Thomas and Friends Tidmouth Shed Station and Train Station| New Toy Review
- Iconic location: Tidmouth Sheds is one of the most recognizable locations in the Thomas the Tank Engine series. The roundhouse design with its multiple engine stalls is instantly recognizable and has become an iconic image associated with the series.
- Central location: Tidmouth Sheds is the central location where all the engines of the show gather and spend their nights. As a result, many of the show’s most memorable moments have taken place there, making it an essential location for fans of the show.
- A diverse cast of characters: Tidmouth Sheds is where all the engines of the series come together, allowing for a diverse and interesting cast of characters to interact with each other. This has led to the development of many interesting storylines and memorable moments at the location.
- Sense of community: Tidmouth Sheds represents a sense of community for the engines, which has resonated with fans of the series. The engines work together, play together, and support each other, creating a sense of camaraderie and teamwork that has been a hallmark of the series.
Overall, Tidmouth Sheds has become an essential and beloved location for fans of the Thomas the Tank Engine series due to its iconic design, central location, diverse cast of characters, and sense of community.
Product Description:
- Double-sided wooden playset styled like the classic Tidmouth Sheds from the Thomas & Friends series
- Made from sustainably sourced beech wood for memories that last
- A full loop of track with 3 play areas, including 5 engine bays, 5 work hubs to “clean” and “fix” them up, and a spinning turntable to send engines on their way (Additional engines sold separately.)
- Comes with 1 Percy engine and 4 Clackety Track adapters to connect to any Thomas & Friends wood track (Track sets sold separately and subject to availability.)
- For preschool train lovers ages 3 years and up
| Best Sellers Rank | #25,413 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games) #58 in Preschool Train & Train Sets #65 in Toy Train Sets |
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| Customer Reviews |
1,231 ratings
4.8 out of 5 stars |
Christina’s Toy Review consists of 5 standardized criteria categories:
1. Sustainability:
A. Product: Tidmouth Shed has equal components of plastic to wood ratio. Wooded areas are at the base of the unit, columns, sidewalls, and part of the turntable. The wood consists mainly of a very firm pressed board and some hardwoods. Plastic components are on the 2nd floor, base, and accessories are attached, however “Nia the engine” is mainly wood as all other Thomas Engines are sold separately. Check out my in-depth review of Thomas & Friends Wooden Trains Here. I am thankful that there is a wooden alternative for Thomas as all other Thomas train toy lines are made of plastic. With that being said, I wish the wooden line would contain mostly wooden components.
B. Packaging: The box is recyclable cardboard without any plastic windows. There are small plastic baggies containing components in the box. Fisher-Price is not known to place emphasis on environmentally conscious packaging.
C. Origin/Company: Fisher-Price is not a company very concerned with sustainability as most of its products are made of plastics. The parent company, Mattel, announced in January 2020 a goal of transitioning its toys and packaging to 100 percent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic by 2030. Unfortunately, this is unacceptable in my opinion as a 10-year plan is more in line with minimum requirements. Their packaging usually includes loads of plastic windows and inner plastic packaging. They have made marginal efforts to provide a wooden toy line under their brand with “wonder makers” and mainly wooden pretend playline like the Farm-to-Market Stand.
2. Playability:
A. Open-ended: This wooden shed is open-ended in terms of the endless different stories your child can make up or act out. It can double as a train station because it has a waiting area with seats and a table on the second floor. The shed doubles as a train repair station and has fun components to repair trains with tools attached by a string.
B. Active Parent engagement: Pushing trains around with your toddler is a fun active engagement. Your kids will love you helping them build new track creations each time. This Tidmouth shed is a large focal point in which the whole train set will be built around.
C. Playtime: What I love most about this shed is that it promotes independent play. My 3 yr old will play for 30 min to 1 hr by himself, playing out Thomas’s stories and scenarios. I can “see the thought gears” turning in his mind as he plays out stories and talks to his engines while engaging with the Tidmouth shed. Recreating stories and making up scenarios are crucial in creative development. This is where this toy hits the mark.
3. Durability:
A. Craftmanship: This toy is solidly built and is a nice heavy size. However, I’m not thrilled with the number of plastic components. Furthermore, Fisher-Price unnecessarily changed their wooden track to a different shape on the ends so it will not connect to other universal track brands such as Brio, Hape, Melissa & Doug etc. Putting the plastic component issue aside, this toy will definitely last through lots of play as it is not flimsy. It is much better than any other entirely plastic train garage on the market.
