So, I went back today with my son to take photos of the differences in the new Fisher-Price Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway toys at Toys 'R' Us. I hope you appreciate the improvements from these low-quality camera phone pictures in bad lighting for photos. This blog post is a continuation from yesterday's part one that you can read HERE.
Look at this! It appears to come with the previous version of Diesel, but I so want to get this for my son. I wish I had the extra funds!
Left: Previous version, Right: Improved version
Left: Improved version, Right: Previous version
Left: Previous version, Right: Improved version
Left: Improved version, Right: Previous version
Top: Previous version, Bottom: Improved version
Top: Improved version, Bottom: Previous Version
Left: Previous version, Right: Improved version
Top: Improved version, Bottom: Previous version
To see even more photographs comparing the Learning Curve pre-refresh to the Fisher-Price refreshed engines, click HERE and HERE.
Yesterday, I took my 2 ½ year old son to Toys 'R' Us to get a Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Toby for being so good in 2 days of seeing the doctor after suffering from a concussion. When we got there, right away, I noticed that they had a new promo table for the kids to play with and new Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Trains.
Then, looking at the trains, I noticed that the battery operated trains such as Hiro and James were bigger with bigger, different, better faces! Their bodies were much more detailed too. Looking at the packaging, I saw it was different with a picture of the wooden track on the left of the packaging rather than just wood. These were the new Thomas toys!
We say better faces on all the trains, and the new Toby actually has a funnel! Seriously, this is a great time to replace any trains you need to replace, because these are much better than the older ones! A few items appear not to have changed, but are instead just better quality versions of the previous Learning Curve models. It has made me redo my entire wish list for my son.
That being said, I was a bad blogger and did not take pictures of the differences, other than this picture showing a great sale. I will do that next time. Click HERE for next time, then HERE for the 3rd post, and HERE for the 4th post on these changes! :-)
Pros: The songs, a Steamie villain, 2 great character introductions (Hiro & Victor), great morals, excellent CGI. Cons: No Diesels. As Thomas and Friends did their normal tasks, a silver streak flew by each of them. Once he slowed down, and said hello at Knapford Station, they saw that it was Spencer, here to help build the Duke and Duchess of Boxford build their new summer home. Thomas was upset that Thomas would be on Sodor for the whole summer. Spencer mocked the Steam Team for their slowness and age as he came upon them doing their jobs. Spencer was taking loads 5 times as big as the Steam team. Thomas stated that he could pull just as heavy loads as Spencer and go just as fast as him, so Spencer challenged him to a contest of strength and speed. Thomas was worried; he knew he had boasted too much. Both trains were carrying 7 cars, but this proved to be too much for Thomas. His brakes broke as he reached the top of a hill. Thomas raced down the hill and hit other cars, getting on an old railway track through overgrown bushes and trees. Thomas did not know where he was or what he should do. Suddenly, Thomas heard a voice. It was from the tracks ahead. Very slowly Thomas chuffed ahead and gasped. There was a very old, rusty, and broken engine smiling at him. He looked kind and gentle but Thomas was a little scared. The old engine introduced himself, his name was Hiro. Hiro told Thomas about how he came from Japan a long time ago. He was the strongest engine in Japan and called “The Master of the Railway”. He had the same nickname when he came to Sodor. Hiro eventually started to break down, but on Sodor they had no parts for the Japanese engine, so he was pushed to a siding to wait, but the parts never came and eventually he was forgotten. Thomas wanted to go tell Sir Topham Hatt, but Hiro refused to let him, afraid that he would be taken to the Smelting Yard since they could not have the parts on Sodor and Hiro could not be a Very useful Engine. Thomas agreed not to tell Hatt and to take care of him, to make him the Master of the Railway again. Hiro smiled. Later that morning, Thomas made it to the Steamworks and had his brakes fixed. Thomas liked the Steamworks and its manager, Victor. Spencer came to gloat, but Thomas simply congratulated him. Victor shooed Spencer away, which made Spencer cross. Behind Kevin the Crane, Thomas saw a car full of supplies. He hoped he could take them to Hiro. After Thomas was done with his work for the day, he asked Victor about the parts. Victor said they were old, so Thomas offered to take them away. Spencer almost caught Thomas taking the parts to Hiro, but Thomas was able to take the parts, but found out the Duke and Duchess of Boxford’s new summer home was very close to Hiro’s location. He carefully chuffed back to Tidmouth Sheds. Sir Topham Hatt arrived to tell them that they all would need to work extra hard and extra early tomorrow. Hatt said Thomas should not pull heavily loads, as he did not need very broken engines, but Very Useful Engines. Now Thomas was very afraid for Hiro.
