After we spent a day at the North Norfolk Railway in Holt where Thomas the Tank Engine and friends were visiting, Toby has been just a little bit obsessed with his trains. He has so much track and loves the “Take-n-Play” sets and Toby and I are now proudly part of #TeamThomasUK.
This campaign is about celebrating Thomas & Friends’ core values of determination, friendship and teamwork as well as a new racing theme they’ll be introducing for 2016. The first thing you’ll probably see is that a new film is launching at the end of this month – ‘The Great Race’, and Thomas & Friends are inviting families and fans to power Thomas on a virtual journey by joining in with weekly fun activities which will help drive and celebrate the core values on their Facebook page and website.
You can also join in with these activities on Twitter and Instagram to share your stories, photos, videos and comments by using the #TeamThomasUK hashtag. When you’ve helped Thomas reach his destination, never before seen videos and amazing prizes will be up for grabs for Thomas fans!
In return for being part of #TeamThomasUK, Toby thought he’d like to add to his already growing collection of Thomas toys and he has been able to put the new Thomas & Friends playset to the test: “Jungle Quest Take-n-Play”.
I actually had this sitting around for a couple of hours before Toby decided he wanted to notice it and get it out of the box. He was trying for ages and was really desperate to play with it. Once I’d gotten it out of the box I was a little bit apprehensive about putting it together as it was literally in pieces. Let’s put it this way – I got there eventually. I thought the instructions could’ve been a bit clearer, especially with the drawings – sometimes I just looked at it and it didn’t make any sense, despite the pieces being lettered, but eventually we had a solid structure that Toby could play with.
It’s brilliantly portable, so it definitely lives up to its name, there’s a handy handle so you’re not picking it up just by any bit. The Thomas engine that comes with it is die cast, along with a cargo tender which has the jewels inside.
The set is able to be played with from any side as the outside track runs all the way around and there’s a big Gorilla to conquer when you come out from one of the shelters. One big I didn’t like was a random piece just under the Gorilla that wasn’t really attached to anything and didn’t offer much in the way of play. It was a dead end and unless Toby had physically placed Thomas on that bit, it wouldn’t really get played with.
I think it’s really colourful and I like the lever which pulls the shelters up bit by bit waiting for a big drop down on one of the big slopes which sends Thomas and cargo whizzing around the track, which Toby thought was pretty awesome. It can be attached to other ‘Take-n-Play’ sets but you would need to buy the extra track, so expect there to be spaces where it looks like pieces are missing.
Overall, Toby thinks this toy is great, and he now flits between this and the other ‘Take-n-Play’ set he has. We’re thinking of getting him some of the inbetween track to join them up and we can have some Thomas friendly races and have some bigger adventures. This is definitely one that will grow, and I’m sure once Toby is finished with it, Teddy will love it just as much.