Thomas Train, Why So Expensive?

Ikea has a simple train set for $10. An additional 3-piece train set is $3.99 and the 10-pack rail is $6.99. Unfortunately, you cannot purchase these online but there are plenty at the store in Frisco. The sets do have small parts, so they are not recommended for children under 3. That being said, my daughter, now 3 1/2, has loved her trains for over a year.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/11673/

I dont think you need the Thomas table or even the tracks, but the kids really care about the actual trains. So, do what we did and buy a set of trains used from craigslist and put together any table you want. We still spent $80, which felt strange, but we got about 14 trains, and they are a big hit. My sister got her daughter a train set at the same time,but there are no Thomas trains, and she knows it. She asks to play with ours all of the time. I would not, however, buy it too young. My son got his for his 3rd birthday, which worked out pretty well. Good luck ~A.~

Check out the wooden train sets at Target. They are on the same aisle as Thomas, but around $30 or less and come with a few trains, people, trees, signs and wooden tracks. Then you could just buy one wooden Thomas. THat is what we did and the wooden Thomas trains work just fine on the generic set. My twins are 3 and adore Thomas and it has been just fine, and they pretend the other generic cars are other Thomas figures (i.e. they call the green one Percy). They've had no issues with putting the tracks together and they're sturdy.

we just went through this decision too! I have several train loving nephews so after consulting with my sister in laws we got the imaginarium train table from toys r us. it was 159.00 with the set and table and it is awesome! my 2 yr old son loves it! you can use the thomas engines with this set too. save your money, you can buy a few thomas pieces to go with this set if your son really loves thomas....

Personally I don't think it's worth the $$$ to have all Thomas brand stuff. Last Christmas we bought our son a train table and train set from Target for $120 then purchased an individual wooden Thomas engine. At the time he wasn't really into Thomas but liked trains in general. Now he watches the tv show on PBS and is a huge Thomas fan. He plays on his train table daily and even imagines his train stuff as Thomas' friends. He only cares about the individual engines so we're planning to purchase some for Christmas and birthday. In the end this has been a cheaper route for us and our kiddo is just as happy.

We bought a medium sized set for our daughter when she was about 3 for a little over $100. We added pieces over a couple of years. It was a favorite toy around here when children cane over.

I can say that it held up very well, still looks brand new and she played with it a lot. The only part showing wear and tear is the box it came in!

I'd certainly get it again if I were looking for a good quality set.

We bought the train table online I can't remember how much it was, but you also had to buy the table tops not sure what they are called. Anyway my husband went to Home Depot bought a board (sort of like bunker board) I painted it green I think the total cost was around $20. Then you can buy just a few tracks and glue them down. I will say we spent a lot of money and our kids (boy and girl) only played with it for about 6 months now the table sits in the playroom and the tracks are in the garage. I am hoping my son who is 2 1/2 will get into trains again, but if not then I guess I will have to sell it. Just try and keep it simple don't over buy. You can always add on at Christmas.