Review: ‘Brilliant’ MEGA Bloks Thomas and Friends construction sets will delight pre-schoolers

There will be plenty of joint birthday celebrations taking place on the Island of Sodor this year, as Thomas the Tank Engine turns 65 and popular pre-school children’s toy MEGA Bloks hits 25 years of age.

Now, MEGA Bloks, is launching a brand new set of Thomas and Friends construction sets out this July.

Aimed at children ages three years and above, the nifty building sets feature favourite characters, settings and endless potential for play.

Chopsy Baby tested out the Thomas Load ‘n Go 3 in1, featuring a coal loading Thomas set coming in 21 pieces. 

At first glance, this little box of bricks may not look a sound investment to increasingly toy savvy shoppers. But this is a mightily impressive toy considering the amount of time and play value our pre-school testers for Chopsy Baby continue to get out of it.

Containing the parts to make up a Thomas, truck and other components for a bridge, this toy absolutely delighted our three to four year old girl and boy who both tried it out.

As well as helping them with manual dexterity and problem solving when putting together, it also  stimulated creative role play as they enthusiastically got into the character of Thomas and his “Troublesome Truck”.

The children described the play set as ‘great’ and ‘brilliant’ checking out the box and delightedly discovering that more sets and trains were available.

This isn’t a toy for the ‘lacks parents’ who don’t tidy things away after play, as small parts need role calling in and boxing away when finished.

Some care will also be needed with the hooks connecting the Thomas and Truck together, as parents of train fans will instantly recognise this part as being the potentially weak point in any train toy.

Chopsy Baby editor Jen Smith, oversaw the pre-school toy testers playing with the Thomas Load ‘N’ Go. She says: “I was genuinely surprised at how thrilled the children were with this toy. There are so many different Thomas the Tank Engine toys out there for children to play with, making such an impact with two seasoned Thomas fans was brilliant.”

This set of toys would make an ideal gift for any Thomas fan ready to move on from bigger Bloks. For a birthday boy or girl, family members should get together to buy a different set each, allowing the child endless opportunities for fun, creativity and construction.

We highly recommend it.

Thomas Load ‘N’ Go – Thomas Loads Coal £9.99

Further information:
The Thomas buildable characters include all the Sodor favourites such as Percy, Gordon and Diesel.

The 3 in 1 Buildable sets include Thomas Loads Coal, James On The Move, Emily Loads Luggage and Toby Hauls Wood.

Great destinations to inspire youngsters play time feature  ‘A Busy Day At The Quarry’, ‘Thomas at the Sodor Fair’ and ‘Cranky The Crane’ with each set connecting to the next to create a Thomas World.

Available from Tesco, Toys R us, The EARLY Learning Centre, Argos, Smyth’s and The Entertainer.