iocat's Journal: Wooden Train Sets

There are basically three choices in wooden train sets: Brio, Thomas the Tank Engine, and the cheap one from Target. They are all entirely inter-operable, and feature wooden tracks, and wooden train cars with magnetic couplings.

Brio is so outrageously expensive that is clearly exists only for rich people to demostrate their wealth. A starter set in a figure 8 with 3 train cars (~20 pieces total) costs $40. A slightly larger set costs $100. The accessories are just vulgarly expensive: A crane costs $31 (this is one track length with a plastic crane); a small, matchbox sized cop car is $12, a 2 car and 1 engine Santa Fe branded passanger train is $46... and these are discount prices online.

The Thomas the Tank Engine trains, which feature the painful english license, are about 60% of the cost of the Brio trains. Still, a 45 piece set with bridges and crap runs $240 at retail.

From Target, I just bought a 140 piece set for $39 (it's actually $59 at target.com, but cheaper in the stores -- this is very common for Target). It's exactly the same stuff.

Anyway, it's fucking insane that Brio charges as much as it does, but it's even more insane that people pay those prices for their precious children.

I like what one woman I met did: her kid was bugging her for those trains at Christmas, while they were in one of those yuppie stores that sell them, and she was like "This train set costs as much as an Elephant. We don't have elephants at home, we go to the zoo. This store is like the zoo. You play with the trains here, and then we go home." I wish I had thought of that line of reasoning.

Anyway, no clue how the generic trains will go over, and my dad claims he will subsidize the purchase of Thomas trains to go on the track, so we'll see.

FWIW, a real HO scale electric train set runs $39 and up, with most coming in around $69. HO trains kick the ass of wooden trains.