Playtrains magnets

[Gary-678529]

Anyone else having trouble with the magnet connections falling out on these trains and carriages? I have a couple of sets for my three and a half year old and these trains don't really suffer the rigours of a three year old's handling! He really loves them, but after the odd collision between carriages, or tumble from a sofa, they fall apart too easily. Not to mention he prefers to push them along himself (as mentioned by another parent on here elsewhere), hence the trips on the sofa.

I'm supervising him 90% of the time (we have twins, so I have to be in two places at once!) and have to often to tell him not to bash them about so much, but you know, he's three and enthusiastic. I definitely think Hornby should reconsider upping the age range of 3+ on these sets as they're definitely not robust enough for such young train enthusiasts.

[96RAF]

You should make your concerns known to Marketing. Their contact details can be found at the bottom of the page. Hornby do not as a rule monitor these forums, so although you may garner evidence from the forum of others seeing the same problem, nothing will likely be done about it until it is flagged up to them direct.

[Potterton]

I'm sorry, but I'm possibly going to upset some people with this although that is certainly not my intention.

In this case, the Playtrain is not being used/played with in the way for which it is designed. Simply put, it is being abused. No wonder bits are falling off. The same applies to anything. If you drop, for example, a power tool, would you not be surprised if it broke?

I was given my first train set when I was three years old and was taught to respect it and treat/use it properly as I was with everything else I had. As a result it gave me many years of enjoyment. (I'm now 61, still have it and it still works.)

It is unfair to put the onus on Hornby by suggesting they should review the age group it is aimed at. My wife and I gave our three year old nephew a Playtrain for Christmas. He loves it, but respects it and plays with it in the manner it was made to be used.

If you don't look after things, don't be surprised if they don't last.

[M. Matthews]

I don't have any playtrains but my son has a Marklin my world set which is pretty much the same. He can be quite heavy handed but we've not had any breakages yet. I'd say they are pretty solid so I'm wondering if hornby changed any of the 'tooling' when they 'made' playtrains.