to be the better engine. You can move her forward or backward when she isn't turned on (Percy's wheels only move when he is turned on - you can't make him go backward) - and she stays on the track really well (Percy comes off at switches and sometimes curves). I would highly recommend the battery powered lady for any Thomas enthusiast! ... Read more

Features

• Electronic sounds and shape-sorting car
• Numerous activities to fuel young imaginations
• Flashing lights signals car broke down
• Match tool to hole to "fix" car and move it on
• Makes realistic car sounds and plays melodies

Editorial Review

This Motorized Power Digger will put young builders on the wayto construction paradise. The hands-on controls drive the durableplastic vehicle straight forward or backward in a circle, and they alsomanipulate the power arm. The cab with its power arm swivels 180degrees, lights flash, and engine or warning sounds play while thedigger is moving. Buttons located on the side of the cab also triggerthe lights and sounds for manual play. Small parts are a choking hazardfor young children. Requires two AA batteries (included). --JayWeinland ... Read more

Reviews (2)

broken within a month
My son loved this toy. I, on the other hand, did not. The batteries wore down way to quick, the plastic hydrolic on the shovel was contantly coming off & needed keeping track of, and lastly, after about a month the shovel broke right off. My son was heartbroken. He want's another funrise tonka but I really don't want to take a chance.

Our little boy loves this!
Our two-year old received this when he was 18 months old and he is now just starting to enjoy it. It is durable, but sometimes the rubber track comes off, but it is easily replaced. He spends lots of time putting it on various surfaces - indoors and out. This is a winner. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

BORING and confusing
Well, I bought this track and found that after adding it to the track layout of the trains which my son plays with, first, it confuses him since he sees another "Choo Choo" car which in fact isn't a choo choo, but I can't explain that to a 2 year old.

The next bad part is that the extra tracks are part of the package. So when you clean up, you have a box full of tracks of which some just isn't compatible since a curved roadway track is not very useful when laying out a track for the choo choo.

Well, the boring part comes when you set up the road way and you can't quite explain to your kid that the little red car is for the roadway and the other ones are for the rail way. Of course then he takes the red car, puts it on the road and tries to add more cars behind the car since he believes that they're all supposed to daisy chain. At this point he gives up and just plays with the trains.

There's no real benefit to a small child to add this confusion to the system. I love Thomas the Train and I hope they focus more on the rail way and ditch the cars, they aren't that much fun and I have to keep them in a separate box so that it doesn't confuse my son.

P.S. - Of course the toy isn't really meant for 2 year olds, but when we have friends visiting, it tends to confuse the older (3-4 year) kids as well and they never bother with them. In fact, one friend actually picked out a curved roadway piece and pretended it was a grenade. He pretended to pull a pin out of it with his teeth, spit the pin out and then threw the piece across the room and said "vvvvvvvvv... BOOM!" ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Fascinating!
My Friend's son has this toy and it's the most fought over toy in the house. Young children are extremely fascinated by garbage trucks and there is a huge toy void in this area...it's very difficult to find these anywhere! My son wants one so bad. It's nice and big and functions like a real one. You can dump "garbage" in the top with the fork lift and removable dumpster and dump it out the back. It's set up like the real thing!(That's what makes it so cool). It's strong enough to support them if they want to sit on it and ride it all around. It even lasts through the fighting, tugging and pulling. Until this toy is available, we'll just have to keep watching the real thing outside and sharing this cool toy. ... Read more

Editorial Review

With so much going on in this multi-level parking garage, kids could be occupied all day. The first level features a convenience store with gasoline pumps for fueling up. Kids can park cars on one of the three upper tiers and send them zooming down again to exit at either a drop-down ramp or a switch-controlled ramp with a lift-up barrier at the end. A flip-up car launcher on the third tier gets cars up to the very top to meet guests on the helipad where the movable helicopter arrives. A lane switching gate on the third floor blocks one of the two exit ramps on this tier to prevent accidents. The accompanying pretend two-way radio has a light-up antennae and plays four realistic sounds, including a car horn and a helicopter motor. A working microphone on the radio lets kids give instructions to the parking attendants and store employees. The garage comes with 12 die-cast vehicles, ranging from 18-wheelers to sports cars—and even an ice-cream truck. This toy requires three AAA batteries for operation and a parents’ assistance for assembly. --Cristina Vaamonde ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Garage Playset Review
This toy is loads of fun, if only it wouldn't break. Within a day of having it, ramp pieces broke off, and broke where they affix to other parts, so that they could not be used anymore. This toy is not durable, nor do the pieces stay together well even when they're not broken.

