Thomas & Friends, Big Loader great for ages 3 and (much) older

There are two 9-year olds and a 7-year old at my kitchen table playing with Thomas and Friends, Big Loader. 15 minutes later: There are still two 9-year olds and a 7-year old at my kitchen table playing with Thomas and Friends. I wasn’t expecting this. All of these kids are a couple years beyond enjoying Thomas the Train. Dare I say it, they’re in the demographic where they mock children who enjoy Thomas the Train, yet, here they are,eagerly playing with Big Loader.  If that’s what my skeptical and surly crowd does with it, just imagine how kids who actively enjoy Thomas and Friends will react.

Big Loader is a train set that features Thomas and Percy as they move about 8 feet of track dumping loads and picking them up. Thomas goes down the ramp, maneuvers two curves and then into a holding bay where the chassis transfers from him to Percy. Percy then goes backwards where he triggers a loading platform that dumps gray balls into its cargo bin. Now that Percy has the cargo he goes to a dumping station where it’s offloaded down a zig-zag maze that empties into a green quarry. Percy moves back to the chassis transfer station and docks while the chassis goes back to Thomas.

Thomas goes to the quarry where he transfers the chassis to the brown loader. The brown loader then moves the grey balls up the bin where they fall back in to Thomas’s cargo hold. At which point the brown loader goes backward, stopping at the chassis transfer which allows Thomas to go back up the hill, dumping the grey balls into the loading platform bin.

I even found myself watching Big Loader. It’s hypnotic and kids will have an absolute blast playing with this toy. There are ways for kids to control the train once it’s on the track too. On some pieces of track there are switches that make the train change directions if they’re pressed as the train hits it. Hit the piece of track on its new direction and the train will go towards the intended direction. If you leave the train alone it will continue to run until the kids lose interest, which will take a long time.

Big Loader is well constructed and relatively easy to put together. Putting the train track in its course will take a combination of reading the instructions and looking at the photograph on the box. Once the course is put together be certain the flick the metal stud on the bottom of the trains down. If you don’t flick them down then you’ll wonder why the trains keep running off of the track. That will lead you to curse toy designers and children’s toys, when in reality, it’s just you who didn’t read the instructions.

I get it, you want to put the toy together quickly so that the kids can enjoy it. However, just exhale a moment….put Big Loader together and let the kids have the hours, upon hours of fun that the toy will provide. Thomas& Friends Big Loader retails for $39.99 and is intended for ages 3 and up,however, their older siblings (and you parents) will easily be ensnared by its charm.