Customer Reviews

Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Battery Powered Percy

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This metal battery operated Percy engine and his metal battery operated companions (Thomas, Lady, etc.) are for use with the wooden track. There are larger plastic battery operated engines that fit both the wooden track and the blue plastic track by Tomy.

This is a great product. Very well-constructed. Very durable. It can be switched on, go forward or backward, and it can be pushed manually--another reviewer complained that it could not be pushed, but it can be pushed.

Purchasing recommendation:
* Wait until appropriate age: Our son started with Thomas when he was 18 months old, but we did not buy any battery engines until he was 3. We wanted for him to use his imagination in pushing and pulling for a while. Now he sometimes sits back and just watches the battery engines, while at other times he pushes them.

* The metal engines are more durable: The metal engines cost more than the larger plastic battery-operated engines, but they are far more durable. They feel solid in the hand. They go both forward and backwards, while the plastic engines only go forward. They pull the wooden cars that your child may already have. They're just a better fit!

My daughter (3 years old) had to get Percy the battery-operated engine. I was trying to limit our engine purchases to just Thomas (battery and wood) himself. What the heck? We'll have two battery engines for our "investment" now. Well, Percy is as cute as a bug in a rug, but he tends to fall off the track at every switch tower, sharp turn, or any gap in the track most likely due to the fact that he only has four wheels (vs. Thomas' six). If he's hauling the other cars, they fall off with him. "Percy's a little accident prone" is what we tell our daughter. She still loves him! Maybe that's the lesson here---you've gotta help the engines get back on the track.

We bought battery-powered Percy for our 22-mo-old son for X-mas. He had no interest in any of his other X-mas presents after opening this one, and unfortunately this was the first thing he opened, so that was that. He has played with Percy EVERY DAY since X-mas, and suddenly Percy died- his back wheels no longer turn. I had hoped that for the price he would last longer than he did. I also must mention that he had some difficulty staying on the tracks in curves- and they were Thomas tracks, not generic. Percy kept falling off, especially when pulling cars. I suppose we'll be returning him, but after reading other reviews we may exchange him for two wooden engines instead- they don't break! And f.y.i.- Brio's and Imaginarium's battery-powered engines aren't much better- they use up batteries like I don't know what. On the positive side, Percy was thoroughly enjoyed by our son while he lasted, and he had more speed, power, and longer battery life than the Brio and Imaginarium engines.

Wow, I am *REALLY* surprised at some of the problems people have said that they have had with their engines. We purchased Battery Thomas over a year ago and have had Battery Percy for five or so months and have never had a problem.

In fact, our two kids have left them running for hours in the corner; buried them in sand and pebbles, and covered them with playdough without apparent harm. [I draw the line at submersion.]

From our point of view and experience they are well-constructed and very durable. They can be switched on or pushed manually. The batteries are not easy to replace, but I kind of like that my son (3 yo), who sometimes does some knuckleheaded things, can't get to them.

Five Stars. We have two of the die-cast batter powered Steamies and have had no problems.

[In fact, we haven't had a problem like those described with the super cheap--6 buck-- plastic, battery powered Thomas trains that we bought at a discount house.]

After 3 days of playing with it, my son's battery-powered percy died. He left it on while I was giving him a bath. When we finally found Percy, he was tucked away in the corner of our bed. He was hot, so I knew my son had left him on. I replaced the battery. While the light still works, the motor is completely dead. I would not recommend this product.

The battery powered Percy is well made and the batteries last forever. I liked that it came by itself rather than with cars, so it was not quite so expensive. The new style buttons are much easier to use than the old slide switch. My kids love all of the Thomas trains. I never realized how much they learned from it, but my 2-3 year olds learned both numbers and colors from Thomas. I can hear them mimicking the videos with voices of trains trying to solve a problem or help each other out. I think the whole Thomas line is great and this is no exception.

We have gotten both the motorized Thomas Tank Engine and Percy for our 2 and half year old son. Unfortunately, these things are quite easy to damage---the motor/mechanism can not withstand being pushed while operating for example.

Better to get the Fisher Price Trackmaster Thomas sets for the same money--much more durable.

We have four battery operated engines (Thomas, Percy, Lady, James) and Percy was the second one purchased. We had Percy for two weeks when the switch would no longer work properly. The switch turned him on every other time, then completely stopped working. So, we returned him for another. The one we currently have does not stay on the track if you use the small curved track anywhere in the setup. But, Thomas handles it fine. There is no consistency from engine to engine. It is disappointing.

The engine comes off the tracks all the time - even when it is used with track of the same brand (Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway). This is a pain. Our child is frequently asking us to help to get it back on the track.

But more importantly, it is a disappointment for the child. Our 2 year old was extremely excited about this toy when he opened the present. After playing with it a short while he said "This train is bad. It's broken." That's not the memory you want your family to have on Christmas.

It doesn't seem like it should be difficult to make a toy train go around a track reliably. Don't buy this toy.

Basically, This is a nice toy train. My son does have fun with it. However, it is not as good as described in the product features. For instance, it is described that special magnet helps keep rolling stock on the track, buy actually it does not. In addition, the AA battery is not included although it claims.