brio railway parts

[geranium]

Ds seems really keen on a railway system at nursery which seems to be Brio. I'd like to get it for him for Xmas or at least, since I gather it is quite expensive, ask relatives to give a railway carriage each or something like that! Thing is, it seems to have so many parts that I don't know where to start. Do you just buy a starter kit with a few pieces of track and a couple of carriages or is it something where having a bridge and a tunnel make all the difference IYSWIM? ie can he enjoy it with just a few parts and if so, which ones, or does he need all the pieces?

Also, where do you buy it? ELC didn't seem to have it but snootily offered me their own version!

Thanks

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Toy shops like The Entertainer sell brio.

ELC's own version is just as good though, and much less expensive, and the parts are interchangeable with brio.

Geranium, unless you have more money than you know what to do with, go for the ELC one or Tesco's own. they are all compatible with Brio but half the price. save your money for any particularly nice pieces that Brio do (eg the suspension bridge which I believe costs £40 on its own )

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The Tescos one is the one my dd has; no difference between it and the brio one as far as I can see, except the price.

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I got a basic set which included track, a bridge, road, and various figures and vehicles and trains etc from Tesco, but that was over 6 years ago now.

Tchibo have one for £11 atm too.

Start with a basic figure of 8 - usually has a bridge or tunnel. Tesco do a set that has a few buildings and trees and Brio do a mountain set like this but you can probably find it cheaper on amazon or in John Lewis.

My DD is Thomas mad.
I bought a cheap Tesco track set, then added parts like tunnels and bridges.
She loves to construct it, but then gets bored. Most of the engines are Brio push alongs. The remote controlled trains/battery ones plush switch track are worth buying to maintain interest as they get a bit older.

I get a lot of Brio stuff on ebay - recently bought some brand new engines for half the retail price - box slightly damaged but otherwise great.

ASDA do a whole set for about a tenner - my DS plays with it constantly. The best value I've seen.

Woolworths also do one - Chad Valley on 3 for 2 at the moment. Got DS lots of extra track last week.

They're all compatible from my experience and Brio is very expensive.

Tchibo! 51 piece set for £11.99 (plus P&P if you can't get one in store) Has some nice "extras".

You are joking - £40 for a suspension bridge!! No way am I buying into this - and no way that ds will know the difference. Thanks for warning me that they are all compatible - how unusual and sensible. I'll probably just keep checking Tesco, certainly for the track and other places for extras like tunnels and bridges.

How about for the magnetic engines/carriages - do other companies do them or do they have to be Brio?

Thanks soupdragon. Just seen your link. That looks like what I want and probably all for the price of one Brio engine!

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Woolies do the magnetic trains and carriages (£5) and so do ELC (bit more expensive). ELC also have the more expensive Thomas ones at £15 each. DS has a few cheaper ones and one Thomas one. He'll get a new one in his stocking I expect.

Thanks KBear. Great idea to use one for a stocking filler (we use my grandfather's fishing socks and they are so long they are hard to fill). Are the Woolworth carriages the same as the Brio ones? If so, I might get them. Luckily the Thomas craze hasn't hit us yet.

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Hey Cod, don't corrupt our innocence with all these Thomas pictures . Anyway, not sure we could afford all the Thomas bits and pieces at this stage. This Brio lookalike lark is going to take some financing.

Really all depends on whether baby due in Spring is a boy or a girl. If it is another boy, then I'm happy/resigned to turning the entire house into a garage/carpark/train station themed in some particularly expensive way. If it's a girl, however....

hate to say it but dd plays with the Brio/wooden stuff too.

I have to agree too, my brother bought dd (now 11yrs) a little starter set from ELC when she was 2 and a half and she loved it, we have gradually added to it with brio, tesco track,trains etc and now all 3 of my children play trains together.
I think a bridge, tunnel etc becomes more important as they get older.