Thomas trains-too many options!

[gravyandspuds]

2 year old DS after Thomas trains for Christmas it seems-I am a total novice with these,there seem to be three main options,track master,take n play and wooden.
I had read that wooden ones can go on the ikea tracks,which appeals to me as we have a small set of these from DD (4) but as they don't go by themselves I am concerned they won't be played with as much when he's much older as the other options might. (Going by what seems popular with older cousins/DDs friends). Anyone any experience of these that could advise?I am watching a few things on ebay but just not sure which type to choose!(I presume they all have different track sizes so once I've started with one type will be sort of stuck with it if that makes sense)

I intended to get take n play but ended up with track master as lost out in a few auctions for take n play on ebay got a really good deal on gumtree for a big box of it!There were a couple of random take n play trains in there too. I hope he can manage it,I reasoned with myself that I imagine at this age we will need to set whatever it is up for him anyway and will probably just push the trains about the floor a good bit too. I think I'll get a birthday and a Christmas out of this lot for £35 which is great as we are a bit more stretched than usual this Christmas!
I have an old coffee table I am going to repurpose a bit and turn into a train table so it shouldn't hopefully require dismantling and reassembling too often- at least that's what I'm probably v naively hoping!

Yes fifi I've seen second hand chipped ones for £20-30. Lady as well, she's hard to come by. And Mighty Mac, although we did manage to get a mighty mac from a touristy railway station of all places.

Blimey people are bonkers to spend that much!! I must have been lucky in the bundle I got from eBay rocky was there and actually it is one of DS's favourites. What is the new DVD called and are there new trains for this year?

Agree that you can't go wrong with any of them! DS loves his wooden track that we add to with bigjigs stuff from amazon or mulberry bush every Christmas/ birthday. He has a mixture of wooden trains and the battery trackmaster ones (as he has trackmaster in mums). He loves making all sorts of tracks with the wooden. He's getting kranks for Christmas and I can't wait to see his face! More than we'd usually spend on one but we got him instead of 'special bit of track' and when price was down on amazon.

We have Tale of the Brave on DVD for stocking too which I think is the most recent film?

I think Marion is one of the new ish ones and she looks interesting!

I much prefer the brio track - the take and play trains are lovely but the tracks themselves are flimsy and don't stay together properly. My boys have the wooden one upstairs and take n play downstairs. We did value take and play-I-ness when camping though lol

Ooooh I (I mean they) have got Lady, Mighty Mac and Rocky! Perhaps I should trade them in for a new bag ........

Rocky is a firm favourite amd has probably been played with the most over the years. We actually lost him down the back of a hire car in Florida and they posted him back!!