The invasion from Sodor

I just noticed recently that the Day Out With Thomas we so enjoyed last summer is being held again this summer at the same place. It’s a seven hour drive from here, but only a two hour drive from my brother’s place, and just up the road from the city where I grew up. We’re in the midst of trying to decide whether we could possibly recreate the magic of our visit last year, and whether it would be worth the effort to try. I’m leaning toward yes, partly because I love a road trip (even with preschoolers, god help me) and partly because I know the boys will have a wonderful time.

And now we have two bona-fide train junkies in the house. Tristan still plays with his trains pretty much all day, and Simon has graduated from track-destroying baby-zilla to not only being able to drive the trains but being able to actually build his own track. He understands the magnets, and how to fit the track bits together. I don’t remember Tristan having that level of dexterity at age two, and he certainly didn’t have the recall or ability to name the 300 different characters that Simon has at this age. Then again, Simon has been indoctrinated since birth, so he had a head start.

Phantom Scribbler had a post a while back with a picture of her son’s wooden train collection all linked together in a single train, which inspired me to wonder exactly how many versions of Thomas the Tank Engine have migrated to us from the Land of Sodor. I’m not sure I want to admit to this level of abject consumerism and indulgence in public. We have:

– two wooden Thomases
– a wooden Thomas with gold paint
– a metal Thomas
– a Lego Thomas (and Percy, and James)
– a plastic Thomas the size of my fist with friction wheels
– a plastic Thomas the size of my shoe, where you push the conductor down to make him go
– a mechanized Thomas the size of a hot-dog bun that follows the aquadoodle scribbles (that one is kind of cool!)
– a plastic Thomas the size of a lemon that is really just a Thomas shell on a little engine thingee that also powers a Percy shell and a Terrence shell with a track that scoops up coal bits
– a breadbox-sized Thomas ‘suitcase’ carrying case
– a birthday-cake-topper wind-up Thomas.

That’s ten different versions of the same toy!! And it doesn’t even include the Thomas pillow, Thomas lunchbox, two Thomas T-shirts, Thomas hoodie and track pants, Thomas running shoes, half a dozen Thomas DVDs and videos, stacks of books and colouring books, and the Thomas backpack. Nor does it include the six Percys, five James, three Gordons, two Edwards and Annies and Clarabels, not to mention what I’m sure is close to 100 other trains name-brand and generic. And two (TWO!) rough-totes full of track and bridges and stations and whatnot.

We should qualify for some sort of award for that level of obsession dedication, no?

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

22 thoughts on “The invasion from Sodor”

  1. I think you guys should be up for frequent thomas miles. We only have 2 Thomas’s but we are slowly amassing every other train that is seen on the flyer that comes with EVERY train we buy.
    Let’s see
    We have
    Lady
    Emily
    Disel 10 (Who according to Nathan is a good train and misunderstood his words not mine)
    Percy
    Harold the helicoter
    Break down train
    I’m sure I’m missing quite a few but I never remember everything we buy.
    And some that were not Thomas but adds up to alot of trains to step on.
    AND HE WANTS IT ALL!

  2. I think you guys should be up for frequent thomas miles. We only have 2 Thomas’s but we are slowly amassing every other train that is seen on the flyer that comes with EVERY train we buy.
    Let’s see
    We have
    Lady
    Emily
    Disel 10 (Who according to Nathan is a good train and misunderstood his words not mine)
    Percy
    Harold the helicoter
    Break down train
    I’m sure I’m missing quite a few but I never remember everything we buy.
    And some that were not Thomas but adds up to alot of trains to step on.
    AND HE WANTS IT ALL!

  3. My husband brought home a huge assortment of brio style train pieces. He used to work for a toy distributor.
    My 2yo has not figured out the magnets yet so he keeps bringing them to me to ‘fix it’. Of course no sooner do I put it together they come apart and I have to ‘fix it’ again.
    With all this track at home you’d think theyd play with it all the time. You kow when they play train? when we’re out at the store where thay have a train set up. ;o)

  4. My husband brought home a huge assortment of brio style train pieces. He used to work for a toy distributor.
    My 2yo has not figured out the magnets yet so he keeps bringing them to me to ‘fix it’. Of course no sooner do I put it together they come apart and I have to ‘fix it’ again.
    With all this track at home you’d think theyd play with it all the time. You kow when they play train? when we’re out at the store where thay have a train set up. ;o)

  5. Doesn’t Mrs. Tiggy Winkles have a frequent Thomas buyer card? Like you buy 10 and get 10 bucks off your next purchase. Something like that.
    My favourite is the cake topper. I don’t know why. Something about a moving train on top of a birthday cake just fascinates the heck out me. By far the coolest cake ever!

