Need some advice on Lego Trains

[noahsdad]

Hey guys, I have a question. I'd like to get into a lego train set for my son and I. He is young now (almost 3) but we enjoy playing with the city sets. Cars, buildings, etc.

I know nothing about trains and not sure what the "best buy" is right now. I see that Amazon has this one on sale for 99 dollars http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A2JCQ8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003A2JCQ8&linkCode=as2&tag=creativetoys04-20 but not sure if that's a good first set or not.

Any suggestions you guys have would be greatly appricated.

Thanks!

[Paul B Technic]

Hi,

I used to do a bit with LEGO trains, I never owned that set but as a starting set I reckon it is as good as any. Maybe also pick up some more track and then you can design a bigger and better layout.

[Faefrost]

That's probably not a bad starting set. Although a lot will depend on what you want him to do with it. For pure play value few things beat the Yellow Cargo Train

http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-City-Cargo-Train-7939/dp/B003A2JCR2/ref=pd_sim_t_4

With its crane and small cars and sidings. Just lots of stuff to do. Although it is substantially more expensive.

[noahsdad]

That's probably not a bad starting set. Although a lot will depend on what you want him to do with it. For pure play value few things beat the Yellow Cargo Train

http://www.amazon.co.../ref=pd_sim_t_4

With its crane and small cars and sidings. Just lots of stuff to do. Although it is substantially more expensive.

Thanks. That one does look good. It looks like it's normally 139 or so when it's in stock most places. I may wait it out.

[Xyver]

Noahsdad,

the Red Passenger Train is a great set to play with, even if it doesn't have all the added playthings of the cargo train. But if you and your son enjoy playing City, think of the fun you will have loading people in/out of the train for its journeys.

Either way, Lego trains are great and will bring hours of fun.

[CopMike]

Moved to the forum were the true train aficionados hang out !

[Paperballpark]

In terms of building, the Passenger Train is (IMHO) far simpler than the Cargo Train, so may be more suitable if your son would be helping to build it.

In terms of play value, yes the Cargo Train is better (far better), but at that age will he want complicated things like an overhead crane?

[JopieK]

I totally agree with Paperballpark. I would go for the cargo one though. Just bought an extra (third one) two weeks ago, it was a superset with extra track, points and the small station together for 115€ so a very good value.

Our cousins and nieces love those trains. Seems to depend on the kid, how old they can handle the specific train etc. and understand the concept of the remote control etc (some already at < 2 yo and others not until they are a little older).

[aurly]

Get the Constitution Train Chase. Swooshable (the other trains won't move without batteries), and it has guns and exploding parts. Those are always winners.

[BCanilho]

Either train you get, the passenger our cargo train, if you can wait some time they might have a decrease in their price. Newer train sets will arrive in the second wave of Lego in 2014.

The Cargo Train was the first set i bought after i leave my Dark Ages, so that´s my choise, but with a 3 years old child i don´t know if the simpler Passenger trains isn´t better.

[Helmantel]

I have a lot of trains as well as an almost three year old son and although I certainly understand that you would like to buy him a train, I think he's probably a little too young for it. He will probably enjoy it more if he's older. On the other hand, it's Lego and therefore pretty robust so there's not much that can go wrong.

[grymg]

Either train you get, the passenger our cargo train, if you can wait some time they might have a decrease in their price. Newer train sets will arrive in the second wave of Lego in 2014.

Will they still decrease in price? Only place with the passenger train at decent price is S&H. None for retail price on amazon or walmart.com. Out of stock at TRU both online and locally.

Seems quite the opposite.

Edited January 3, 2014 by grymg

[ritzcrackerman]

Although not yet official, there are likely 2 new trains set for release Summer 2014. So the two in question (red passenger and yellow cargo) are likely going to be in short supply between now and then. If you have not already, I'd jump on purchasing one or the other.

The yellow cargo is superior in terms of play value. It's easy to supplement, and there are enough complementary "work" vehicles sold by LEGO right now to enhance the play value (cargo trucks, cargo trains, etc. etc.)

The yellow cargo was my 2nd train (after the Emerald Night) and still one of my favorites. :) I was one of those kids that always looked fondly at the train adverts included with my LEGO sets, but my folks never got them for me. I've made up for that and then some in my AFOL years.

Cheers!

[zephyr1934]

Will they still decrease in price? Only place with the passenger train at decent price is S&H. None for retail price on amazon or walmart.com. Out of stock at TRU both online and locally.

Seems quite the opposite.

Occasionally you will find a deal on these sets, but not too often. Presumably the only sets on Amazon are in the market place (3rd parties). The sets might reappear at Amazon proper, if so, they might discount them at the end of the run. Lego might give 10-15% off at the end of the run as well. So if you really want them, S@H might be worth it now. Rarely will you find a good deal at TRU, lego is typically priced 20% or more above MSRP so that when it goes on sale it is about MSRP.

[Hey Joe]

Will they still decrease in price? Only place with the passenger train at decent price is S&H. None for retail price on amazon or walmart.com. Out of stock at TRU both online and locally.

Seems quite the opposite.

Amazon (not a third party) had some good sales on both the yellow cargo and red passenger trains in the months leading up to Xmas. The yellow one went as low as US$ 150 and I think I paid $100 for the red one.

It's really hard to say if we'll see those prices again on those sets.

Brickset.com has a handy page that lists sets on sale at Amazon. If you check it on a regular basis it will help you get some worthwhile discounts.

Joe