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WHERE DID LEGO COME FROM
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Lego are the leading brand in building blocks. The company started in 1932 in the village of Billund in Denmark, by Kirk Christiansen a master carpenter and joiner
Mr Christiansen, manufactured Stepladders, Ironing Boards and wooden toys!
The company took the name LEGO for their toys in 1934.
The name LEGO in Danish means 'PLAY WELL' or 'LEG GODT".
Funny enough it also has a meaning in latin, which is 'I STUDY or 'I PUT TOGETHER'.
Lego has evolved over the years and given lots of different varieties of the toy, which different colours and different sets (like this one), so children can play with their favoutite film/cartoon characters!
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THE PACKAGING
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The box is white, with the red LEGO brand in the top left corner. There is a picture of Woody and Ham. The lego train is behind them with the LEGO characters.
Inside the box is individually packaged bags of lego parts for the individual trains and characters.Box Contains:
A Runaway Train and 3 Carriages
Evil Doctor Pork Chop Character
Rex Figure
Buzz Lightyear Figure
Woody Figure
Jessy Figure
Bullseye Figure
Instruction leaflets with step by step building instructions
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COST
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£79.99 From Toys R Us
This was also on offer, when spending over £25 you get a free Buzz Lightyear Space Ship Shaped Tent worth £25!
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AGE RANGE
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8 years +
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THE BUILDING
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The instruction book was easy to follow. Step by step and recogniseable which part was needed next.
I felt like this set was an extremely robust one! The design of the trains are great and really realistic. They held together extremely well. Infact I had a job to get them apart!
Some lego sets we have had, the contruction has been quite weak, not the case in this set!
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PLAY
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Great! I loved sitting down with the kids and building. It is a versatile pack as you can redesign the trains to how you wish! There are magnetic links which attach the train and carriages together.
The colours of the lego are bright and look really fun. There are a lot of smaller pieces in this pack, which would explain why it is for 8+.
The Toy Story 3 characters are great to play with. They are well detailed and look really fun and true to the film. The characters are instantly recogniseable.
The trains when put together look really good and move really well. However. The trains do not come with a track. This made no difference to us as we have a woodern floor for the train to zoom across. The wheels move really smoothly.
The trains obviously wouldn't move as well on carpet but I do feel they would move well enough!
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MY CHILDREN'S VERDICT
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I have a 7 year old girl and a 4 year old boy.
It is my son who this was purchased for. Even though the age is for 8+ my son is very good at construction.
Even his nursery where amazed to see him complete 6+ puzzles.
Anything to keep him out of mischief! His love for Toy Story was enough for me! Lego is a very strong, robust and versatile toy, which lasts forever. So I knew it was a good decision.
My Son loved this and loved the characters. We have so much Lego, I built him a station and platform for all the Toy Story characters to wait on for the train. There were some bits within the building I had to help alot with, but he really loved playing with this set.
My daughter's words:
Well, I think it really good with the dynamite stuff (Dynamite, where was that?). There is a black hat for Ham, if you put it on him, he becomes Evil Doctor Pork Chop, then if you take the hat off, he becomes just Ham again!
And I really like the trains and the short cut where Rex or Woody can go through. [There is a drop down hatch on one of the trains on the roof, this drops down inside one of the carriages, then you slide the door open to exit the train].
My daughter rates this 5/5 stars!
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MY VERDICT
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A really strong and sturdy set with lots of pieces.
I love how the packaging has individual bags for each train. This prevents rummaging through all the pieces in the box to find what you are looking for, especially when there are lots of tiny pieces of lego.
No train track, but in a way, this would limit play anyway.
The characters are great and fun to play with.
The train design is great, with lots of fun features to maximise play.
The colours are bright to hold attention.
The manual is basic and easy to follow.
The trains when put together are really strong.
This is a really great toy. A little expensive yes, but in relation to the possibilites this set has and the smile on my kids faces was enough!
8 Years +. However, with supervised play, younger children can thoroughly enjoy too!
My Rating is 4/5 Stars - The reason for this, is even though the joy seen from my son, my pocket would still have prefered a smaller price tag, even though it did come with a free tent!
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WOULD I RECOMMEND?
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Definately! If you don't mind paying the price tag. Some people wouldn't and I can completely understand why!
Excellent quality and far more durable than other Lego sets we have had!
This Lego is a really good set to choo-choo choose! ;)
Expensive but a really good Lego train set to Choo-Choo Choose! 
