Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Set
by Melissa & Doug
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List Price: Our Price: $73.44 You Save: $56.55 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $69.99 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Set
Customer Review: Poorly fitting track makes this difficult to use
Summary: 1 Stars
I am shocked at all the glowing reviews for this train set. I bought this to supplement my son's Thomas sets, since Thomas is so expensive.
The tracks with this set are very shoddy. They don't stay together well at all. My son would get constantly frustrated with how the tracks fell apart. I bought the Suretrack clips and even with them on every single join, the tracks are still wobbly. The Thomas tracks stay together much better.
I was willing to accept this, because Thomas tracks are so much more expensive until I bought Kidkraft Limited Edition Waterfall Mountain Train Table and Train Set W/drawers. This is a full-size train table and train set for $150. The tracks that came with this set are just as good as the Thomas tracks for staying together. They aren't as pretty or detailed as the Thomas tracks, but they are equally functional. If this cheap set can work as well as Thomas tracks there is no excuse for this M&D set not to.
I unfortunately bought this set ahead of time by a few months so am unable to return it, which is what I really want to do. Sometimes a cheap item isn't worth what you pay for it. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to Thomas trains I'd go with on of the Kidcraft sets before this one. I'm using a couple of the connector/splitter pieces of this set in our train set-up but almost the whole set just sits unused in our garage because the quality just isn't there. It isn't worth it to have my son whining every minute because Thomas keeps derailing off the M&D tracks.
I found this toy's low price tag was totally offset by the need to purchase Sureclips at $30+shipping. Go with a more expensive set that actually holds together. It doesn't have to be the super-expensive Thomas set.
Customer Review: The Best Value in Wooden Railway
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the track you should start with. The Melissa and Doug Wooden Railway set is comparable in quality to the Brio set my brother got for Christmas two decades ago, the set my children still play with when they visit Nana and Papa. I expect this set to last as long.
You can build the set on the box cover with the track sections and M&D provide other design ideas. My son and I put together a track that covered a 4' x 4' space on the floor featuring a railyard, expansion bridge, roundhouse, and 4 rail lines. We even used the included trees along with separately purchased M&D wooden animals to make a nature preserve. We have been occupied for hours over the holidays and I think I like the set as much as he does.
I will say that the engines and cars that come with the set aren't nearly the quality of Thomas & Friends cars. They look generic and the plastic wheels wobble on exposed rivets, but I'll let that slide because I know I got an awesome value with the rest of the set. My son loves Thomas & Friends and those cars fit the M&D set perfectly. We just use the cars that come with the set as "heavy loads" for his T&F engines.
With the money you save on this set, I suggest you also buy two boxes of Suretrack to secure the bridges and elevated portions of the track. My 18-month old daughter can't separate the junctions that are sure-tracked together. Without the Suretrack making bridges with any brand of wooden track is a balancing act, and bridge collapses can lead to emotional breakdowns in toddlers. :) Suretrack
Customer Review: Great train set for a kid interested in trains
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought this train set at first because we didn't want Thomas the Train, but we wanted something durable. We have a few Melissa & Doug toys, and they are really well-built. Our son LOVES this set. It comes with a few different train configurations to get started, but even at two years old, he is starting to develop his own configuration. We build our tracks on our really old, low quality carpet, so we don't have to worry as much about the train tracks coming apart, but you can invest in some SureTrack if that might be a problem. One thing that is hard for us is that the elevated portion of the track falls easily (because of the lack of stability on our carpet and the lack of self awareness of a two-year-old). We haven't used the bridges that often unless they are shored up against some furniture. All in all, the train set is exactly what we wanted, mostly track, some trains, and very few filler pieces (trees, signs, people, etc.)
UPDATE:
After owning the set for almost four months, we love it more now than when we first received it. My son plays with it everyday (he is now 2 years, 8 months) and my daughter (7.5 months) tries to play with it as well. He has really gotten the hang of putting up the bridges, which in turn helps his fine motor control. We don't use a train table, but because of this, he has learned how to be more careful around the track so as not to knock it over. We have augmented the set with some other straight track, curved track and some bridges, but because of the included track designs, this really wasn't needed. If you are looking for a starter set, this is definitely the one to buy!
Customer Review: Not quite what I expected
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading other reviews for this product, I had high expectations for the quality of this train set. While it is acceptable for the price paid, it is not up to par with the Thomas train sets. My son already had a Thomas starter set and a few of the Thomas trains and the quality difference between the two sets is obvious.
--> Wheels are wobbly on all of the trains and do not stay on the track well. This is not an issue with the Thomas trains.
--> Paint is not particularly durable. These trains show more wear after a week of use than the Thomas trains do being several months older.
--> Detail is lacking, there is no comparison to the Thomas pieces. Roundhouse, crane, and other structures are very plain, no texture to the tracks and straight track pieces are flat on the underside whereas the Thomas track reverses to be road.
--> Crane/cargo lift doesn't lower with the crank, you have to grab the string and pull it out. It is also assembled and glued crooked so it barely slides on the dowels.
--> Suspension bridge is also not straight and acts like a teeter totter as you try to pass trains over it.
--> At least half of the provided layout ideas don't transfer from the paper to the real wooden track so well. Fit and function isn't quite right with all the pieces.
This set is still a very good value at the price Amazon is offering it at - similar Thomas sets I've seen were at least 5 times the price. I would still buy this set again, just be realistic about what you are buying, especially if you are already familiar with the Thomas trains/sets.
Customer Review: Fun and sturdy but...
Summary: 4 Stars
I am happy with this product, it is good quality and provides a lot of fun for our 2 and 3 year old kids. The reason I am giving it only 4 stars is that the traks that go up/ the bridge, are not stable at all, they get knocked down very easily, even if we are using the sure tracks to help them stay together. By the way, the train set SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED these sure tracks, why do we have to buy them separate, when the tracks don't stay up at all without them. And it is not only that you have to pay $25 more for two sets of sure tracks, but if you don't read the reviews, you don't know you need them too and have to make another purchase...
I don't know how Thomas tracks stay together, so maybe they are the same when it's about the wooden tracks. I heard that the plastic tracks stay together better. I agree with what other reviewer said that the parents have to waste their time putting these tracks together all the time, OR glue them on the train table, as many did. I understand now why! Our kids like to put the tracks together but they can't do a whole layout yet, so they always need help.
I love about this train set that it is BIG, lots of pieces and it comes with 2 trains with more cars/tenders, (express train/ passenger train), and a truck. I can say that I like them even more than the Thomas trains (we have both). By the way, they ARE compatible!
I am not sorry I got this train set, especially that it is about 4 times cheaper than Thomas train sets of this size. And I think that Thomas trains have the same issue about the tracks, as many parents glued the tracks on the train table too.