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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

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Original poster

Brio type train set

18 replies

ALemonyPea · 28/08/2015 12:44

DS2 has asked for this for Christmas. He is 10 but has autism and obsesses about things, and this is latest one.

I don't mind getting him it, but don't want to spend £££. I've seen a set in IKEA, but wondered if there was another alternative, or maybe a cheap Brio set anyone knew of.

OP posts:

Fairylea · 28/08/2015 12:45

Have you looked at Bigjigs sets on ebay and amazon? Very similar but cheaper.

NeverNic · 28/08/2015 17:49

The ikea set doesn't fit as well with the other stuff, so if other people were to buy bits not from ikea, then you'd need to wedge stuff together which might be frustrating. We have track made up of elc, brio and sainsburys. The sainsburys tracks aren't as nice looking but do the job.

TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 28/08/2015 18:27

when we were buying it, the Tesco, brio and Early Learning Centre stuff all fitted really nicely together

the Tesco stuff was particularly great for the non track items...swing bridges, buildngs, trains...really good value and variety.

BirdingWidow · 28/08/2015 19:19

I second bigjigs. We have brio track but ended up buying a few features (bridges etc) from bigjigs and it fits perfectly and is just as good really. There is also a company called Toys for Playthat make track features (and possibly plain track too - but we have lots of that by now) and that is also good quality and fits with brio and above perfectly.

I would avoid ikea because as a pp has said it doesn't fit wel with the others, and also there aren't many interesting bits you can get for it (junctions, bridges) so you are unlikely to stay with just that. We bought some ikea track and got so frustrated (parents, never mind DS!) that we got rid of it.

My DS also has autism, he loved his track and I hope your DS does too

Dinosaursdontgrowontrees · 28/08/2015 19:25

Have you tried eBay? A friend of mine for a whole load of track for £50 would of cost hundreds if brought new.

Original poster

ALemonyPea · 28/08/2015 23:25

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will take a look.

OP posts:

ILoveMyMonkey · 28/08/2015 23:39

We got ours in John Lewis which is compatible with brio and big-jigs stuff - I think they do a 100 piece starter kit for £50

WutheringTights · 31/08/2015 08:14

Second big jigs. We also have some bits from Wilkos which fits together nicely. Our set is a mixture of big jigs, ikea, brio, Tescos and Wilkos and the only bits that don't fit so well are the Tescos ones.

StarSpotter · 31/08/2015 08:22

TK Maxx usually has cheaper Brio sets in the run-up to Christmas. Happy hunting!

Cliffdiver · 31/08/2015 08:29

I saw one in our local Poundstretcher, very cheap for the starter set (

PotteringAlong · 31/08/2015 08:30

Yes to bigjigs! Ours is a mix of ikea, bigjigs and brio

ShadowLine · 31/08/2015 08:32

Agree Bigjigs is good, lots of interesting accessory bits that can be added into a basic track layout. And we've also picked up some good half price Brio stuff in TKMaxx. Brio, Bigjigs, Tesco, ELC track all compatible IME. IKEA track has to wedged in.

NeverNic · 31/08/2015 09:00

Glad people are mentioning bigjigs. They sell it at my local garden centre and I get 10% off. I think I'll stock up on a few bits for ds' track

sleepyelectricsheep · 31/08/2015 11:03

We have sets from Tesco, Lidl (or was it Aldi?), our local independent toy shop and Brio and they all fit together fine.

We also have some Ikea bits and it's true they don't fit nearly so well. After a couple of years of jamming them in they do fit better! Definitely best to start with the others.

Our train set is our most played-with toy, and a definite favourite with visiting adult guests / relatives, they always seem to end up playing with the DCs if the train set is out!

Also great for Christmas / birthday presents in the future as you can get special bits / new trains to grow the set over time.

LyndaNotLinda · 31/08/2015 11:06

Agree - BigJigs and/or John Lewis own brand fit much better with Brio stuff than Ikea. And BigJigs buildings are really good and interesting

WoahBodyforrrrm · 31/08/2015 12:07

This is a smallish set but it's reduced to £12.50 from Aspace.

www.aspace.co.uk/m/gift/wooden_toys/figure_of_eight_train_set-2473.htm

They also have a train table half price at £62.50!

PotteringAlong · 31/08/2015 12:13

Just been to b and m bargains and they had a 35 piece set for £7.99

LaughingHyena · 02/09/2015 13:52

Like others we have a mix of various brands, which seem fine together. No IKEA stuff though, it seems harder to put together. Also from what I remember the bridges are quite low and not all the other trains fit under them.

Bigjigs are good for add ons, the very short (5cm ish) pieces of track have saved the day so many times when he was getting frustrated about the track not joining up.

If you can get hold of it the Brio smart track and engine were great fun. The engine reads a chip in certain pieces of track which makes it stop/speed up/slow down/change direction. For us it was a good mix of a more "grown up" train set with the durability and ease of putting together of the wooden stuff.

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