B. Quality: Back in the day, Thomas brand wooden trains were produced by the “Learning curve and Tomy” brands. These manufacturers produced higher-quality wooden Thomas train sets. When Fisher-Price started producing the wood line, the quality was not the same. Fisher-Price additionally made Thomas wooden train sets not so “wooden” as their sets in my opinion have too many plastic components such as bridges that contain more plastic than wood.
C. Price/Value: Tidmouth shed is a little overpriced listing at $79.99 although I have seen it as low as $59.99. It is the only wooden train roundhouse on the market that has a 2nd floor for playability. Most other sheds are rather boring as they have only one floor and no accessories included for play.
4. Longevity:
A. Landfill or Heirloom: This is Heirloom quality if none of the plastic components break. I wouldn’t consider this to be a beautiful heirloom piece such as a wooden block set, however, it does have a nice classic look about it.
B. Lifespan of Toy (Age Range): The shed is for ages 3+ and my 7 yr old still plays with this. You can expect 3 to 4 years’ worth of play per child out of this toy.
C. Multi-age Families: This unit is not recommended for families with children under the age of 3 as there are choking hazards with a few small components. I recommend that it’s best for families with preschoolers to young school-aged kids.
5. Versatility:
A. Combinable with other toys: One issue to address in regards to compatibility is that they changed their track pieces in the last few years. Fisher-Price intentionally made the wooden track pieces not universally compatible with all other track brands on the market. This means that your new wooden Thomas tracks will not attach to your Brio wooden tracks. Because of this change, they now have included 2 additional plastic pieces that you need to connect your existing track to the Tidmouth sheds. These are unnecessary plastic components that don’t match and lessen the wooden aesthetic appeal. In my opinion, Fisher-Price changed the tracks as a ploy for the consumer to only buy their train sets and tracks. This is why I would not recommend their large sets at all.
B. Creativity Function: This toy is creative in terms of being a component and as a tool for your child to be a creative storyteller. It is a toy that gives children the ability to continue on with Thomas’ world through imaginary play.
C. Storage: The unit itself can be a storage space as it can store up to 10 trains if you place the engines 2 deep in each garage run.
What are the Pros/Cons of the Thomas and Friends Tidmouth Shed?
Pros:
- Helps encourage imagination, motor skills, and thinking skills
- Magnet connectors allow trains to connect to other trains and cargo cars
- Made with sustainably-sourced, premium beech wood, Thomas & Friends Wood toys deliver classic train and figure play with an innovative, modern design. Kid-friendly, easy-to-build track connectors fit together simply, allowing children to build their layouts – and their stories – by themselves
Cons:
- Some people have reported missing parts but have been able to get replacement parts as needed.
- Could use a little less plastic.
- Made in China.
- A little on the pricier side but good value for what you get.
- They are a little on the smaller side
FAQ:
Who Are Thomas & Friends?
Thomas & Friends Wood toy trains deliver exceptional quality, imaginative play, and an emotional connection that only these iconic characters can provide. Every child’s imagination has stories to tell – and Thomas is the perfect helper. Children create the stories, and Thomas just delivers inspiration. For a seamless playtime experience, the redesigned Thomas & Friends Wood toy trains are also compatible with the classic Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway tracks.
Is Thomas and Friends Tidmouth Shed Station Set eco-friendly?
Most of the components are wood but there is quite a bit of plastic included in this set. The newer Thomas sets are made in Thailand and not China. See my recent article on the Newest Thomas Train Line!
Do I personally recommend this product?
I do recommend this product. There are better all-wooden trainsets out there such as the Maple Landmark Nametrains set which are amazing and 100% wooden. Thomas is a little expansive and adds the character we all love.
Who is this product best for?
Trains are for Ages 2+ all the way to teenagers. We have a range of kids and everyone loves to build a large-scale trainset.
Where can the product be purchased? At the best price?
It retails for $80-100 and can be found in many retailers and on the Amazon link below.
And what about Thomas’s Friends?
Fisher-Price Thomas & Friends Wood, Harvey
3 Alternative Train Sets to Consider (View Top 8 Trains):
1. Wooden Train Town Set – Made In The USA | NameTrains By Maple Landmark
- All NameTrain pieces and tracks are compatible with themselves and other wooden track systems.
- NameTrain vehicles are about 2″ high. Set made in the USA.
