LEGO Duplo Thomas & Friends - Thomas Load and Carry Train Set
by LEGO
Our Price: $393.40
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Category: Toy
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: LEGOBrand: LEGO
Release Date: 2006-06-12
Model: 4249295
Product features:
- 61-piece set
- Includes Thomas and 16 pieces of train tracks
- 19Lx4-1/2Hx11-1/4W"
- 4Hx11Wx19L"
Toys and Games Reviews of LEGO Duplo Thomas & Friends - Thomas Load and Carry Train Set
Customer Review: Great starter set, but budget for more tracks.
Summary: 5 Stars
Summary:
Top quality product from Lego as you have come to expect, allowing for hours and hours of fun (for the kids and parents) but be prepared to buy the other sets and extra tracks.
My Story:
My son was 18 months when I was looking for some sort of train set. I came across this really by chance at a store as I did not realise Lego made a Duplo series train set. Was initially looking at the wooden Thomas the tank engine sets, but those were incredibly expensive. In anycase, I bought this set first as a "tester" to see if my son would like it and also to test the durability of the toy. Passed with flying colours on both accounts.
The box itself is reasonably sized, but mostly filled with air. The Duplo parts are quite chunky. It comes with 1 very thin instruction manual. My initial impression of the tracks were that they were flimsy and didn't connect or stay connected together very well, but I quickly learned that they were pretty robust and the connection mechanisms were perfect for those with developing motor skills. They join together with a jigsaw type link. Thomas comes in 4 parts, the base with the wheels, his face, body and top cover of the body. Again very easy to assemble, great for the learning ones. There are quite few other bits like the train station, signal lights and loading tank.
The assembled set is a reasonable size (23" x 35" or 60 x 90cm) and fitted nicely on my son's play table. But as soon as I expanded the set with the other series and tracks, it has to be spread all over the floor. As a note, 6 curved tracks make a semi circle with a diameter of 23" or 60cm. The tracks work much better on a hard surface. If you put the tracks on carpet they do have a tendency of coming disconnected. The trains stay on the tracks very well (provided the tracks are on a hard surface) and don't often derail. Remember this set is a manual push train set. You can get the motorised 4.5V motorised train set which is also compatible, so that may be a great expansion option for when the kids are older.
Although it says its for 2-5 year, from a parts point of view it is safe as there are really no small parts to really choke on. When I first got it my son just loves to play with Thomas, taking the tracks and the various buildings apart, but after about a week or so he realised that the tracks needs to stay together and he leaves it alone now. After about 2 weeks or so he started putting the tracks together, shortly there after he started to put the Duplo brick pieces together. It will be a while before he actually assembles the tracks and bricks as it is suppose to but regardless, since we got the set, pretty much all his other toys are now collecting dust. I hope to get several years of play with this toy given the expandability and flexibility. Probably store it for a little while and bring it back out, especially during those cold winter months.
Recommendations:
If you are planning to get the extras, I recommend buying some sort of storage containers as they do take up some room. On the note of extras, if you are like me you will be wondering about what expansion options you can get. I have spent many hours researching this so here it a quick low down to save you some time. Firstly there are several of Thomas's friends available. These include Harold the Helicopter (3300), Cargo-Loading Cranky (3301), Percy at the Water Tower (5556), James at Knapford Station (5552) and Toby at Wellsworth (5555, although this doesn't seem to be available anymore in the US). 3 additional friends have just been released. This includes Gordon Express (3354), Spencer and Sir Topham Hatt (3353) and Salty the Dockyard Diesel (3352).
Secondly in terms of track expansion options there are several of these and certainly worth while additions to the already cool set. These are currently available: curved track (6 pack) (2735), straight track (6 pack) (2734), a bridge (3774), a level crossing (3773), and switching tracks (3775).
Thirdly, if you have been looking at the other Lego Duplo train sets (non-Thomas related) you would have noticed that the "Train Starter Set (3771)" has a Cross track (2737). You will then wonder, how can I buy the cross track? Well you can't, not new anymore anyway. This is where the research led me to a couple of things. 1, that there is an unofficial Lego Marketplace where you can find these and other discontinued Lego Duplo train parts. And 2, there use to be the Lego Duplo Intelli-Train series. This was an "intelligent" motorised series of train sets released in 2002 which has since been discontinued. Very cool indeed (as they get older). Just do a search on this to find out more. In any case over the years the Duplo Train series have had a number of supplemental items which we can no longer get, like the Intelli-Train Tunnel (3334) or the Stop/Start Rail (5027) to name a couple.
Finally, just a quick comment with regards to train track layouts. As the number of tracks expand the kids will have a great time working those imagination to come up with innovative and creative track layouts. For the parents, if you are thinking that you can just find example layouts on the internet, don't hold your breath. This will be tough. You will have to use your imagination along with your kids.
Description of LEGO Duplo Thomas & Friends - Thomas Load and Carry Train Set
Thomas has a big job to do today. Load him up at the cargo tower, and then send him on his way to Tidmouth Station. This set includes a cargo tower with a slide, so you can open it to drop cargo. It also features a full track that measures 23" x 35" plus a train signal and station. Hours of fun are just around the bend for Thomas and Friends fans. You'll even get over 7' of running track. It includes 16 track pieces. Set is compatible with the complete LEGO Duplo System.Building Sets Toys
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