  6. Doesn’t Mrs. Tiggy Winkles have a frequent Thomas buyer card? Like you buy 10 and get 10 bucks off your next purchase. Something like that.
    My favourite is the cake topper. I don’t know why. Something about a moving train on top of a birthday cake just fascinates the heck out me. By far the coolest cake ever!

  7. You definately win! Thankfully we are capped at the moment, the train obsession has been overtaken by Buzz Lightyear! Thank goodness as I was getting weary of Sodor and the songs. I am sure the obsession will come back as soon as a new peice is added, but for now will work on expanding to other areas 😉

  8. You definately win! Thankfully we are capped at the moment, the train obsession has been overtaken by Buzz Lightyear! Thank goodness as I was getting weary of Sodor and the songs. I am sure the obsession will come back as soon as a new peice is added, but for now will work on expanding to other areas 😉

  9. And here I thought today’s purchase of a second James was redundant!
    Of course, we have four Thomas trains along with that carrying case, so I guess I shouldn’t talk…

  10. And here I thought today’s purchase of a second James was redundant!
    Of course, we have four Thomas trains along with that carrying case, so I guess I shouldn’t talk…

  11. I’m thinking we should just change our last name to Sodor and then we can live in the house of Sodor b/c lordy lordy we have so much train garb that life is hell around here.
    It is so bad, we don’t put the child in time-out anymore, we simply threaten to put thomas in time-out and problem solved, no kidding! He loves that crap and it is so freakin’ boring. I only agree to watch with him if I am ready for a nap b/c lord knows it knocks me out COLD!

  12. I’m thinking we should just change our last name to Sodor and then we can live in the house of Sodor b/c lordy lordy we have so much train garb that life is hell around here.
    It is so bad, we don’t put the child in time-out anymore, we simply threaten to put thomas in time-out and problem solved, no kidding! He loves that crap and it is so freakin’ boring. I only agree to watch with him if I am ready for a nap b/c lord knows it knocks me out COLD!

  13. We’ve got a Thomas the Train sort of event coming up here to North Texas where the kids actually get on a steam locomotive train and they do a story time or something like that and then there are other activities afterwards, I don’t know all what. We inherited someone’s tickets, but I know my two-year-old is going to love it. He has to take his “Henry Helps Out” book to bed with him and we have a couple of the little trains. I’ll take Thomas over Ninja Turtles any day.

  14. We’ve got a Thomas the Train sort of event coming up here to North Texas where the kids actually get on a steam locomotive train and they do a story time or something like that and then there are other activities afterwards, I don’t know all what. We inherited someone’s tickets, but I know my two-year-old is going to love it. He has to take his “Henry Helps Out” book to bed with him and we have a couple of the little trains. I’ll take Thomas over Ninja Turtles any day.

  15. We aren’t anywhere near as train obsessed as you and your friends here, but I will confess that I think I have more fun when we play trains than they do. That being said, we do have:
    all wooden
    4 Thomas the (you know what) Engine
    2 Toby
    2 Bertie
    2 Fergus
    1 Anna
    1 Clarabel
    1 aquarium car shark
    1 aquarium car octopus
    2 Trevor
    2 Ben
    (surprise surprise)
    and a shitload of no-name types that come from other cheaper brands.
    My boys think I should get ‘Lady’ because she is pink, but I insit on believing it is cause she is pretty and I reflect all things pretty to them.
    I personally want to get a James (Trevor’s middle name) and a Douglas (my brother’s name).
    You know what scares me? I think we are about to embark on a Playmobil thingy…sigh yes, another thingy.

  16. We aren’t anywhere near as train obsessed as you and your friends here, but I will confess that I think I have more fun when we play trains than they do. That being said, we do have:
    all wooden
    4 Thomas the (you know what) Engine
    2 Toby
    2 Bertie
    2 Fergus
    1 Anna
    1 Clarabel
    1 aquarium car shark
    1 aquarium car octopus
    2 Trevor
    2 Ben
    (surprise surprise)
    and a shitload of no-name types that come from other cheaper brands.
    My boys think I should get ‘Lady’ because she is pink, but I insit on believing it is cause she is pretty and I reflect all things pretty to them.
    I personally want to get a James (Trevor’s middle name) and a Douglas (my brother’s name).
    You know what scares me? I think we are about to embark on a Playmobil thingy…sigh yes, another thingy.

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