Thomas & Friends TrackMaster, Talking Thomas

I just gave this to my grandson yesterday for this first birthday. It may take him a little while to figure out what to do to make it go but he seemed to enjoy it anyway; his 3 year old sister had no trouble with this. When you depress the smokestack Thomas tells you his name and makes the woo-woo train whistle. It then starts to move and has no problem traveling over a short pile carpet. The tender is securely attached and does not detach easily so that if you pick up one car the other one does not suddenly fall off which is important for very young children. Well constructed with no removable parts that could cause a choking hazard. I expect he'll get many years of enjoyment with this toy.

Bought this for my son for Christmas because he loves Thomas. We have several motorized engines and they have all worked fine, but this one only whistled and talked out of the box and did not move. Tried putting in new batteries and the results were no different. I don't recommend this particular engine.

Got the product in excellent condition. I bought it for my son for christmas. So we opened it up christmas day to let him play with it and there was a problem. The train talks but it does't move. Which I think it should. If I am wrong just notify me and I will re due this review. All in all everything went well.

My son loves this toy so much that he takes it with him where ever he goes. He plays with it on the floors or on the trackmaster track sets. This toy took a beating and kept on chugging. It went down a flight of stairs and still worked. I agree with the other reviewer that the childs fingers get pinched if they grab the train from the sides while it's moving. It's nothing drastic as far as drawing blood but they will feel that pinch. My son just says "ouch" and keeps on playing. lol. Other than that the train is a fun toy that's very durable and keeps your child entertained for hours. I recommend all of the motorized talking trains.

You know how this Thomas talks? They aren't kidding. Thomas talks all the friggin' time. Thomas never shuts up and Thomas never stops saying his name, because Thomas is the Number One Blue Engine and the eternal hunger of Thomas will consume all things.Beware: when switched on, this piece of plastic will automatically talk every ten seconds, whether it's being played with or not. The toy will continue to motor forward, and if it runs into an obstacle it will stop and emit an endless, horrific sound of plastic gears grinding against each other, and above it all you'll hear Thomas's infernal, infantile voice. Hi, I'm Thomas! I'm the number one blue engine! I'm a Really Useful Engine! I will lay waste to your spirit, and then I will reap my crop of human despair!The other awesome thing about this toy is how poorly engineered it is. The wheels use a ribbed tire mechanism to grip the slick, cheap plastic TrackMaster tracks, and it's sized perfectly to pick up hair or string and draw it around the axle and jam up the gearbox. It's bad enough when it picks up a piece of his mother's hair - which is long, and blonde, and nearly impossible to see until it's jammed inside a toy train - or the hair of my kids, which can happen when it's still attached to their heads because kids put their heads on the carpet next to the train because it helps them play make-believe.Have you ever needed to detach a cackling, murderous plastic train from a screaming child's head while it (the train) explains gleefully that it's Number One? I have. TrackMaster Talking Thomas has brought the most horrific nightmares of my childhood to life. Keep this grim force of battery-powered malevolence out of your home and buy the wooden Thomas sets instead. Final score is two stars: one because it's the minimum, plus another because my kids love it (they won't develop good taste for at least ten years.)

I'll reiterate what the other poster said about the batteries being for demo purposes and add that they probably don't have too much juice after being repeatedly pressed in the store.One thing that has not been said is the fact that this talking Trackmaster is not free wheeling when turned off. In other words, the wheels don't freely rotate for play when the motor is disengaged. My only other point of reference is a non-talking Trackmaster Charlie which does have rotating wheels even when turned off. It probably wouldn't take much to break the motor if a child forced the engine around the tracks when turned off.

My 3 years old son loves it! Daily play after five months and multiple dropped and it is still working. No complain at all. It does use 3 AAA battery. I used rechargable battery since it is heavily played by my son. One great feature is it will stop itself when it is flipped to the side or left alone for a short while. So No annoying 'I am Thomas. Number one engine....' over and over again....Also, no way to shut down the sound. Once the engine start choochooing, the voice sound comes along.

My boys love Thomas especially when he talks, just don't know why we can't get then in the UK.Still good value even with the import duty, plus fast delivery, Would highly recommend to all Thomas fans.