delicate
My 3 year old son loves this toy but cannot manage to assemble it himself. After ours of adults trying to assemble it, I had to download a picture of it assembled to figure it out. The plastic tabs that hold the pieces together are fragile and break off easily. The other plastic parts are durable and the diecast cars are great. They are not much use if I have to glue the pieces together just for him to play.

Cheap Plastic
My 3 year old son received this as a birthday gift 3 weeks ago, he had wanted it after seeing the picture on the box. It took quite a bit of time because there were so many pieces! One of the ramps, the tabs would not clasp together, so my husband put tape on it to make it stick. The yellow base constantly breaks apart, which then makes the whole thing fall apart. My son played it with only 2 days before he became frustrated. A better toy is the Fisher Price Little People Ramps Around Garage, which he received for Christmas. It's very sturdy, the tabs are thick and lock properly, and assembly is fairly easy.

Piece of JUNK!!!
My very first review ever - never hated something so much that I felt I ought to let the public know so they don't make the same mistake. Read these other reviews - they're a lot nicer than what I'm going to say here. Not only do the ramps fall apart and the thing is like a HOUSE OF CARDS, but the stickers/decals on this thing is also CHEAPPPPPPPP! They keep peeling off or falling off. It's like George Costanza got the cheap wedding invitations and the glue on the envelopes were poison. They must have used the same adhesives on their decals. NOT WORTH THE MONEY OR THE AGGRAVATION. I'm wondering how I can get rid of this P.O.S. that is less than a month old (today is 1/13/04 and he got it for Xmas). Already one of the ramps is broken and I've used Elmer's glue on about 4 or 5 of the decals/stickers to keep the stupid things on.

Faulty
This toy falls apart frequently. The ramps come off often. The small pieces that attach the ramps break. The plastic is not durable. My 3 yr old daughter broke a small plastic lever that starts a car on it's way down the ramps. My daughter is often aggravated by this toy. She would really like the garage if it was more durable. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Hippo opens and closes its mouth as you move the train
I wish all the expansion cars had as much thought put into them as this set does.

The Hippo's mouth opens and closes as you move the train. The animal cage car has a sliding door. My 2 year old loves both.

Other cars to check out: The gold prospecting car which tumbles gold rocks as it moves. ... Read more

Editorial Review

What good is owning a whole fleet of die cast racing vehicles if they end up sprawled across a bedroom floor or buried in the bottom of a toy box? This clever toy within a toy system features 18 racecars of varying shapes and sizes as well as a sizable truck to tote them around with.The truck, which wheels about quite nicely on its own, has 18 individual clear plastic compartments, each of which could probably also hold most Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars. The smaller cars rolled about the tabletop quite capably during our informal test and we liked the idea of a convenient storage system that can join in the fun and excitement of pretend play. --Charlie Williams ... Read more

Editorial Review

Skarloey #1 is a small, bright-red freight engine. He's a strong, humble worker. Based on the award-winning television series Shining Time Station by the Reverend W. Awdry, the Thomas the Tank train system fulfills the enduring choo-choo train fantasies of all children. Each vehicle has a different name, character, and face. It is wooden and 2 inches high with black plastic wheels. The magnetic bumpers at both ends of each engine make linkup easy. Children will become friends with each one, developing not only imaginative play but social skills and new motor and cognitive skills as they mature. --Sandy Hirsch ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Skarloey doesn't seem old in person
In the stories Skarloey is a older engine whose parts get worn and he has to go to the works. His friend Rhenas is also old but they are both very useful. Just becasue he's old in the stories doesn't mean he has to be old with the wooden railway. A great buy and he's very durable also.

