LEGO Toy Story 7597: Western Train Chase

16 reviews of LEGO Toy Story 7597: Western Train Chase

1. R. Ferguson  ~ May 1st, 2010
   

   This is a five star train for kids in the 5 to 8 year old range. Older kids may be more interested in the forthcoming Harry Potter Hogwart’s Express train (4841) or the City line trains (7938 and 7939). The City trains, incidentally, are the only ones that come as complete sets with track, motors and remote control devices.

   This is an Old West 4-4-0 steam engine, box car, passenger car, and caboose. I would describe the design as more cartoon-like than realistic, with the engine having exaggerated proportions and the cars a tad short. The set includes no track or motor. It is designed as a push train. The engine uses four new drivers (and comes with two extra un-flanged drivers) as well as a cattle-catcher (a new part). The train cars themselves are small but attractively designed. As with the other new trains for 2010, this set is largely brick-built (i.e., few specialized plastic moldings). The set includes Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Rex, and Evil Doctor Pork Chops mini-figures. The passenger car and the caboose are designed with lift-off tops to make it easier to place characters inside, and the box car has a trap door in the roof. The train is not a difficult build, but younger children will likely need some assistance.

   Regarding adding a motor, it is possible to use Lego’s Power Function (PF) accessories to add one, but Lego has not provided directions for doing so. I have not done this yet, but one way is to build a tender that carries a battery, motor and remote receiver. It might be a little awkward given the proportions of the train, but it is doable. These parts are available directly from Lego. I will revise this review when I see someone do a good job of motorization.

   Though train buffs will likely be put-off by the design, this set is going to be very, very popular among children. Grandparents, I think this makes a perfect birthday or holiday gift. I do recommend buying track; the engine’s wheels are on two bogies, so the whole thing can get a little sideways without it. You need at least two sets of Lego 7896, though consider getting three sets of 7896 and one set of switches (7895). If you want to add additional old west structures, you can add 7594, Woody’s Roundup (which I believe is a scene in Toy Story 2, not 3).

   
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2. Online Buyer  ~ July 25th, 2010
   

   I have been putting most of my sons legos together for a while now. I was expecting this set to be much harder to put together than most. It was very easy to assemble. I was thinking that there would be a ton of pieces because of the higher price tag, but that wasn’t the case. So far so good with this one, it seems to take a little more abuse than some sets without falling apart.

   
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3. VJ Dickens  ~ August 4th, 2010
   

   I bought this for my son for his birthday. He had so much fun putting it together. It is very durable. Came with so many figures. A lot of parts for them to figure out. Great gift.

   
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4. Jason H. Bartlett  ~ August 7th, 2010
   

   This train is not worth it. It can not be played with because it falls apart with just the slightest movement. Especially the Engine. Usually I like most of the Lego products, but this one, is just a poor design.
   
   As a dad I’ve had to try to rebuilt it several times and it’s just very frustrating. I have 4 and 7 year old boys who tried to play with it but every other minute it was “Dad! It fell apart again! Can you fix it!”
   
   So unless you plan to build it once and then just put it up for decoration, I wouldn’t recommend this product. Sorry Lego. I wonder what you were thinking with this one.

   
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5. MO  ~ August 18th, 2010
   

   Excellent! If you like Legos or are a fan of Toy Story, you must get this one. It will go great next to the tree – come Xmas! My daughter had a blast builing this and I enjoyed looking at it. Great job Lego! We now have all the Toy Story Legos – this is the best one.

   
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6. Mr Breeze  ~ August 24th, 2010
   

   Instructions were easy to follow and the pieces were easy to pick out. Great project for grandpa and grandson or father/son. Pictorial instructions were great. I highly recommend this toy/project.

   
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7. R. Brown  ~ September 17th, 2010
   

   I purchased this for my sons 6th birthday. He loves LEGO and Toy Story so this was the perfect gift. He has been able to spend hours building the set and playing with it. LOVE IT!

   
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8. Pancho  ~ September 17th, 2010
   

   Not much to add, just a great toy for your children, build it and play afterward….. just let the fantasy make its work for them…

   
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9. Jennifer  ~ September 20th, 2010
   

   Let me first start by saying how incredibly perfect the character pieces of this train set are. They are exactly true to form. Every detail just perfect. The train is cute with exceptional quality in its details, but the characters take home the prize on this one. I was able to get this with my son, age 17,in mind to put together with my two neices, ages 4 and 5. My son has been an avid Lego builder since age two so I knew he would love to put this together with his young cousins, but even I couldn’t imagine how much fun they would have and how incredbly cute the whole thing is. We’ve decided to keep it at my home to continue to use when the little ones stop by for a vist and of course for my son and his buddies to enjoy! Lego’s are truly a toy for all ages and this Toy Story Train is no exception! Great, great product!

   
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10. Momof2  ~ September 21st, 2010
    

    I am always impressed with the design and instructions of the lego kits. This one however really pushed my buttons on how the pieces just don’t stay together. I have seen this with other kits, but I can’t even finish two of the cars as they just break apart. Sorry, but not a great choice…

    
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11. terpfan1980  ~ September 22nd, 2010
    

    While some might disagree, I firmly believe that the creators of Lego developed the perfect toy when they invented those interlocking little plastic blocks so many years ago. From the first minute I played with a set of Lego, I was in heaven. Whatever I might imagine, I could build it, as long as I had enough pieces to snap together to bring my imagination to life. Over time my parents bought more and more pieces for myself and my siblings to play with, and soon we were introduced to “sets” of Lego that were designed to offer the opportunity to build pre-planned designs (LEGO City Fire Station (7208), LEGO City Police Headquarters). Those sets offered the opportunity to follow instructions to build items in a manner similar to the way someone might assemble a model of a car, boat, or other item, and yet the pieces that came in those sets could also be used to build other items from your own imagination.

