4 yr old has requested an electric train for xmas.... sounds simple

[kd73]

Playmobil : But he has no imagination to play :-(

Lego : If it gets broken, will he ever get it rebuilt particularly if bits get missed or lost?

Hornby : Worried it will be broken particularly as he is a typical ham fisted 4 year old with a younger sibling

Tomy : Runs on battery with no remote control :-(

Any other suggestions very welcome

Please advise and reassure which way to go as this is his main present which he asked for on Christmas Eve last year !!!!!!

Thanks

Does he play or does he watch tv in his spare time? What does he do? My ds's imaginative play has really come on recently (nearly 4). He has Lego - which he's had for a year and can built himself basic models - we helped him a lot at first. He loves the playmobil figures. You could get him a playmobil vehicle and see what happens. Eg a fire engine or police car?

Basically give him a chance to try imaginative play - he might surprise you!

I would get the playmobil electric train. It doesn't't demand any more imagination than any other make, just because it is playmobil. It is much bigger and sturdier than Hornsby and the rails are easy to slot together.
If he just wants to make it go round the track and stop and start etc then he can, if he starts playing imaginitively then there are loads of other playmobil sets to complement the train set.

thanks for your help. Ds is very creative and likes to build things, great with larger items and loves mega bloks even though he is nearly 5, but only really showed an interest in those just over a year ago. He has no interest in duplo and never has had. Lost interest in lego after literally 5 mins after trying to build a truck recently. I was worried he may be too old for playmobil?

If he has track or some one kind to buy some

Masses and masses of track on E bay the more you have the more years he'll play with it.

One word of warning, our older version of this train eats batteries, you need rechargables and a job lot of the button cells.

I would say 5 is a perfect age for playmobil. And the train is ace. Tbh, I would be pretty excited if someone bought it for me, and I'm 35.

Interesting thanks, he has a huge collection of wooden track !!!!!!!