Introduction
Hi everyone. We will be doing a comparison between three pieces of Thomas merchandise. These Pieces of Merchandise are:
ERTL Thomas
Trackmaster Thomas
Wooden Railway Thomas
These will be competing to become the ultimate Thomas Toy under these criteria:
Price
Detail
Play Value
Without further ado, Let the review begin:
Price:
ERTL: £12/$17
Trackmaster: £5/$12
Wooden Railway: £8/$8
Winner: Trackmaster (UK)/Wooden Railway (USA)
Detail:
ERTL: Ertl has done well on detail as they have put his windows and whistle. Put toy-like coal at his bunker and even faint stripes on the top of his boiler. It is in good proportion to over Thomas toys and the size of it slightly resembles his the model used on TV. Even so, It does have its flaws. The model has eyes that somewhat resemble hearts (like most of the models). The stripes are not colored in red at the top and it lacks front detail. Then again it is suitable for children so it won't have all those details after all.
Trackmaster: Trackmaster has done a very nice job detail wise. His face resembles it's TV form. It has small front details and has details on his tanks too. Overall they have put most of the same details as they did on Ertl's version of Thomas too like the stripes, windows, whistle and good proportions. The only problem it is the wheels. If you have this version of Thomas. You will see that two of its wheels are used to take the body of wheel chassis.
Wooden Railway: Brio may have put the requirements like 6 wheels, a funnel, a boiler, a face and details on the side but it lacks alot of detail like on the top of the boiler. It has no faint stripes and it has no front windows or whistle. It also has no buffer beams either. Even though this is normal for Brio to lack detail it is still the loser when it comes to this catagory.
Winner: Trackmaster
Play Value:
ERTL: Ertl allows Thomas to be coupled onto rolling stock like Annie and Clarabel by putting some peg holes so Annie and Clarabel put their pegs into them. However. This peg hole widens over time and it will eventually become to large for anything to stay inside. Also, the track on Ertl is pathetic. It seems like a thinner version on Tomy's road piece so you know what that means. Asides that, It is very good for the small hands of children.
Trackmaster: Trackmaster has put couplings which serve a similar purpose to what Ertl has done. It does not suffer the same problem but the peg hole on it is fragile and can snap if you are not careful. The track on Tomy is wonderful. Truly recommended to any children out there. Also. It is battery powered meaning you can watch it run round your layout. Tons of options for track. But even without batteries it is still fun on its own.
Wooden: Wooden has put magnets which are attract to other Thomas Toys and Rolling Stock. It's track is the easiest to use and is very suitable for younger children. Like Tomy, You can get loads of cool backdrops aswell. Like ERTL. It is suitable for smaller hands.
Winner: Wooden
Overall:
Price: 1st Trackmaster (UK)/Wooden (US) 2nd Wooden (UK)/Trackmaster (US) 3rd ERTL
Detail: 1st Trackmaster 2nd ERTL 3rd Wooden
Play Value: 1st Wooden 2nd Trackmaster 3rd ERTL
Winner: Trackmaster