    Over time Lego sets have been introduced that can be used to build items from the Star Wars universe, as well as many other sources (comic book characters, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, etc.) including the world of Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story, which bring us to this wonderful set.

    With this set builders get the pieces needed to build the train along with the character figures for Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Rex and Hamm as “Evil Doctor Porkchops”. Builders can take those figures and put them into any other Lego environment that they may imagine and build, or they can remain purists and just assemble this set to match the instructions, just as they can with other Lego sets. Of course, with this particular set builders are able to look at the assembled set and recall the inspirational scene from the Toy Story 3 film.

    As noted on the product listing, this set includes many small parts that are choking hazards so it is not appropriate for smaller children and usage should be supervised as appropriate to avoid such problems.

    In terms of value, this one is priceless to me and comes with my highest recommendation.

    
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12. Jennifer  ~ September 23rd, 2010
    

    My 5-year-old is a huge train, LEGO AND Toy Story fan, so needless to say, it was an instant winner. I have never purchased one of these expensive LEGO sets and I had always been intrigued but refused to pay the high price tags despite the begging every time we see them in the store. I was very pleasantly surprised. This set is obviously not made for 5-year-olds, so I did most of the building though he was able to put quite a few parts together on his own. It took us about 2 hours to complete, whew! When it was done, I was afraid it would be very fragile and that he’d have to use caution when playing with it or it would fall apart. Not so! I can’t believe how well it stays together during play along with Thomas and the Chuggington game at play time. I did remove a handful of the smaller pieces that stuck off the engine and were prone to falling off if bumped, but other than that, he has been having so much fun with this. The quality is really fantastic. The characters are more detailed than what I expected from a LEGO set and he has a great time sticking them all over the train in different poses and playing out his own stories. We may just have to get a few more sets as he gets older. Lots of fun for both of us!

    
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13. S. Harrison  ~ October 21st, 2010
    

    Yes, the box says ages 8 through 14, but honestly… What 14-year-old is going to be thrilled with a Lego train featuring the Toy Story gang? The age-range/difficulty level seems out of sync with the nature of the toy. Older children will probably not be entranced by the idea of playing with Woody and Rex, but younger children will need assistance with assembly of the components.

    On to the product itself:

    The contents were very nicely packaged, in what turned out to be separate portions of the instructions tied to the numbered bags of parts. The instructions were very clear, with little text, but with very good three dimensional graphics that provided all the information needed to assemble the various train cars without the annoying text found in so many instructions. The only portion of the instructions that wasn’t spot-on was the assembly of the Toy Story characters. It turns out that not all the parts for the characters are in the character bag – a few key parts were actually in the bag used in the next set of instructions. Once that was figured out, all was well.

    During construction, I began to notice that the fit and finish of the parts was extremely well done. After final construction, I was amazed that I could run my fingernail across the length of one of the railroad cars and it felt like one solid piece! That’s got to be some manufacturing feat. Along with the fit and finish, the cars and characters are fully functional. For example, the two doors on the caboose actually opened and closed, the wheels turn very easily but were not wobbly at all, the cars interlocked well. The detail in the painted parts, especially the characters, was very well done. You can actually see the iris of the eyes, and we’re talking about a less than two inch high character. The only warning is that besides the actual characters, the finished cars are somewhat fragile in the sense that they will come apart slightly if handled anything more than average. A rough handling or a drop of more than 8 inches (on tile) results in the cars coming apart in large chunks – which I suppose is better than every piece coming apart. In any case, in about a minute with no directions to have to look at, it can be reassembled. The worry is that a seven year old might not be gentle with the toy once it’s assembled. The characters have already withstood very rough handling from two three year olds and a five year old and have survived without any issue other than Woody’s head coming off once when pulled very hard (which would be very easily replaced once I find it in the van).

    Overall, I would rate this product very highly. Having put together many Legos together before, from the large toddler size to the normal size Legos, this is an amazing feat of manufacturing accuracy in comparison. The kids relate well to the characters and love the idea of trains. All in all, a great product.

    
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14. Michael Alexander  ~ October 26th, 2010
    

    We have put this together for awhile now. It was fun to put together. I was amazed that my son new a lot more about legos then I thought. He put it together and loved playing with it, He said he did not want to take it apart he wanted to leave it as a train. He loves it.The little figures was fun. He added some of his other lego figures and had so much fun. Overall a great train by lego.

    
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15. Deanokat  ~ October 28th, 2010
    

    Like most other LEGO sets, this is a high-quality toy that will probably last forever. LEGO sets are definitely worth the money, because kids get countless hours of enjoyment from them. Being able to put a toy together without having to actually read instructions is so refreshing, and the illustrations that show how to build the toy are, for the most part, simple to understand. This Toy Story Western Train Chase set is great, with four colorful train cars and six Toy Story figures. The perfect gift for any kid who’s into LEGO and/or Toy Story!

    
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16. Jenn  ~ November 4th, 2010
    

    We love legos and we had to have the Toy Story 3 Train. My son and husband are going to have so much fun putting this together!

    
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