I just got this in an email from Hit Entertainment, so I wanted to share it with you in case anyone was unaware. On Saturday April 12, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. you can join Thomas & Friends for a play date at your local Toys R Us.

Plenty of fun and activities are in store including:

• Storytime every half hour
• Coloring Fun
• Free Thomas trading cards (while supplies last)
• Special in-store savings
• Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway Play Table Time

Our TRU always has a train table, so I don’t really see how that’s anything new, unless they’re going to bring out a few extra tables for the event. But the storytime, coloring fun and free trading cards sound great! Check your local Toys R Us for more info to make sure it’s participating in this event.

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There’s a big DVD sale going on right now at the HIT Shop, where all DVDs are just $9.99 apiece. That goes for all DVDs, not just Thomas ones, which they currently have a selection of 11 DVDs available. But if you buy any 3 DVDs, you also get a free blue and white striped Thomas Authentic Engineer Hat! This sale and offer are good through January 22, 2008, so hurry!

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While I’m fairly impressed with the way Learning Curve/RC2 has handled the massive recalls that affected their wooden railway line, I’m a little disappointed. They made it real easy to identify which toys were contaminated by lead paint, had an easy form to fill out and send back with the items, they took care of shipping costs, kept me updated on the status of replacements and recently sent out all new items to me. (As opposed to Mattel, who had a klunky system and only sent by a rebate-type coupon good for money off specific Mattel items…).

Learning Curve managed to replace every one of the items I sent back with the exception of the Ice Cream Factory. Instead, they shipped me back a brand new Sodor Scrub & Shine set. I figured they just made a mistake, so I just called Customer Service and was sad to find out that it was indeed correct. It seems the Ice Cream Factory and a few other items were actually in retirement when the recall went into affect, so they don’t have any replacements, nor will they go “back to press” on them simply to satisfy us customers.

It would have been nice if they mentioned that in the letter they sent with the replacement item, so I wouldn’t think it was a mistake. But I’m also pretty upset. We had bought that Ice Cream Factory for my oldest son as a present when he came back from a short visit in the hospital. I know he’s going to be pretty heartbroken about it when we tell him they’re not making it anymore. When I expressed this to the Customer Service Woman on the phone she actually said she was getting a lot of calls and similar reactions from parents who wanted it. So hopefully enough people will complain and request it to bring back the Ice Cream Factory!

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I just posted the 2008 Schedule for Day Out With Thomas. Looks like the tour is expanding and hitting a lot more cities and states this year. There are even a few stops up north in Canada!

We’ve gone 3 years in a row now and I’m sure the trend will continue in 2008, despite the fact that our oldest son isn’t nearly as obssessed with Thomas as he used to be. (Don’t get me wrong, he still has 5,000 trains, tracks, books, T-shirts, etc., and still plays with them all regularly. They just don’t rule his world like they used to.) Same with our youngest. If I put the tracks out and start building, the two of them will entire themselves for a good hour or so at least.

So far we’ve only attended the Day Out event in Waterbury, Connecticut. But we might hit the Strasburg, Pennsylvania one this year just for a change. I’m real curious to see how other Day Out events differe, if at all. One year we had the giant Thomas Lego, but not last year. I’d be curious to hear from any of you who’ve attended Day Out events to see what activities/games/rides differed.

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This week, Schylling Toys issued a voluntary recall on a spinning Thomas top. The company claims it was unaware that the wooden handle of the top contained lead paint, but a Chicago Tribune article claims differently:

The makers of a Thomas & Friends spinning top on Wednesday initiated a voluntary recall of the product, prompted by a Tribune test that found a painted wooden knob on one of the toys contained 40 times the legal limit for lead.

The toymaker, Schylling Associates, of Rowley, Mass., said the recall would cover 24,000 Chinese-made tops shipped by the company between June 2001 and July 2002.

The company also revealed that its own records show it knew about the problem five years ago. But instead of recalling the tops, a Schylling executive said, the company changed the design to a plastic knob.

These tops are no longer for sale, though you can still find them at various Thomas-related online stores, as well as eBay. So if you think you own one, you’re encouraged to contact Schylling Toys at 800-767-8697 or info@schylling.com.

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So we bought all the new Thomas Lego sets for our oldest son (he’s 4). Gordon has always been his absolute favorite, so we’ve been waiting for these for ages. We’ve got them tucked away for future presents (potty training incentives, birthdays, etc.). So he “earned” Gordon yesterday and he was soo excited to open it. Just like the other Thomas Legos, Gordon is really well built and made up of just a few large pieces that are easy to snap together. The sculpting of the faces is dead on and I’m really impressed with the overall quality of them.

What I was not impressed with, though, is that Gordon comes with his tender and a lengthy section for his Express Coaches (2 coaches combined in one big Lego piece), and… well, that’s it. There’s absolutely nothing else in the box. Not any accessories (like a tree or rail road sign) or even a few pieces of track! Sure he had a blast just rolling Gordon all over the floor and having him smash to bits when he encounters an immovable object (i.e. the wall), but for $20, you’d think Lego would toss in a few extras. I have a feeling Salty will be much the same, and Spencer (who comes with Sir Topham Hatt and some track) will be better but he certainly costs a bit more too.

If you can afford to wait, then I suggest waiting until the prices come down a little bit. But these new sets are flying off the shelves as soon as they’re put on, so if you really want them, start hunting now.

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My wife came back from a trip to Toys R Us with the kids yesterday exclaiming that there are 3 new Thomas Lego sets! And best of all, one of them is Gordon (easily our son’s favorite) and the other two are Spencer and Salty. Oh, and they finally included a Sir Topham Hatt too.

I was under the impression they weren’t making any more Lego sets, so I’m real happy to hear/see these new ones. If you haven’t seen any of the Thomas Lego sets yet, they’re worth a look. Really cute designs that are fairly easy to put together and big chunky pieces that are easy for little ones to hold. Even our 2 year old son loves them. And the tracks are great too; easy to put together and the trains roll fairly smoothly on them.

Gordon’s Express

Spencer and Sir Topham Hatt

Salty the Dockyard Diesel

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While I’m still ironing out the final bugs, er, kinks in the new look and feel to this Thomas site… we’re almost there. And I’ve got a ton more fun in store. But thought I’d use this opportunity to remind (or tell) everyone about our Thomas & Friends message boards. It’s your chance to talk with fellow Thomas fans (or more likley, parents of said fans) about your kids’ train-filled obssession. Share your shopping tips, birthday party ideas, product reviews, you name it. It’s your community, so please take advantage of it. I’d love to “meet” all of our readers over there, so please do stop in and say hi.

Also, for those of you unfamiliar with the “blog-style” of writing (that’s just a fancy way of saying “personal online news”), you can leave comments directly tied to any news story posted on this site. That includes this message itself! Just click the little comments link at the end of the story and fill in the necessary info. I’d love to hear from you, not just to see what people think about what I’m saying, but also to see if anyone really is reading this. Heh.

Peep peep!

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I just spotted these Thomas & Friends gummy vitamins at our local Target the other day and couldn’t resist! We normally give our son the Flintstones gummy vitamins (though he hates the orange one), so I thought we’d see if he liked these. Not that I had any doubts. Which I shouldn’t have, because he loves all 3 flavors: lemon, orange and black cherry. And to be fair, I even tried them myself just to see and they taste just like gummy bears.

Right now, it even comes with a little plastic Thomas topper on the package that you can open and put the vitamins inside for your kids. Not sure if this is a limited-time deal or what, but it definitely puts a smile on our son’s face each morning.

Here’s a close-up of Thomas, James and Percy in all their edible and vitamin-packed goodness.

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