Thomas Wooden Railway things - where to buy on the high street and/or online?

[crokky]

On the advice of MN, I am going to get DS some Thomas Wooden Railway things.

It is his birthday in a few weeks (he will be 3) and MIL and BIL have asked me to suggest something for them each to get him. I thought they could choose whatever they wanted from this range, a playset or an engine or whatever they would like, but I don't know where you buy the Thomas stuff - I am particularly looking for shops on the high street that sell it that MIL can look in as she doesn't use the internet. I know there is ELC - is there anywhere else as well? Online, I know thomas2u - is that the best one?

TIA!

ELC and ToysRus are pretty much the only high street shops that sell the wooden stuff unless you have any independant toy shops.

ToysRus in my experience have a more limited range but look out for the offers. The figure of 8 is a good set to start with and you often find it on offer.

there are some good online stockists (though I can't think of any right now - sorry).
Also, Tesco sell the track and sets and some special pieces (lifting bridge is good) and are cheaper than Thomas/Brio.

Am I right in thinking that the Ikea wooden track is compatible with the Brio and Thomas stuff?

ikea isn't quite as good a fit as the others, tesco, asda, elc, bro (and probably others) all fit together the same, but ikea has a slightly different knobby bit (join) and isn't as good.

not isn't as good, but doesn't join aswell with the other stuff.

thanks

Look for the track brands where the knobbly bit is cut out of the track and is not just a plastic knob stuck on the end. They fit together much better.

TKMaxx often have random sets, at fantastic prices - always worth a look

amazon sell the trains

Amazon and mothercare online. mothercare stock not so good in store. I'm mother to a Thomas fanatic and have been looking this lot up recently. Are you sure you want to start the addiction?

And boy is it an addiction.

Also take along Thomas very good for that age. If he's still at the stage of being a bit rough with his toys wouldn't recommend trackmaster range. If not then Toys R Us online have good offers on and Amazon.

Matalan may have some take along thomas trains left in their sale for £2 each.

I used Tulip Toys for some stuff for DS1 as they were about the only place which still had Elizabeth the Vintage Sentinel Lorry available (one DS1 specifically wanted) and also got some different junctions which I thought I DS1 will need. I haven't yet tried the track with all our other stuff, as it's for bribes little rewards later on, but it looks fine and was significantly cheaper than Brio.

quite glad to see quite a few things out of stock on that site, as I would be seriously tempted for ds2's birthday at the end of the month, and he really doesn't need any more train stuff.

ChasingSquirrels - it's not a question of need . We have two medium boxes of track / bridges etc and another box of just trains. It was probably me who made the stuff out of stock before Christmas!

lol, we did get quite alot of it for ds1, more track than you could shake a stick at, lots of junctions, bridges, engine shed, water tower, crossings, station, farm thing....
I have got him some underground ernie trains in the amazon sale that should fit on the track, though not under tunnels etc. They came today (well yesterday but postman put them in the dustbin and didn't put a card through so I didn't find until today) and they are battery powered aswell which I didn't know, so he will love them.

We have inherited quite a bit of the track from my sister and her children and I have added to it with all sorts of junctions so that I can create wonderful and interesting tracks - not that DS1 is bothered at the moment. I think I've missed my vocation as a track designer!

Am looking forward to when the boys are big enough for proper Lego now!

lol at track designs, I used to get quite annoyed with ds1 when he wanted to help
ah yes, lego....another obsession for ds1. he is rather the obsessional sort!
ds2 (nearly 3) plays with it aswell.

Don't get Thomas sets with track as you're paying a lot for track you can get at Tescos.

I used to get Brio/Thomas trains(now at 5 they've gone off the Thomas trains but love the Brio ones so don't go mad) Tesco track and buildings and a few Thomas/Brio buildings for special presents.

With your 20% off ELC was hard to beat to be honest. However there is a new wooden company much cheaper and good quality that I've seen in independent stores and online. We bought a station for dtwin for £9 and it's lovely. Some of their stuff is very Brioish. He had some wooden buffers in his stocking that were v cheap way cheaper than Brio.

But only Thomas track has the grooves on and I'm a bit OCD about it all matching!!!!!!

I got loads of wooden trains from TK Maxx before Christmas for £3.99 each!! Have also ordered some from Amazon and bought instore at Mothercareworld and ELC.

It's all good fun!!