J.L.
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Hello fab mamas!
Well, my question is basically in my subject. My toddler has fallen in love with the series and unlike his previous obsessions, his love for Thomas has been going strong for nearly two years now, so I think this one may last a litle while. Our neighbor, the husband of the house, is a toy train junkie. My son is over there a lot and I think that is driving his love for all things trains, Thomas being his favorite.
Of course we all know getting the engines and parts for the wooden track are very expensive, so I am surfing the internet for deals. I am finding some and a in search for more.
Thanks moms!
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2nd Momma L : Craigslist first because you can see before you buy then E-Bay (in my experience E-Bay is usually more $). Wanted ad at your local grocery store, pool + book store + kids gym notice boards. Wanted ad in the garage sales section of your local paper. Good luck
we are selling ours(Thomas and Brio), have TONS, boys outgrown it:)
Aww...I miss those days so much. My son was obsessed as well. We are holding onto all of the wooden ones but put all the plastics/books/tapes on Craigslist.
FYI-you should check out Day out with Thomas at Strassburg near Philly-so much fun!! We went in June so it should be coming up-that is if they still do it.
I used to work at Totally Thomas Toy Depot here in San Diego and they have a pretty good selection of the whole line. Hence the name. Anyways you might try them on line they ship everywhere.
I am in the process of compiling my sons Thomas the Train trains, tracks and accessories. I am frustrated by eBay and want to sell for a minimum. I have a list of products so if you can tell me what you are searching for I will gladly sell them to you. ____@____.com
my friend bought hers at deep discounts from michaels using their 40% off coupons.......besides craigslist check out bookoo.com
You HAVE to do Day out with Thomas!!! Oh I can't wait for it to come here!! It's not for another month here, but I'm more excited about it than my son is. (He doesn't know about it really, he's only 18 months).
I would just keep checking EVERYWHERE there is any type of Thomas items. Also at Toys R Us there is a different brand of table that is $80 vs the actual Thomas Brand which was $200ish. So that is how much cheaper they are vs. the thomas brand. I found I really like the price of Target and their circo brand sets. I loath the Trackmaster trains. My son broke his in less than a month and he's not that tough on them. So yay for the wood!! . . .that sounded kind of bad. . . Yay for classic toys!!!
I agree with getting the off brand tracks and then use the money to get the Thomas trains. My husband bought some big boxes of off brand train stuff off of Ebay - LOTS of tracks and little houses and trees and stuff and it was @ $30.
Be careful when buying the Thomas trains that you get the right trains for your tracks. There are several different types of Thomas and they use different Tracks. I think the wooden is the best.
Also, keep an eye on craigslist.
The tracks are typically completely interchangeable. We bought a very reasonably priced train table off amazon.com and told family that his toys of choice were engines and cars so he has received a number of those for the holidays.
I'm not sure if they have them in NJ, but here in MA, the craft store AC Moore always has Thomas wooden trains and accessories on sale. Plus they regularly offer coupons which can be used on the more expensive pieces.
Buy an off brand set of tracks. We bought Melissa and Doug. Then, we have purchased only a few engines. I think we have a handful of the real Thomas stuff. Then, whenever anyone asks you what he wants for his birthday/christmas, etc., tell them a specific engine. If someone is buying him a gift, one engine is about $12.00 so that's not too terrible.
As far as sets with bridges and stuff, watch Target and other stores for sales, and use a coupon.
J.
Buy the generic brand wooden tracks at Target or Ikea then just get some of the engines. It will save you a bunch, the Thomas tracks are so expensive! Also sometimes at Toys R Us, they sell Thomas movies that come with an engine and you get the set for cheaper than buying a train by it self.