Imaginarium - 70 Piece Remote Control Trainyard Set

Toy R US in Canada finally has this item on sale. Regular price in Canadian Dollar is $49.99. I got it for $37.47 plus tax.
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As you can see, it comes with a remote control engine. It uses 5 triple AAA batteries. Like the knockoff Tomy/Trackmaster/Plarail engines, the wheels cannot turn until you turn the engine on.

The engine has a little orange light on. The remote control is very easy to operate. It has 3 buttons (go forward, go backward and stop).
In terms of power, this little engine is pretty powerful. It was able to pull 3 cars up a tomy slope track.

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The Thing I don't like about the engine is the battery compartment. As an adult I can't even put out the battery compartment without the assistance of a screw driver. See picture below.



I find the battery compartment a bit fragile as well. The spring coil may break or damage if you constantly yanking in and out. The sales associate said that If I was willing to pay another $6.99, I would get one year warranty. It will fully replace the entire package in the even the engine breaks down.

I tested the tracks comes with the package to the Tomy tracks, to my surprise, they are perfect match!!!!



However, they don't connect well with the knock off blue plastic tracks. Its tighter fit but it still works. I was also able to connect the tracks to trackmaster (1st generation) using the trackmaster/tomy track adaptor.

I am not surprise to find out that the coupling this train series is not compatible to Tomy/Plarail/Trackmaster trains. However, they can be easily converted to Tomy/Plarail/Trackmaster series.



All you need is a coupling set from 1st Generation Emily, Murdorch, breakdown van or Molly (just to name a few) and a screw driver.



You have to unscrew the plate underneath the train. Be careful not to lose the screws as you need to screw the screws back in after the conversion. Once you unscrew the plate it will look something like this.



All you have to do is to remove the black coupler and replace it with a trackmaster coupler.



Once you are done. You screw the bottom plate, you are ready to go. See video below.




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Verdict: Overall it is a nice set. I would give it a 8 out of 10 for what I get in terms of value. I don't like the design of the battery compartment. Another thing I don't like this set is the height on certain rolling stock and the engine. It cannot fit inside certain stations. If Toy R US releases any more sets I will definitely consider to buy more.

This set is getting more popular. As I first went to Toy R Us store few weeks ago, there were plenty. When I went back, I got the last set. I hope Imaginarium will create more trains in the form of coaches.

Is your toy r us a single store or connected to a shopping mall? As the local toys r us for where I live stocks a very small quantity of trains, and only a wee side aisle for imaginarium products. And I have searched the train area for about twenty minutes trying to locate that set and it does not exist in my local toy r us. But it's connected to a mall, so that could explain it.

[Super]

Thats amazing the the tracks line up. Thanks for the pictorial and videos Leyland.

Is your toy r us a single store or connected to a shopping mall? As the local toys r us for where I live stocks a very small quantity of trains, and only a wee side aisle for imaginarium products. And I have searched the train area for about twenty minutes trying to locate that set and it does not exist in my local toy r us. But it's connected to a mall, so that could explain it.

Mine is connected to a mall. I don't recall seeing any Toy R us stand alone.

You can order the set online.

I guess Ill have to keep my eyes peeled for this set then. I hope to get soon though cause it could deteemine if Edward gets to go or not.

Yea, do it within this week. Iirc the sale ends sometime at the end of this week.

that track looks like tomy blue and trackmaster revolution had a baby together, lol.

neat looking set, certainly something different

the blue track is indeed tomy. The grey tracks look better than Tomy.

Imaginarium? Isn't that the name of the Toys R Us Wooden Railway brand?

Yes. Imaginarium does make wooden track as well. It is a great brand for track. Much cheaper. When my son was younger, we always bought their track with Thomas engines and buildings. You can never have too much track.