A Bright Red Engine!
Skarloey is a small red tank engine. He and his friend Rheneas work on a small branch line. Skarloey has six wheels and a happy, smiling face. He's built strong for lots of fun play. Pick up Skarloey for your child. He'll make a fine addition to any Thomas set.

skarloey
Skarloey is a wonderful engine. He is really old.he is almost 100 years. He is always very useful. His best friend who is Rheneas is about as old as Skarloey is. One day, before being mended, one of his springs snapped! The next thing his driver and fireman knew, he was crooked. He was sent away to be mended. When he got home from being mended, Rusty, who is a diesel, helped him off a truck. Then he went to the shed and Peter Sam who is an engine on his railway, talked to Skarloey about a new engine called Duncan. Duncan does rock and roll on the tracks. Skarloey asked Peter Sam questions like who is Duncan and is he useful. Peter Sam could answer every question Skarloey asked. I am afraid Peter Sam knew lots about Duncan although Duncan had been on the railway only for about a month. By Robert Spencer-Molloy ... Read more

Reviews (1)

wow
well, i really love this toy because it really helps a lot to my kid when it comes to things that he packed up...wow!!! really fascinating.. i know u will also enjoy this product ... ... Read more

Editorial Review

Slow and steady and always with a smile, Terence is a red tractor withcaterpillar tracks who never hesitates whenever an emergency pull is needed.Based on the award-winning PBS television series Shining Time Station by theRev. W. Awdry, the Thomas the Tank train system is the perfect child's train set. Eachwooden vehicle has a different name, character, and face. The magnetic bumpers makelinking up easy. Friendly characters will engage your child in hours of imaginary play.Designed to support your child's development, the system encourages the use of newmotor and cognitive skills. --Sandy Hirsch ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Not as well made as the others
The caterpillar "wheels" on Terrance's regular wheels are removable which, any Mom will tell you, is a pain in the rear to continually have to keep putting back on. We finally ditched the caterpillar covers and just use Terrance as a regular train car. Unfortunately, he has no magnetic button on his front, so he always has to be the front "engine". This is more of a filler toy for your set should you decide you really want him. Thankfully, ours came as an extra with a LTD EDITION video. There are so many other great cars to purchase, I'd say skip this one and purchase another.

Terrence..got used to him
Well, I bought Terrence a long time ago. As soon as he was taken out of his box, his treads were off. After spending numerous hours looking for them, I decided to leave them off & put them in a safe place. That's the best thing that one can do. Besides, it's really no fun to have a Thomas train that you can't use with the others. So, take my advice, just take the treads off as soon as you take him out of the box. Good luck!

New Design
Well when we purchased this toy we had read the reviews here and expected the treads to come off all the time. Well, lo and behold our version of terence doesn't do this. They've redesigned him and the treads do not come off. He fits on the track but does not roll like the other trains. Pressure has to be applied and his wheels will turn but he can in no way roll down a hill on his own. You could cut the treads but the wheels don't appear to be the right size. Sometimes the treads get off their wheel grooves a bit and they seem like they may stretch out. Our son still loves "Terdence" but I would almost prefer having the old style so we could remove the treads and he would roll freely. Messes up the track too if it's not secure. The store had both versions I now know and may buy the other one. Difficult to make everyone happy I realize, Dad probably is more concerned about it than his son :)

The Tractors Don't Stay On!
My 3 year old wanted this toy, but like someone else noted, the "caterpillars" came off soon after taking Terence out of the package. Terence now goes on the rails but think that should have made the caterpillars a bit more durable. Had to toss them so my 14 month old doesn't put them in her mouth.