The next day, Thomas asked others to do his work, so he could help Hiro. Percy left his mail trucks is a hidden siding while he took away Thomas’ load. Spencer saw Thomas and was suspicious. Thomas was not on his Branch Line. Thomas eventually made it to Hiro and his driver and fireman helped put the new parts on Thomas. As Thomas left, Spencer followed him and came upon a broken down Percy. Thomas shunted Percy to the Steamworks. Percy was scared that Sir Topham Hatt would be cross since he failed to deliver the mail today. Thomas promised to help him tomorrow. Victor chastised Thomas for giving his work to Percy. Thomas saw more old parts and asked for help. Thomas told Victor about Hiro. Looking after another engine, especially an old engine, is very important, said Victor. Victor wanted to tell Sir Topham Hatt, but agreed not to after he shared his concerns about Hiro being scrapped. That night Hatt was cross and chastised Thomas for having Percy do his work, causing the mail to not be delivered. Now Percy’s mail cars were missing. Thomas promised to help find them tomorrow. Once Hatt left, he told his friends about Hiro and asked for their help. The next day Thomas worked extra hard. Spencer did not work, but watched Thomas’ every move. After a full day’s work, Thomas headed to the Sodor Steamworks. On the way, he met Gordon, who had taken parts to Hiro that day. Sir Topham Hatt was at the Steamworks and cross that the mail cars still had not been found. Thomas and Percy left and Victor told Thomas he would have something for him when he returned. Thomas took Percy to meet Hiro. Hiro told the 2 small engines how he loved Gordon’s smile. The next morning Thomas and Percy looked for the missing mail cars. Emily was busy doing Thomas’ work. Spencer asked Emily why Thomas had been by the new summer house. Emily replied that Thomas was a very busy engine and that is why she was helping him. Edward took parts to Hiro. Hiro thought Edward was very wise. Thomas and Percy still could not find the mail cars. They even checked the Ffarquhar Quarry. Spencer arrived and Mavis the Diesel Engine ran interference for the small Steamies. Spencer backed up and slate went in his funnel, making him inoperative. He had to be taken to the Steamworks! James, Emily, and Thomas all chuffed parts to Hiro the next day. Hiro was starting to look like a complete steam engine. Thomas promised Hiro that tomorrow Percy would get the last part. That night, Sir Topham Hatt was cross. The mail cars were still missing and Thomas had not been working on his branch line. His friends promised that tomorrow everything would be alright. The next day Spencer was fixed. Spencer searched for clues. He found Percy’s mail cars. James and Toby chased Spencer away from Hiro. Thomas boxed in Spencer and told Hatt that Spencer had taken the mail cars. Hatt ordered Spencer to take the mail cars to Percy. When Thomas visited Hiro, they heard Spencer. He had found them! The two trains chuffed away and Spencer caught up to them. Hiro’s parts started to shake. Without the last part, Hiro started to have problems. Parts started to come off. Hiro could not chuff anymore. Gordon distracted Spencer by challenging him to a race. Thomas hid Hiro is a siding. When they got to Maithwaite Station, the Duke and Duchess chastised him for not getting the work done. Thomas pulled up and offered to help Spencer get the work completed. Hiro was depressed, he was sure he would go to the Smelter’s Yard now. Thomas decided that after he helped build the summer house, he had to tell Sir Topham Hatt about Hiro, as their attempts at fixing him had failed. While Thomas and Spencer worked on the summer house, the rest of the Steam Team visited Hiro and kept him very happy. After many days Thomas visited Hiro and promised him everything would be fixed.
Thomas headed to Knapford to speak to Hatt, but Spencer started to chase him, wanting to get Hiro taken to the Smelting Yard. Thomas went over a rickety raised railway that was too fragile for a big, heavy train like Spencer and the small bridge collapsed under Spencer’s weight (4 bridges destroyed in 4 movies)! Thomas promised to go get help for Spencer. Thomas told Sir Topham Hatt everything. Hatt was familiar with the Master of the Railway. He was very excited and anxious to help him. Hatt ordered that Hiro be sent to the Steamworks, not the Ironworks! After Hiro was fixed, Spencer would be fixed. After Hiro was fixed, Spencer was pulled out of the mud by Hiro, who was pulling Rocky, and taken to the Sodor Steamworks. Once Spencer was fixed, Spencer, Hiro, and Thomas worked together on the summer house. Spencer apologized to the other engines and told them that they were good friends. Hiro loved his new friends but missed his old friends in Japan. He had not been in Japan in a very long time. Thomas asked Sir Topham Hatt to let him go home for a visit. Hatt agreed. As Hiro was loaded on the ship for Japan, Thomas reminded Hiro that Sodor will always be his home too. Cue “Go, Go, Thomas” music video. Great stuff!
Go, go Thomas... Go, go Thomas... Go, go, number one... Go, go Thomas! Something good is gonna happen today Oh my my, hey hey hey! Use your ears, use your eyes Thomas is in for a big surprise! On the track, behind the trees Far away, where nobody sees Lives an engine, Hiro by name And Thomas is going to help him shine again! Edward, Emily, James, and Toby too, Gordon, Henry, Percy coming through! Thomas and Friends making Hiro brand new, They're the really useful crew! Go, go Thomas... Thomas number one! Go, go Thomas... Thomas number one! Little by little, day by day Oh my my, hey hey hey! All the friends are helping him out Now we get ready to shout it out! Edward, Emily, James, and Toby too, Gordon, Henry, Percy coming through! Thomas and Friends making Hiro brand new, They're the really useful crew! Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends. Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one. Go go Thomas... Thomas number one.
Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends. Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends. Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends. Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends. Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends. Thomas and Hiro. Thomas and Hiro. Good, good friends.
The end.
Click the following links to buy this story on BOOK and DVD.
Toby for being so good in 2 days of seeing the doctor after suffering from a concussion. When we got there, right away, I noticed that they had a new promo table for the kids to play with and new Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Trains.
