Noodad Product Review: Thomas Take Along Roundhouse Playset

The Thomas the Tank Engine brand, love him or loathe him, is known for quality construction, durability, and somewhat pricey compared to counterparts like Brio. But for this piece of the Thomas toy line, it falls short in every way.

First, a few things to note: My son got this for his 3rd birthday and he absolutely loves it. But like most toys, it’s the ones that drive parents nuts that your kid seems to love the most. He can’t stop playing with it and that is probably why I know it sucks so much.

The concept is a good one: make a Thomas train set with snap together tracks and put it in a compact and portable case complete with a nifty carrying handle fit for little kids hands. Unfortunately, this Thomas Take Along Roundhouse Playset from RC2 Brands does not get much better than a “good idea on paper”.

The Good: At a price tag of under $25, it could be a good entry into the Thomas toy line without spending the $100+ expense of tracks and train cars.

The Bad: You get what you pay for.

The Bad (in more detail):
- The carrying case has a flip open top with grey plastic tracks stuffed inside. Make sure to pay careful attention to how those tracks are stuffed in the roof of the Roundhouse as it is not easy to put them all back into the roof when you are done playing.

- The bottom of the Roundhouse is a tray that pulls out to form a rotating turntable and the beginning of the track circuit. This tray does not slide out easily. In addition, when you try to pull it out far enough to actually have the tracks line up with the 4 green train doors, it pops off entirely and does not snap into place. Basically, it is suppose to lock into place but it just doesn’t fit well.

- The garage holds the smaller diecast-sized Thomas engines. Rather than the full-sized wooden ones. It comes with Thomas. The trains get stuck inside the garage forcing you to have to turn the Roundhouse on its side which is never good because the tray is not fully attached.

- The garage doors are incredibly hard to open. They are sized for tiny kid hands but are too stiff for your kids to have the strength to open them.

- The set comes with 6 track pieces. Don’t let the product image fool you: 2 of the pieces are actually pieces where the track splits in a “y”. Makes sense for the manufacturer as it encourages you to buy more track and combine with other “Take Along” sets. The problem I have with it is a Take Along set to me, means it can exist as a standalone set (complete with carrying case). These 2 “Y” pieces basically make the track have 2 diversions onto the ground instead of a complete oval.

- The track pieces themselves are made of flexible plastic. They work on either side of the piece making it easy to find “the right piece” to snap into place. The problem is the snapping part of the process. The pieces do not snap into place. The fittings are not snug and are not sturdy. Within 5 minutes, my son had snapped off one of the fittings making the track piece even more useless.

Here are the most common phrases I have heard from my son since he opened this present.

“Daddy, can we get more tracks?”
“Daddy, the train falls off the tracks!”
“Daddy, the track fall off!”
“Daddy, can you get the Thomas out of the house?”
“Daddy, the spinning thing broke off again.”

If you want a toy that your kid will spend more time playing and less time fixing, stay away from this one.

Noodad Rating: 2 out of 5 Noos