Customer Reviews

Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Rocky

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Immediately after opening the package and getting Rocky onto the track, my son used the magnetic crane to "tow" another train back onto the track. I was so impressed with this action, that my ability to give an unbiased review of the product may be a little limited.

Sashamellow's description of the toy's limitations are accurate. But I did not feel they reduce my son's enjoyment of the toy overly much. Interestingly, the fact that Rocky does not fit through tunnels led my son to want to create a branch for Rocky to take around the tunnel which was a great problem solving task for him. However, if you don't have the extra track to make this an enjoyable task for your child, you may just find yourself trying to remind them not to try to shove Rocky in the tunnel again.

I don't understand at all what the front and back cars are for except to look just like the character from the show. My son will tow other trains onto the track, but putting anything on the front car will just result in it falling down right away. The magnets on the front car don't line up with anything that would help them remain on the flatbed.

Overall, this is a great looking toy, but has some great limitations in its playability.

And, yet, because both my son and I enjoying pulling out Rocky to rescue other trains that have crash, I still give this toy a favorable rating.

Love

- Rocky! He gets called on when needed to save engines and is super nice and eager to help.
- Fun with a magnetic crane
- Nice construction

Don't Love

- Rocky doesn't do a full rotation - he only goes partway
- The crane cord is short
- No mechanism to spool and unspool
- Rocky's two cars don't hold anything. They have a plastic divider in the middle that means that nothing flat can rest on it. They are too small to put an engine on (and the divider gets in the way).
- Doesn't fit in tunnels and has problems up hills due to the length (had to build a side track around the quarry mine tunnel for Rocky)

If I had desiged it, I would have made the side cars so that you could put an engine on them. I guess I probably wouldn't have made a functioning or retractable crane - it seems like they always stop working after a short time. But it would have made it much better for my 3 year old to pull Gordon (Oh, the indignity!) and James out of the muddy fens when Toby ran to get him in my son's favorite episode with Rocky.

It might have made Rocky a bigger hit with my son, who doesn't play with him much due to his limitations with set pieces.

My son wanted Rocky for a long time. He is really happy about it. It has a magnet on the hook, which allows it to grab any iron stuff. It looks durable. It's also really long, bigger than normal long engines.

My son is a train fanatic, and we got this as a gift. Rocky has very limited movement, and is so big that he doesn't fit through the tunnels and under bridges that go with the rest of the set. The ability to lift other trains magnetically is a cool feature, but things put on the flat bed fall off really easily. My 3 year old son likes this toy, but does get frustrated with it. This toy is cute, but way over priced.

This is one of the wooden toys "we" were most anticipating, it looks like a lot of fun & The Boy plays with it, but not as much as expected. We knew from other reviews that it's too long to use on a lot of layouts, but some other stuff (and we are REALLY getting picky here... We know) the whole thing is just too clumsy on any track, not just the curves, the layout is wrong per the TV show, he should have both cars behind his main body, he is facing the wrong way (Yes, as mentioned we know we are getting a little over the top here) but the face is facing fwd and should face to the rear, that's how he is in the shows/movies and because of this you really can't play with him the way we expected, in the movie he is facing to the rear with his hook on Spencer and being pulled by Hiro... Not possible with the magnets situated the way they are. I'm thinking that I may pop them out & swap them around so The Boy can finally play this scene out, but I'm too worried that this may put me over the line as far as OCD parenting is concerned. More gripes, the line on the crane is really short & not retractable (1/2 what is pictured), the crane only turns part way round (this would have solved the magnet problem) and there is no real spot for the "hook" magnet to rest, it always just pulls to the rear or off the side.

Anyway, just a bunch of complaints, really not a huge deal, Rocky was 1/3 cheapest on Amazon & I'm only being so negative because they main reason we got this was to play out the big rescue scene from Hero of the Rails & we can't... We'll all live. Toy is as well built as all the other Thomas trains & it is played with.

I purchased this from Amazon for my grandson since he loves Thomas the Train. He just turned 3 and he absolutely loves this toy. It is probably the 10th toy in this series that he has, but this one seems to be his most favorite!

My grandson loves Thomas the Train. Rocky is one more addition to his collection. He spends hours playing with his train. It provides lots of enjoyment for all of us. He knows the names of all the trains and loves for us to read books to him about Thomas the Train as well.

This was perfect for my son! When we went to see Santa, it was the only thing he asked Santa for and Santa (Amazon.com) delivered! It came on time and was exactly what I expected. It is withstanding much abuse from a 3 year old and occasionally from his 1 year old brother! I'm super happy with Rocky!

The toy is nice and sturdy as most of the original series trains. However, it just does not work good on the rails. The jib is too long and as you can lock it only in two positions horizontal, and app 40 degree. In the high position it colides with tunnels and bridge constructions above the path, while in the horizontal it makes it imposiible to go through corners without getting stuck. Also the magnetic 'hook' gets in way and complicates the horizontal position of the jib (some simple piece of metal on the jib would solve this, but I am not here to design but to review, right?)
The two platform cars are OK, but Rocky himself is kind of sad toy as no one wants to take him on track and get stuck all the time...

I wish I could write my grandson's comments, but right now he is the only one that can understand them. However, I think he would say that this is really a great toy. He loves Thomas & all the various parts of the system of toys. His eyes opened wide when he saw this on Christmas eve. I mean this guy is really into Thomas stuff. Not a big fan of animated TV myself, I hadn't ever seen this wrecker, be he certainly had, based on his reaction. I checked these out before purchase and it seems safe even for a little kid of 19 months. The magnetic couplers could even be worked by his Grandmother.

No problems with the product, only one very happy little boy.