brio or big jigs

[twocathedrals]

No idea what I'm doing - help! Decided to get DD (aged just 2) some wooden railway but don't know what to get. SIL has Brio and we might inherit in a few years so want something compatible. What do you think? It all seems so pricey!

A few years ago I bought a friend's little boy a wooden train set in ASDA. It was absolutely fantastic and cost a fraction of Brio. They said he played with it all the time. Not sure if they still stock it.

IKEA do a cheap Brio imitation - 2 different sets. All plays just as well

Ikea will join with brio or tesco have a set on offer at the minute £20 reduced to £10 I think which will also join in.

Big jigs is really good and is compatible with Brio, Thomas Wooden Railway and some others.

Don't buy the Asda one, it is shit. FIL bought it for DS, and it is so badly constructed that the train doesn't fit under the bridge.

We have most Thomas wooden railway, but got a big pack of extra track with points etc from Big Jigs for about £20 which has been brilliant.

The kea one fits with letterbox stuff too which apparently is compatible with brio. Although the ikea/letterbox fit isn't brilliant, it does go but you have to push it a bit.

John Lewis also do a really good set which is brilliant to start off a collection - here. My ds had this last Christmas when he was 2 and it has since been added to with bits from Brio and Big Jigs so it is definitely compatible. I personally like the Big Jigs stuff best as it tends to be really nicely painted.

Tesco is really good. £10 and they sell extra trains, and a bridge it is also compatable with brio and ELC. It was recommended to me on here

I need sleep. I read this as Biro and Big Jugs!!!!

The John Lewis one is a great starter set. If you do want Brio, the 'fun on the farm' set is good - DS got this for his first set last year. Toysdirect.com have got some Thomas wooden railway stuff half price

Thanks so much! Sorry to disappear last night - I got caught up painting a witch's hat and forgot what I was doing. So it sounds like it doesn't matter if it's not Brio, although there are votes against ASDA - and I've heard that the Ikea set needs a little persuasion before it joins up with the rest, so probably not ideal for DD who is not particularly strong or dextrous.

The big jigs stuff is excellent quality. I would go to Tesco for the basic rails but buy the bridges, trains etc from Big Jigs (cheaper than BRIO)

I agree on the £10 Tesco one as a starter.

Then once you get he gets into it, you can splash out on a train table. Last year we bought the Toys R Us one for £99 and it is bloody brilliant.

Also you can buy Thomas trains to go with it, although they are pricey.

Big Jigs do more exciting bridges etc-we have loads of it as well as a few other sets.

IKEA track is rubbish, it doesn't fit properly. Top marks the the tesco one, we have had track for years and it's still fine.

Have bought bigger items from BigJigs, mostly fine but some more fiddly ones - level crossing/bridge combo with plastic railings has broken. Others are fine, octagonal track juntion, tunnels and stuff.

best value train set was the john lewis one. big jigs and brio are about the same quality but different prices.
thomas trains are worth the extra money but check out prices as they can vary lots(double the price in elc than local independent)

ikea track and bridges are smaller and other trains don't fit under them. they are cheaper quality and join with plastic bits but do join with other tracks

bigjigs had very good priced add ons. toys r us also have good extra sets of straight/ curved pieces. and we have their crane/ docks add on in stock for another christmas.

sorry am a wooden railway bore.

I would like to point out that Ikea train sets are brilliant. My younger sister had one within the last ten years and my daughter now has it and it is brilliant. The same as Brio, brilliantly made etc. Does anyone know if IKEA fits with BIGJIGS?

the ikea rails do fit with most of the wooden sets but as someone further up said, needs a bit of persuasion as it has plastic joints rather than wooden ones.

Big jigs are great for unusual track pieces like junctions and bendy track (great for useless mummys like me who can't build super dooper lay outs that join up neatly!), and their engine shed is really good.

Ikea stuff does not fit the other stuff properly, and the bridges are too low to let other brands of trains under.

On the really cheap stuff (supermarkets) the track lugs snap off.

Brio is fab, but a bit £££.

Big Jigs is a great combo of cost and quality. I've noticed that Letterbox have recently stopped stocking Brio in favour of Big Jigs.

couldn't get the ikea ones to fit with our sets from various other locations. it is the only stuff that we have not been able to merge into the collection.

However, would add that the brio that we hvae is 30 years old and has been through various children and is still absolutely fabulous, we have broken some of the stuff that we have bought but none of the brio stuff.

Its all supposed to be compatible with each other. We have absolutely loads of track and extras as DS is obsessed with his wooden train set. he plays with it for hours every day - we have spent a lot on extras for it, but it has been 100% worth it as DS plays with it so much. He incorporates his happyland people into the play, the cars from his garage, the happyland bus - all imaginative and lengthy play.

We have a mix of Thomas, Brio and Big Jigs track. I think that the Thomas track is by far the best as the trains seem to follow it better. And there are long curves and bendy track (you will get used to the lingo!) that Ds loves. But Thomas track is expensive, and to me, Big Jigs and Brio do a pretty good job - if you don't want to spend the extra on Thomas track, you definitely will get good value out of Brio and Big Jigs track.

We have a mixture of add-ons from Thomas and Brio too. I would particularly recommend the Brio record and play station (you can record and re-record an announcement and play it back time and time again - really great for kids). Its about £25 on Amazon.

The Thomas extras that we really like are the repair shed, Toby's windmill, clock tower (but the clock tower is pricey) and the scary noise tunnel.

Have a look in TK Maxx for Brio - I got tonnes of Brio stuff in there on Friday morning and it was very, very cheap! They do trainsets, trains and accessories.
Also John Lewis have 20% off some Brio stuff, but it ends today

Ah, I think Ikea may have changed their design. The one I have that was inherited, bought about ten years ago, is fully wooden, no plastic ends!
and the bridges are all high enough. It is identical to brio, apart from the price tag! anyone have one of these and know if it fits with bigjigs, I really want to get my LO some of the awesome bigjigs extras, like the double suspension bridge and the ramp that goes over a small mountain and then onto a bridge. And they are both around £20! bargain!

Bigjigs have a huge range, tons of add-ons (steelworks, coal mine, recycling centre, all sorts of bridges etc), the prices are very good and it's easy for relatives to add to the collection at Christmas and birthdays.

Ikea tracks are compatible with Bigjigs Charlie. :)

Can anyone confirm if Brio tunnels and exciting tgings like train sheds are compatible with Big Jigs train sets