Thomas & Friends the Great Quarry Climb

We picked up the Thomas and Friends Blue Mountain Mystery movie in November. Our kids loved it and I purchased this for Christmas. We own many pieces of the take and play and wooden railway. Our son will use the wooden set for a while, and then pack it up after a month or so and setup the take and play. (We originally purchased the take and play trains for use when flying to his grandparents house).The Great Quarry Climb is awesome and fits really well on the standard train table (and is also a hit when used on the floor). 2 small issues: this isn't a fold and go set like Misty Island Rescue or many of the other take and play sets. I actually had to look at the box to see how to set this thing up. My second issue is the price. We were lucky enough to catch this on Amazon when it was listed as twenty four dollars, I have also seen it on sale at target for thirty one dollars. Its still worth it at forty dollars but I would hold out for a sale if possible.The key feature of this set is Owen. I thought Owen was a crane but I think the movie calls him a escalating train or something odd like that. Regardless, Own is great....he can haul the trains up the mountain and the kids love it. We purchase the four dollar flexible track and attached it to the setup for additional fun (connects by the turn table and the saw - see attached pic and link).  Thomas the Train: Take-n-Play Flexi-Track Bendable Track This is a great addition to the Take and Play set. If your kid loves trains, get it. You will not be disappointed.

Grandma & Grandpa made an early Christmas purchase the second we saw this new 2012 playset (being introduced in conjunction with 9/2012's Blue Mountain Mystery movie and making its first appearance on the 2012 Collector Checklist) on Amazon at a penny below Fisher-Price's January 2013 $40 MSRP with free shipping! (Update: Fisher-Price's summer 2013 MSRP is still $40.) The good thing about being grandparents is you don't have to wait until Christmas to check it out... WOW! It's SO neat that it has US counting the days 'til Christmas! Another colorful addition to the Take-n-Play line, the track itself - and there's a LOT of it! - is a combination of an attractive shade of blue along with the typical greyish-silver, features 2 inclines (with a blue pivot wall at the bottom of the steepest incline, and a blue rock support underneath the other), curves, and four points where it can be connected up to additional track or playsets! New character Owen, an enthusiastic traction engine (and the 3rd non-train character to be featured in a playset, with Cranky at the Docks and Colin at the Wharf being the others), is a light brown and is perched atop a grey and blue tower. The bright red drop saw tower has a blue/white "BMQ" (Blue Mountain Quarry) sign at the top, while the drop is a goldish-orange with a silver saw. The tower base also includes a spinning goldish-orange turntable and a grey loading zone. And now for the action! When you give Thomas (included!) a nudge down the incline of blue track, he passes over a lever that activates the spinning dropsaw - it drops down and "cuts" a slab of (plastic) bluestone, which plops right into the cargo car (brown plastic with 4 black wheels - both the rail car & cargo are also included)! You bring Thomas around the bend, passing underneath the steep grey track incline and onto the turntable (which is positioned underneath the blue track incline), spinning it to allow Thomas to back into the loading zone to connect up to his cargo car. Thomas heads back onto the track via the turntable, passes back underneath the steep incline, around the bend, and moving the pivot wall brings Thomas to the base of the incline. You pull a cord (located underneath the bay area connected to Owen) down, fitting the metal cover at the end of the cord over Thomas's connecting magnet. You then hold down a lever located on Owen's back, which allows Owen to pull Thomas and his cargo up the incline and into the bay! The detailing on these sets has always been great, and this one's no exception.(1/9/13 update - Oh my goodness... our grandson was so thrilled with this set at Christmas - as soon as we set it up, he immediately brought Winston (Sir Topham Hatt's track inspection vehicle), Mr. Percival (head of the Narrow Gauge Railway) in his little red car, and all of his Narrow Gauge engines to live there! He likes to have "homes" for all of his engines, so now 9 of his 10 Narrow Gauge engines are in their new "digs"... Skarloey (#1), Rheneas (#2), Sir Handel (#3), Peter Sam (#4), Rusty (#5), Fearless Freddie (#7), Duke (aka "Granpuff"), Mighty Mac (2 characters - Mighty and Mac - in one train!), and of course the newest member, little Luke (#22)! Victor (the only Narrow Gauge engine on Sir Topham Hatt's railway) is the only exception - our grandson keeps him at the Sodor Steamworks Repair Shed with his sidekick, Kevin, since that's where they work.The only thing I'd caution is that if you want a set your youngster can EASILY and QUICKLY take on the road with you, you might want to consider one of the $30 & under MSRP playsets instead. Update: There are 11 TnP sets as of summer 2013 that are what I've come to categorize as "elaborate", with MSRPs of $35 & up, and they are (in order of introduction): Rescue from Misty Island, Rock Quarry Run, Load & Go, Rumbling Gold Mine Run, Thomas at Pirate's Cove, The Dieselworks, The Great Quarry Climb, Thomas at the Ironworks, Thomas' Adventure Castle, Slate Loading Station and Lion Canyon... I wouldn't recommend them for easy transport. Those are the only ones that Grandma says have to stay put in the basement - they're great if you plan to keep them set up at home!We were first time grandparents of a 2 1/2 year old when my husband and I began a TnP collection for our grandson, hoping he'd pass it along to his own kids one day. We've ALL had a great time interacting with this overall quality line of trains, vehicles and playsets! He turned 4 at the end of April, and still enjoys spending a couple of hours of each day he spends with us in the Sodor land of make believe that spans a large portion of our basement. Although Disney's "Cars" characters are beginning to occupy a different portion, it's nice to see our investment continuing to hold his interest, engaging and encouraging that active imagination! Grandson #2 came along in March, so we plan to continue collecting TnP for several years to come!