- Our largest wooden train town set contains 56 pieces. Includes: 31 pieces of track (8 curved, 4 small curved, 4-piece bridge set, adapter pair, 2 pairs of switches, 2 puddle jumpers, 3 eight-inch straight pieces, 4 four-inch straight pieces) creating a layout that measures 24″ X 38″. Vehicles included: school bus, bullet train engine, caboose, fire truck, tow truck, police car, taxi cab, rescue car, train engine, passenger cars (2), caboose, airplane, racer, tractor, tugboat. Buildings included: a store, house, train station, school, fire station, and 4 trees. Dimensions: 38 x 24 x 3 inches. Weight: 6.9 lbs
2. Brio World Deluxe Railway Set 33052 | Wooden Toy Train Set | Complete Review HERE: An Honest Look
- The Deluxe Railway Set is an action-packed train set that includes passenger trains, freight trains, harbor scenes, and metro fun. It’s complete with stations, cranes, bridges, and figures. A must-have for any train lover.
- Perfect for the creative toddler – Start your budding train engineer off on the right track with a Deluxe Railway wooden toy train set. It’s the perfect Easter gift for the creative toddler – designed for ages 3 and up, with batteries included.
- Compatibility – As your child develops, so can their railway play as the 33052 Deluxe Railway Set is compatible with all other BRIO railway toys.
- Develops important skills – Playing with train sets helps children to understand and learn about their environment in a fun way.
- Safe for your child as BRIO conducts more than 1,000 safety tests a year to ensure that our products conform to all safety standards, and we take pride in developing toys that are completely safe for children to play with.
- Recommended for Ages 3+
3. Wild Pines Train Set – Stunning Wooden Lumberjack Style Toy Train Set for Ages 3+
- Early Developments: Tender Leaf Toys’ wild pines train set for kids’ pretend play is crafted with precision and authentic detail. This creates a lifelike toy that teaches and inspires toddlers and kids of every age. This 30-piece track allows for creative layouts and endless storytelling for your kids and their friends.
- Craftmanship: Tender Leaf Toys creates gentle, beautifully designed toys that promote learning through play. Traditional in concept but contemporary in design. All products are made with a distinct focus on craftsmanship and quality. They meet the European and American standards of safety of toys.
- Safe and environment friendly: This realistic-looking wild pine train set for pretend play is durable. It will remain the same after decades. This beautiful wild pine train set is handcrafted in solid, sustainable rubberwood that stands the test of time. Tender leaf toys are safe, chemical-free & eco-friendly as well.
- Set Contains: The lumberjack-style wild pine train set is a log pile to hold the logs with a sleeping bear, a lake with 2 magnetized boulders, and a big bear. There is even a part that has 3 big fir trees that will block the track unless they are rotated out of the way! 4 cut timber logs and a tree nursery with 6 trees in various stages of growth make this set a wonderful timber trail environment.
Products to Avoid:
- Any off-brand train set or knock-off! Buy Legit Brands!
- I usually avoid Melissa & Doug because it’s cheaply made in China and seems to chip and break quite easily.
- On Track USA – They are not made in the USA. I exposed their misleading brand HERE.
Final Review for Thomas and Friends Tidmouth Shed & Wood Train Station:
Tidmouth Sheds is a toy train station based on the popular children’s book and television series, Thomas the Tank Engine. The Tidmouth Sheds toy train station is designed to resemble the roundhouse design of the location in the series, with multiple engine stalls for the toy trains to park in. The toy set typically includes several toy train engines that can be stored and played with in the Tidmouth Sheds station, as well as other accessories such as tracks, buildings, and characters from the series. The Tidmouth Sheds toy train station is popular among children and fans of the Thomas the Tank Engine series due to its iconic design and its association with many memorable moments from the show.
Overall, I would recommend the Fisher-Price wooden Thomas and Friends Tidmouth Shed because it is the best “less plastic, more sustainable” option. Fisher-Price has much to improve in regard to sustainability with packaging and the product. However, this shed is much better than its all-plastic counterpart (Thomas Track Master) sets that are of terrible quality and have zero sustainable components.
I am thankful that Fisher-Price has kept the wooden Thomas line “alive” because there is a classic attribute it has and it gives parents the option to find “Thomas” in a wooden form. Fisher-Price does make it very easy to purchase individual wooden engines as well without the large track sets. This is great for parents to have the option to only buy the Thomas engines and nothing more. Our family personally has many Thomas wooden engines, Cranky the crank, and the Tidmouth shed. We do have an original Thomas wooden track circle (before the track design change) shown within this review. My two youngest 3 and 7 play with Thomas trains daily and the Thomas and Friends Tidmouth Shed which has been a great addition to our Maple Landmark and Brio train tracks pictured below.
