Got Rock Jnr a Thomas train set in the sales last year for a future gift. He has just turned 4 and wondering if this Xmas he would be OK with it. I fear he might snap off the couplings etc that are fairly flimsy. Any experiences of this out there>
What is this, classic toy night?! 🙂
I'd reckon 4 is a tad too young for yer 'proper' Hornby stuff. It's expensive and quite delicate. I'd say 7, 8 years upwards really. Some of the parts are, as you say, quite fragile, and broken toys leads to tears. 😥
Just get more Thomas type stuff, no?
What is this, classic toy night?!
That's what I thought so I though the post would hit the right audience!!
I am thinking he might be too young. While he can be delicate if he applies himself, being a lad this lasts around 30 seconds then it's back to 100mph. He has a Brio set so I will add to that but sometimes it looks a little, well, babyish.
The other option is a lego train?
(back to classic toy thread)
Lego train FTW!
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'Hang on son; daddy's just fixing something..'
'But da-ad...'
ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
😀
WTF Elfin! you think an 8yr old wants anything to do with Thomas the tank engine!! 😯
My experience of train sets is not a good one. ie. being dragged by my Dad to geek at "model Railway" exhibitions where you couldn't even touch any of the grown mens toy trains or god forbid little hand painted figures and buildings. He also banned me from using my own train set for trying to set it up to crash the trains and using a permanent marker to draw big "hulk" footprints across the huge board that the sad bastard had carefully nailed the track to.
just build [b]your[/b] train set and don't worry if the lad breaks it 😉 kids break toys it's not really that big a deal.
Ps. if you hadn't bought it a year in advance you'd have been perfectly within your rights to take it back if it turned out not to be fit for it's purpose.
too cheap to miss out on TBH.
I know they break stuff but with the couplings, if they go then it kind of detracts from the fun of coupling up carraiges, points moving etc.
If it's a non-starter with the lad I will wrap if for my dad for Christmas. He keeps wittering about starting a layout and at 80, he probaly doesn't know about Thomas. Smiley face on the front of the engine may take a bit of explaining away tho!
is it this one?[img] 
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if so, there's a little clue on the top right corner of the box 😉
WTF Elfin! you think an 8yr old wants anything to do with Thomas the tank engine!!
No I din't say that. I said that 'proper' Hornby sets are perhaps more suited to kids of 7 or 8 upwards.
Have you seen the price of that stuff? A mate works selling it; some of the locos alone go for £60, £80 and more. You tell me you'd let a 4-year old loose with stuff costing that much??
Ah, Ok.. You didn't make it clear you were just being completely irrelivent. It is STW after all, I should have known 😳
while we're off topic, £60-£80 doesn't buy an awful lot when it comes to kids toys these days.
Doh
Sorry, din't read it propply. Thought yer lad already had Thomas stuff, and you were thinking about getting a 'proper' set. Silly me! 😳
Yeah Thomas stuff is probbly fine; more robust and simple than standard gear. Best suited to 'supervised' play though to be on the safe side I'd say.
...according to my father - about 18 years old 🙂
Personally as said ^^ I'd agree that 4 was too young to play with trains and track by himself (they can reach a fair old speed) but it's a great thing to do together, even the more robust 'Thomas' stuff.
I spent a great portion of my boyhood gazing longingly at the huge train-set my Dad had built in a section of our loft whilst he busied himself changing points, sending trains back and forth and generally geeking out. We were allowed to control the engines under supervision and help out with construction of stations / cuttings / painting trees and people sometimes but laying / adjusting / changing track etc was a no-no.
<gets all misty-eyed about days spent with Dad modelling tunnels with paper-mache>
Oh and yes, it's not cheap, even 25 years ago a the purchase of a loco and carriages would land my Dad in trouble with Mum 🙂
I will wrap if for my dad for Christmas. He keeps wittering about starting a layout and at 80, he probaly doesn't know about Thomas. Smiley face on the front of the engine may take a bit of explaining away tho!
You do realise that Thomas the Tank Engine was first published in 1945 right?
My kids (2 and 9) still love the plastic Tomy Toys - a bit more grown up than Brio, battery operated and fairly cheap especially second hand - we must have about 6 Thomas now though!
I wouldn't trust my 9 year olds with a real Hornby - would last about 5 minutes!
Brio. Last time I looked it was silly expensive (we ended up getting ours an Ikea set that was a complete rip-off of the Brio and about £10 for the lot)
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And even then he will probably still feel the self-conscious twinge of uber-geekdom putting pressure on his temples and causing his love spuds to withdraw back into his body..
That's the inherent design fault in trainsets.. by the time you are mature enough to deal with one.. you have also reached the age where TV.. football.. girls.. redbull and internet porn are higher on the list of priorities..
I had a basic Hornby trainset when I was 3, oval of track with a passing loop pinned to a baseboard and that, didn't break anything! They have now re-released all the older models in their 'Railroad' range, foregoes a lot of the detail and small parts, but the prices are very reasonable, and they're great for small fingers.
Now scheming if I can fit a reasonable n gauge layout in the spare bedroom without SWMBO having a fit!
N-gauge, what the little tiny one? Now if you think Hornby/00 is expensive, then sit down before you look at n-gauge prices... 😯
Very tiny and definitely not suitable for kiddies!
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Without supervision, I'd say somewhere between 5 and 16 (and change at any hour), based upon my 3...
N-gauge, what the little tiny one? Now if you think Hornby/00 is expensive, then sit down before you look at n-gauge prices...
N gauge is basically half OO, quite reasonable. Prices aren't really any worse than decent OO gauge stuff either, sure there's cheap stuff, like the Hornby Railroad, but pukka stuff is about the same in N or OO. My Dad's got a significant HOm collection, and G Scale in the garden, [i]that's[/i] expensive!
T-scale is the ultimate if space is at a premium:
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How shitting tiny is that??? 😯 I bet that costs a bastard fortune!
BTW; who's been rude about GW in the tags? Is that necessary? 🙄
GW - Member
is it this one?
no, but very similar...had a look at mine and it does say 3+ but that's just a marketing ploy to widen the customer base.
Brio. Last time I looked it was silly expensive (we ended up getting ours an Ikea set that was a complete rip-off of the Brio and about £10 for the lot)
Yes...brio is dear but I managed to pick a load up from TK Max, including the smart train system that has the engine, sounds and automatice operation so quite effective. Just looking a little young for him now.
Looked at the engine and wagons last night and still unsure what to do and it's onle 3 months to christmas.
Id say 40 plus for a train set
Thanks for all the advice. He's having it. By the time he can handle it he won't be into Thomas so it's a no win situation.
I had that Thomas one at the age of 4 apparently but can't guarantee my old mans memory on that! Think I was left unsupervised when playing with it but just had help setting out the board as it was 4x6'! Just dont warn him not to lick his fingers and touch both the lines