Thursday, November 14, 2013

Imaginarium City Central Train Table


Product Description

The City Central Train Table set comes with a Central Station, Scrubbing train wash, fueling station with working sign, Heliport Express tunnel, Light-Up bridge, a working crane with magnetic grapple, and a 3-Door roundhouse with working turntable. The sounds and lights can be activated using any wooden train engine or train car with magnets, so your child's existing Brio or Thomas & Friends wooden train sets can be used with it. When playtime ends, store everything in the train table's two large drawers. The set can easily clean up using a damp cloth so your train is always in great shape. Two large drawers in the table allow you to store all of your train accessories close at hand. Battery Info: 6 button cell & 7 AAA required.


Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #107807 in Toys & Games
  • Brand: Imaginarium
  • Dimensions: .0 pounds

Features

  • 100+ pieces
  • 23+ feet of track
  • Assembled Dimensions: 49.375L x 32.75W x 17H

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
Entertaining, But Enormous and Expensive...
By delicateflower152
The Imaginarium City Central Train Table is a wonderful toy; children love to "operate" the trains, "fly" the helicopter, and pretend as they take charge of the world they create. Our grandson played with this toy every week after his swimming lessons, so his parents decided to purchase one.

Constructed of particle board finished like wood, the 3-foot by 5-foot base is sturdy enough to withstand enthusiastic play. A drawer on both of the 5-foot sides provides ample storage space for the multiple, small pieces. The stops on each drawer are one of the weaker points of the Imaginarium City Central Train Table. Of the four screws, two per side, provided with the set-up only one caught when screwed in. We anticipate having to replace these stops in the future. The top of the table, which is two separate pieces, is a thinner particle board onto which the base scenery has been applied. It appears this could be gouged or scraped, but should survive most children's play.

The wood tracks and buildings are well made; the finish is smooth and there is no firring on the end cuts. The train pieces are also finished well; colorful painting of the cars adds to the toy's appeal. The fact that all the pieces are included in the set-up makes this an attractive choice for those not wanting to have to purchase multiple add-ons.

Complete assembly and set-up takes about two hours. Instructions are clear and easy to understand. The most time-consuming portion of the set-up was laying out the tracks. To save time in the future, we marked the alphabetic identifier on each specific, discrete piece. Then we numbered the pieces, beginning with 1 and progressing through the final number. We then marked the number 1 and number 2 pieces on the set-up schematic so we could, in the future, identify the starting point of the layout. This has already proven helpful as our two-year old grandson loves to play "earthquake."

This Imaginarium City Central Train Table seems much larger than its 3-foot by 5-foot dimensions indicate. In my opinion, unless you have a playloft, dedicated playroom, or an enclosed, temperature and moisture-controlled space, the Imaginarium is not a toy for most homes. In my daughter's case, she now has a colorful coffee table and little floor space remaining in her family room. This is not a toy which can be put outside, even on a covered porch, or in a basement which is not temperature/moisture controlled as the particle board is likely to warp.

Finally, this is a rather expensive toy based on initial cost and the number of likely play-years. However, if you have multiple children and plenty of room, your opinion may be different. Toys `r Us has the Imaginarium City Central Train Table for about $130, so you should watch for a similar price if you do purchase this toy.

Because of the quality of construction, the complete set-up, and the enjoyment children do derive from playing with the Imaginarium City Central Train Table, I have rated it as a 5-star toy despite its few drawbacks.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
great, way cheaper elsewhere
By R. C. Tapia
My son's newest obsession is cho-cho's. We knew we had to buy him a set for his 3rd birthday. I looked around alot and this set looked great online. There was very few reviews which made me nervous but we made a great choice! I put most of the table together by myself, minus a few places where you need someone to hold for you screw in some pieces. it took about two hours total for both the table and train set. My son was soo excited and he could barily contain himself while I assembled it! After all together, my son is in love. I love the set as well, but there a few negatives. First the table is a particle board not solid wood- but it is sturdy and should last for years. My biggest negative is the train station on the set. It takes a while to get it alligned correctly and popped into place. I would like for it to have some screws to hold the roof in place. I think they may not have done this because you have to take the roof off to put batteries on the underside of it. I think unscrewing it every few months to replace batteries would be better then having to reallign that roof every time it gets knocked loose. But that would not be enough for me not to buy this set, its more of a just an annoiance. Other than that one piece, it is great! Almost every building has some sort of light or noise to keep your child engaged. So many great buildings to play with. My son loves the train wash station and the train shed!I would defently recommend!! Now if you live anywhere near a Toys R Us- please do not waste your money on Amazon. I bought this there for $159 and I picked up same day- no shipping! Great table but not worth almost $200 more than what I paid for it.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
outstanding.
By bruintarheel
just bought this @ a local Toys R Us. wow. great value and construction. was about to buy a larger mega blocks thomas set when i saw this for $130 (on sale). For double the price of the mega blocks i was able to get 6x the stuff. The table is solid and fairly easy to build (1 hour). Bring an electric screwdriver and you'll be fine.

This model is fully compatible with all brio and thomas sets. My son has not stopped playing with it since i setup it up 2 days ago.

See all 32 customer reviews...

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