Update: 6/21/2013 This is still my sons favorite toy in the house (and he has alot of toys) The whole track breaks down in a matter of a few seconds and goes back together in not much longer, he loves using the winch to pull trains up the hill, sometimes he just gets that potion of the set out and play with it (the winch tower) This toy has proven very robust and has been put through its paces by my 3.5 year old with good results. Id buy this for him again in a minute.This is a christmas gift for my son. I have not had it out of the box yet but it comes in a open faced toy package. The pieces seem of good quality and i have no doubt that hes going to love this set.update: This toy has been hands down my little boys favorite toy period, I easily have a couple thousand dollars in Thomas the train toys, book, dvd's, clothes, shoes, etc.. my kid loves the stuff.. but he great quary climb is his favorite without question. and it does snap apart and back together with realitive ease. good toy, happy little boy.

This was the most played with toy from all the Christmas presents for my 4-year-old and my 2-year-old boys. It was given to the older boy, but the younger also plays with it a lot. Big brother loves bridges and tunnels and so, this was just the right addition to the take n' play basic set we had purchased last year. They like attaching the engines to the little pull-up string and rolling them up. It has survived some serious yanking, no damage so far. The set is easy to assemble. We do move it from room to room sometimes and I have not found a very compact mode to move it all in one piece, but I have not really bothered with it too much. It is not a big issue for us. Definitely a good toy, and keeps the boys happy maybe longer than any other toy.

Obwohl mein 3-jähriges Sohn auch elektrische Züge von Duplo hat, spielt er echt lieber mit diesen Thomas Zügen! Ich bin sehr froh dass ich ihm dieses Spielset für sein Geburtstag geschenkt habe.

Este súper circuito de la mina es muy divertido. Un niño de 4 años se puede pasar horas cargando la vagoneta y subiendo el tren por la cuesta con la cuerda. Si se le añaden vías y más circuitos es súper divertido.

Très bon achat, même si le prix et un peu cher... Mais mes deux enfants (4ans et demi et deux ans) y jouent, du coup cela compense. Il y jouent durant des heures. Beau produit et le plus, le trin peu se faire remorquer jusqu'en haut de la pente grâce à un système de ressort, l'enfant n'a qu'à attacher le train et appuyer sur la manette. Le train et le wagon sont fournis avec. Mes enfants utilisent même les petites voitures.

Easy to put together and lots to do and very well made.My 2 year old granddaughter loves this it was a instant hit.Great value for money and good play value. I will be buying more take and play sets in the futureA must for all Thomas fans

Il giocattolo è ben fatto, i colori sono belli e lucenti, il meccanismo che tira su il trenino con la fune è elettrico, il bambino muove con la leva e si diverte molto. Ben rifinite le plastiche, mio figlio ci gioca moltissimo.... Nessun pericolo di oggetti piccoli, veramente ben fatto....