Treads come off all to easy!
I purchased this for my 3 year old son and no sooner than we had taken him out of the box and ran it on the table the treads came off. I am constantly looking for the treads, or fixing them. All the other Thomas toys we have are great, but Terrance doesn't seem as durable as the others, thus making this toy in my opinion a flop. ... Read more

Editorial Review

What child who doesn't love Thomas the Tank's friendly face? The Thomas Medium set is a great introduction--or addition--to Thomas the Tank's world. The set comes complete with a train station, a traffic light, a little greenery and even a drawbridge. This "unique motorized road and rail system" is compatible with all other Thomas the Tank engine sets so you can easily add additional tracks or collect all of Thomas the Tank's friends. --Andrea Linsky ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Thomas Train a Really Useful and FUN Engine
This Thomas the Train set is a huge hit with the 3 kids in our house: my girls, ages 2 and 4, and my husband! The interlocking track is easy enough for my youngest daughter to attach (and detach, which she prefers to do). The trains run on the track, on the floor, and even the carpet (slowly). The drawbridge works like a charm. My oldest loves the lever to stop one train (usually to cause a wreck with another oncoming train). The set comes with Thomas and cars Annie and Clarabel. Toys R Us had a sale, so we also bought a Percy, Gordon, and James. It's a good thing we did! Christmas Day my husband had trouble releasing the catch to install the batteries in Thomas and Percy. The instructions (graphics only, no words) were no help at all. Fortunately the batteries in Gordon and James are easily installed into their coal cars. We took the Thomas and Percy back to the store for help. We like this set so much we plan to buy additional track.

Hundreds of Hours of Fun
My 7-year old son still continues to play with this set and all the other related Thomas sets we have. We started collecting these pieces when he was 3 years old. He's been able to put this track together in so many different ways with little or no help from the start. He has a huge toybox full of this train set now. After 4 years, 2 of our 3 bridges broke after being stepped on. We have glued one back together and now it works just fine. None of the bridges have their sides anymore, but the trains work just fine and stay on the tracks very well. Only one piece of track has ever broken, which says a lot for it's durability. You have to be a little careful with the trains with the tenders, i.e. attached second car, like Gordon, Henry, etc. (Not included in this set). The batteries are placed in the tender and 2 wires connect the train front to the tender. If these wires get pulled roughly, the train will no longer work. As I said though, we've had this set for over 4 years and only lost a handful of trains. My son no longer watches Thomas videos or cares to spend a "Day out with Thomas", but he continues to play with this train set and ask for the newest pieces for Christmas and birthdays. We don't mind buying them either. It's a worthwhile gift to buy as it is durable and gets a lot of use.

The Thomas World Medium Set
This was my son's very first Thomas set from Tomica--or any other manufacturer. It was a gift from his aunt at Christmas. After watching him play with this set, I knew we had to purchase more like it. My wife thought we should invest in the wooden series of Thomas toys. But I said, "No way". The toys from Tomica look more like the engines from the Thomas television series, they are every bit as durable as the wooden ones (if not more so), and they are cheaper in the long run. The wooden trains look like only a 2-4 year old would ever play with them. But, Tomica toys are mature enough to please children beyond those ages and still hold up to the abuse of little engineers. We have since added numerous engines, track, and accessories to the set--most of which are available thru this Toys-R-Us website. Even my other son started out his railway with this set. It's a fine toy for any young Thomas fan.

Great Toy Train!!
My boys (ages 3 and 5) have been playing with the wooden Thomas set since the oldest was 18 months old. We received this set as a gift, and they have loved it just as much/if not more! One major plus is that the wooden series of Thomas trains rides smoothly on the blue Tomica track in this set!
This set has been EXTREMELy durable and works just as well with batteries as it does without. We were afraid the wheels wouldn't turn if batteries weren't being used, but this is not the case. The track is easily assembled by small hands and Thomas stays on the track. Thomas also stays on the track very well! We are currently looking for the Gordon that is pictured as an accessory on the box for this set. We are having difficulty finding him, but we won't give up! GREAT TOY!

great gift idea
This set was purchased for my 2 year old son. He and his 3 1/2 year old brother both love Thomas. Both boys play equally well with the set, although the older one is already reconfiguring the track layout (guess I need the expansion set). The train runs equally well with or without the battery turned on and I like that it only requires one battery (batteries get expensive when you need an average of four per toy). The train and track seem to be holding up well, the boys are having lots of fun with it, and it is very pre-schooler friendly. It's a cute toy, great price, and a great gift idea for any train-loving boy or girl! ... Read more