Fake goods, primarily Chinese imports are becoming more frequent. So long for just the odd fake Louis Vuitton purse, or the bootlegged DVD. Criminals are now trying to get their counterfeit knock-offs in your children's bedroom!
If you have previously made Thomas the Tank Engine purchases at Toys'R'Us or Chapters, you are already aware of how pricey your youngsters favorite train could be! One single wooden train could cost you anywhere from $15-$30. Once again; that is PER TRAIN! And I have yet to meet a Thomas fan who is willing to settle with one single train . They will most likely not only ask for a couple of them, but rather for the entire set! The trains, the rail tracks, the various stations, and the rest of the accessories. All of this could end up costing you a small fortune! You could easily spend thousands of dollars on this collection. Now you might think that nobody in their right mind would spend so much on toys, but I have been proven otherwise. Something I like to call the Thomas phenomena! After all the Thomas & Friends Brand is a multi-billion dollar empire!
Recently my husband responded to a Craigslist advertisement for some wooden Thomas trains. The ad seemed legit and the price was just too good to ignore. He picked up the trains and brought them home for the little one and everything was great until today when I discovered an issue. One of the Thomas's wheels popped off. I've never seen any of his other Thomas trains break, so as you could imagine I was pretty surprised at how easy a wheel could break off. Now I know why, it was made in China!
I decided to take a more thorough look into the trains my husband bought and I decided to post a couple of pictures to help all you fellow mothers out there how to spot a fake Thomas train.
Can you spot the fake?
At a quick glance the trains look identical, but if you take a closer look you will notice some distinct differences.
1. The two chimney stacks in the fake train is larger and rough.
2. The back cab of the train is larger on the fake train and the painting detail is smaller than the real train.
3. The magnets are a little smaller on the fake train which makes the trains disconnect easier which is a big inconvenience for anyone using the battery operated locomotives.
Lastly, the most recognizable feature is that the real Thomas trains have writing on the inner wheel-wells, the fake trains have no writing.
Notice no writing on the inner wheel well
So next time you are out and about and surfing
garage sales or perhaps taking advantage of a local Craigslist ad, make sure you keep your eye out on the trains if you do decide to try and pick up some cheapies for your collection.
