smyths-toy-store-sale-off

Wonderful
I recieved the train set and set up in the preschool class during the summer. The children loved and we played together while talking.

Poorly fitting track makes this difficult to use
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 0. 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 +shipping. Go with a more expensive set that actually holds together. It doesn't have to be the super-expensive Thomas set.

Wonderful product
We bought this for my son's 2nd birthday. He was so excited to open it and put it together. This is definately a toy that will last a long time. His 7 year old cousin has fun playing with him and so do his grandparents. It's a great toy for all ages. At first he knocked the bridges over a lot but he learned to be more careful and we learned to only make bridges sometimes. He is 32 months now and makes a playable track by himself and plays without needing our help. His tracks are incomplete but he makes a more elaborate one each time. We didn't get a table because we don't have the space and it's nice to put it away when he isn't palying with it.

hope you have patience...
We got this for my 2yo. It took my husband and I over an hour to put it together. Many of the pieces just did not fit. I was a good thing we had some other Brio and Thomas tracks to substitute. And don't even bother trying to follow the diagram tht comes with it. It's not even close. It was such a pain that once we got it assembled, we decided to glue it to the train table because I didn't EVER want to do that again. Also, the quality of the trains are not as good as the Thomas ones. However, at , it was much more affordable than Thomas. That being said, both my 2 and 4 year old LOVE it and play with it for hours.

great train set for the $, a few construction issues
My son absolutely LOVES his wooden train sets (he started with the 2 starter sets {Thomas the Tank Engine and Imaginarium}) so we wanted to add to his collection and looked into many expansion sets before deciding on this set. for many reasons we love this set: first of all, this set is a great set for the cost!!! and is compatible with his other train sets. Secondly, we love that this set comes with so many actual train tracks pieces and structures, other sets were mostly trees and signs. The quality and quantity of items that come with this set is amazing and we would definately purchase this set again.
But with that said, there are a few construction issues that when compared to other sets; this wooden train set is slightly inferior. First the bridge is not the best design, no matter how you try to support it (we gave up using their wooden supports and use the Imaginarium plastic supports instead)the bridge consistantly collapses. Secondly the wooden supports, don't stay in place and cause the train tracks to fall off, so we no longer use them and just place the majority of the track on the floor; using the wooden supports more for blocks than anything else.
Besides the bridge and supports, I am extremely pleased with this wooden train set and would definately recommend it to others!