fall inside a hole

Thomas Holiday Set (2003)

First written August 12th, 2024

The Thomas Holiday Set was first released in 2003 as part of the Thomas Motorized Road & Rail range at Imaginarium (owned by Toys "R" Us) in America as well as exclusively at Toys "R" Us in Australia. The set includes includes a Talk 'n' Action series Thomas and a large layout that can fit around a Christmas tree. Some versions of the set also include the six talking track pieces.

All copies of this set, Australian or American, come with a European-accent English Thomas. This set was produced all the way into 2006, after pretty much all other Talk 'n Action production had ended, which is when the example shown here dates to. The version pictured is the later American release that includes the additional six triggering track sections - if you carefully read the box, they only ever refer to the usual starting and ending phrases, never any of the track-triggered ones, and they are not part of the regular suggested track layout.

Set contents

Quantity	Item	Photo
2 pieces	Talk 'n Action Thomas (European English)
1	Season's Greetings coach
1	Troublesome Truck (happy face)
1	Present car
1	Hot Cocoa tanker
2	Tree loads (snowy set variant)
2	Straight Rail
1	Half Straight Rail
14	Curve Rail
1 pair	Slope Curve Rail
6 types	Talking trigger rails (some versions)
5 pieces	Harold station (Snowy set variant)
3 pieces	Windmill (Snowy set variant)
2 (4 pieces each)	Tunnel (Snowy set variant)
2 pieces	Iron Bridge (side pieces, teal)

This set includes a European Talk 'n' Action Thomas and a nice selection of additional rolling stock. In addition to the Clarabel to complete the regular Talk 'n' Action Thomas, the set includes an array of holiday-themed cars like a Season's Greetings express coach, a Hot Cocoa tanker, and a present box car (recolored from the old Plarail container car). I don't think the wreath sticker is originally from this set, but it was put on by the original owner and it is an easy way to tell this Thomas apart from my other Talk 'n Action examples.

This example comes from an early 2006 production run. Thomas' snowplow is removable (and the same tooling as used in the Japanese Thomas the Tank Engine Snow Shoveling Set). Also included are set-exclusive snow-dusted tree loads to fit in the included "happy" troublesome truck.

Also set exclusive to this set are brown-based versions of the Harold station and windmill with snowy coverings. The set originally included a Season's Greetings banner sticker for Harold which is almost always missing.

Also included in this set are two teal bridge sides and two snowy tunnels. Because Annie is always attached to the Talk 'n' Action Thomas as the battery compartment, every train will start out with Annie.

The rails in these sets are all 2000s new-logo rails. This release also includes a set of the talking rails which trigger Thomas' different actions and phrases.

All set up the layout is certainly big enough to go around a Christmas tree, and the accessories give two different destinations for Thomas to stop at and interact with. The talking feature is also very cool, and even without the additional tracks Thomas playing the theme tune as he goes around is neat (although I suspect it would get annoying after a while).

With the additional Talk 'n' Action tracks you can choreograph an entire story for Thomas as he goes around the tracks - here, Thomas picks up passengers and supplies at the station, speeds off into the countryside, gets caught up in the snowdrifts a few times before powering through. He comments on his success and arrives back at the station, drops off his train, and rests.

I have a few extras of some of the set-exclusive cars, although the regular train is already pretty long, and running a huge train behind a Talk 'n' Action is a pretty good way to wear out the motor...

Set name	4768 Thomas Holiday Set	Release period	2003-2006, United States and Australia
Train rating		Track rating
Accessory rating		Overall
Notes:

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