Advantages: Great stories, good engines, educational experience
Disadvantages: The new stories aren't as good

...I am now 17 years old, but I do still love watching the odd Thomas The Tank Engine story very ocassionly. I grew up watching it and I had, and still do have, most of the videos and story books. I was pleased to discover that the programmes and concept is still going strong. They are continuing to make new stories and introduce more characters, both of which have some positive and negative costs. I will write everything that I know about Thomas The Tank Engine and try and gives those of you who haven't seen it before, a good idea of what it all involves. Thomas The Tank Engine (and Friends), is a childrens programme about the trains that operate on the island of Sodor. It follows them through their ups and downs and also their funny moods and strops that they get into. Each story tends to have a message at the end... Read review

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Advantages: Great for small hands
Disadvantages: So many to collect

...This is where it all started. The starter set was my son's first exposure to Thomas the Tank Engine - First things first - there are at least 5 different styles of Thomas toys - none which interact with each other so sticking to 1 type would be recommended. This is a My First Thomas range which are ideal for children aged 1 and above.The toys are brightly coloured and accurate copies of your favourite Thomas characters. There are plenty to collect! The trains all have non marking rubber wheels, are hard wearing, dishwasher safe and most importantly are battery free. A great and affordable gift for a 1 plus year old boy - My son, now 2 cannot get enough of his collection - he has 35+!!!! You can also purchase a track which the trains will interact with. So to conclude - an ideal purchase for any young boy... Read review

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Advantages: Very sturdy unbreakable toys., Quite inexpensive., Easy to clean.
Disadvantages: none that i can think of

...Before my son Callum's first birthday, he is now 2 1/2 years old, we bought him the My First Thomas range of toys. These are chunky plastic engines and carriages etc. They are unbreakable, Callum throws them so hard sometimes and also they have been stood on and not broken too! The prices start at £4.99 and i think they are well worth every penny, seeing as he still has them all in working order. My son has all the main engines, Thomas Edward, Henry, Gordon,James and Percy and also he has Toby the tram engine and Harold the helicopter as well as a troublesome truck, Annie and Clarabel (Thomas's Carriages) an express coach, Bertie the Bus and a lorry. There is such a good range and you can even get a nice plastic track for Thomas and his friends to go along. You can obtain all these toys from mothercare, Toys R us, Tesco... Read review

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Advantages: Many ways to play, suitable for little 'uns and bigger little people
Disadvantages: Gets a bit grubby after a while

... THOMAS TANK AQUADRAW One of the Boy's forgotten favorites but I'm sure it'll be dragged out again soon once the novelty wears off all the Christmas stuff. We bought this quite some time ago for the reasonable sum of £25. Is readily available from various stores but I would recommend a search online to see if you can't find a cheaper deal than the RRP of £35. In the Thomas adorned box you will find your big aqua-draw mat with a nice blue border featuring Thomas pictures- which measures up at a fairly large size: 105x90cm. You also find a pen, Track-Roller and of course our faithful friend Thomas the Tank Engine (who needs 2x AA batteries which are NOT included) Fill up the pen and Roller and let the fun begin, once Thomas has been switched on that is. The pen and roller are easy to open and fill, the ends unscrew and you... Read review

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Advantages: Likeable little characters, Simple stories
Disadvantages: Only really appeals to children 6 and under...

...BACKGROUND: As a teenager, I financed my more costly kicks by babysitting, and eventually found myself looking after a small throng of unmanageable children, dispersed across several households. Most unmanageable of all, however, was a plump little boy of two, called Charlie. Charlie liked nothing better than to drink red cordial neat, and to watch Thomas the Tank Engine videos. His state-of-the-art tricycle stood ignored on the patio. An imposing mound of Fisher Price plastic rested aimlessly in his playroom. Cars, trucks, and remote-controlled tractors were arranged in unfathomably untouched rows. But those Thomas videos were on almost constant rotation. Consequently, babysitting little Charlie became, for me at least, an exercise in abject tedium. The perpetual choo-choo-ing of the little trains, the sonorous tones of Ringo... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Hours of fun.
Disadvantages: Difficult to watch what you want to!

.... The other thing I like about these DVD`s is that as I mentioned there are 26 stories and you can skip the stories so you dont have to always start from the beginning. There is also subtitles for the hard of hearing. OTHER INFO ************** Thomas the tank engine and his friends was based on the railway series by The Reverend W Awdry. The director is David Mitton,its produced by Britt Allcroft and the music composition is by Mike O`Donnell and Junior Campbell. The actual stories on this series are told by Ringo Starr who is my personal favourite, Running time is 144 minutes.... Read review

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Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: None

...When my son was younger he had a nasty habit of drawing on the walls and settee with pens and crayons. Most children do it at some point and gradually stop it after a while, once they realise that they have to draw on paper and colour the pretty pictures on their colouring books not redecorate your living room and settee for you. Maybe the little one was trying to tell me that he didn't like the décor in the house or maybe he was practicing interior design. Either way the drawing on the walls had to stop and it had to stop fast because I was getting sick of touching up the paint in the living room to hide his little scribbled marks. The little boy's a big Thomas The Tank Engine fan and has loads of Thomas related toys and DVD's so when I spotted the Thomas The Tank Engine Aquadraw mat in Woolworths one day I had to buy... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A good programme for the kids
Disadvantages: none

...As a child growing up in the 80's (well some of it), my viewing pleasure was enlightened in the afternoons by a short 2 or 3 minute cartoon about a small steam engine and hisa fellow trains. The Cartoon was of course, Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas was actually written many years before by the Reverend W Awdry in 1945, who provided the stories that entertained generations for his son, Christopher. Out of interest, he lived with a Transvetite in Roxwell, a small village outside of Chelmsford, for a long time! It was not until the 1980's however that we got to see them on TV. The stories Follow a small Blue Tank Engine who is called Thomas. Thomas, like all of the tank engines, has a smiley face on the front of his boiler with large eyes. Its based in a ficticious location caled Sodor. Thomas and all of his friends have... Read review

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Advantages: no marks on the wall
Disadvantages: none jet

...the Tank Engine himself. It is a magnetic drawing board in shape and color of Thomas the tank engine. And it's not very heavy so your toddler can lift it up easy. In the middle you will find a gray plastic surface to draw. It comes with a yellow pen with thick and thin writing points. In the bottom of the drawing board you will find as well two little holes with two engine stamps -Thomas and Percy. These stamps are in yellow color. The eraser is located on the right side of the board and is decorated with a picture of Harold the helicopter. In the top right corner you will find a yellow track roller. Two "stampers", one featuring Thomas and one featuring Percy, give children the chance to recreate the images of their favorite engines while a roller-stamp, when pulled along the screen, leaves the mark of a railway track. The double ended pen... Read review

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Advantages: Colourful, Range, Availability
Disadvantages: Can be expensive

...If your like me then you will be only to aware that there are as so many different toys available within the Thomas the tank range. Within this review I will cover my son's two favourite Thomas toys. I will also cover the cost, pros, cons, , and my own thoughts. **The Background** If you have not heard of Thomas the tank and friends then where have you been, this year especially has seen the Thomas market boom. Every shop you go in to has something with the Thomas logo on it. Thomas the tank engine and friends was first brought to our attention back in 1965 when a book was released and then in 1984 the first ever television version was aired. Within only a few months of the first television series being broadcasted audience figures reached a massive 8.5million. To date Thomas and friends is shown in over 130 countries worldwide... Read review

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