Learning Curve created Take Along Thomas & Friends, but is now known as Take-n-Play Thomas & Friends. Designed for preschool ages, this series of die-cast metal Thomas models include all of the major and minor characters from the TV show. Take Along was purchased by Mattel and thus became a Fisher-Price line named Take-n-Play.
The playsets are durable and last for a long time. Thomas and friends keeps our kids busy for hours! They work together with magnets and are not compatible with the Thomas wooden train sets.
Take-n-Play Rescue From Misty Island
If your child loved the movie Misty Island Rescue, then this play set is a perfect companion. Your son or daughter will have hours of fun re-enacting scenes from the movie! This set is actually two in one – it contains an Island of Sodor track plus a Misty Island track. A logging crane picks up the logs to reveal a tunnel to Misty Island. Also parents will love that it folds up and is easily transportable.
Coal Loader Playset
This set includes six track pieces, cargo car and two coal pieces. It has a working coal loader and conveyor belt. The Sodor Coal Company building can store up to seven vehicles. The recommended age is three to five years. This is a great starter set, and it`s not too big which makes it easier to take on trips or to the grandparents’ for a visit. Kids love playing with the coal loader and even loading up other trains with the coal pieces.
Sodor Airport Playset
Kids get to enjoy Jeremy the Jet plane with this playset! He also comes with a back-wind motor. Fun airport lights and sounds and complete track setup bring hours of fun for the kids. For those of you, who thought the Island of Sodor was just home to the famous trains, think again! Who knew Sodor had an airport? The Sodor Airport is a bright yellow building with a control tower. There is a red button in the control tower that when pushed causes yellow lights to flash and creates sounds to emulate a plane taking off. Six track pieces also come with this set – after all we need a way to include our favourite engines during play!
The Great Waterton Fold N’ Go Playset
This set includes Thomas the Tank Engine, stop and slow signs and a tunnel gate. Like most of the take along sets, everything stores inside and it’s very easy to transport. In The Great Discovery, Thomas discovered the old town Great Waterton high in the mountains.
Timber Yard Playset
A Percy die-cast train, cargo car, two logs, timber yard and track pieces are included in this playset. The logs even split in two (they are magnetic halves) when put through the splitter! But I must caution one of the things we didn’t like about this playset is it can sometimes be difficult to store the 4 pieces of track. But overall it’s a great playset and even includes additional connector track pieces to connect to the older Take Along sets.
Center Island Quarry Playset
In this playset even the bridge collapses and an electronic boulder crashes with sound (crash!). The playset has knockdown features and needs three button batteries. The idea for this playset originated from the story Rusty and the Boulder. Kids love how the boulder makes electronic tumbling sounds when it rolls! As soon as a special place on the mountain is touched, the boulder begins to roll!
Knapford Station Take-n-Play
This set includes an oval track with a ramp and a Percy die-cast engine. This set also connects to other Thomas playsets. Something my nephew thought was really cool was how the station calls out the numbers, colours and names of favourite characters.
There is several other Take and Play sets (remember they are still compatible with the older Take Along sets). You can also purchase trains separately and there is even a Tote-a-Train Playbox. It`s a storage box for all your child`s Take-n-Play extra trains.
Parents love these Take-n-Play sets because they don’t take up as much room, and they are affordable and compact. If your kids have outgrown the Take Along sets though, you might want to consider the larger tracks in the TrackMaster series.
