Product Description

Next stop' SmartVille! This "smart" learning toy fuels your child's imagination with moving, interactive parts. Place the included 28 brainy characters on hot spots throughout the station and watch them talk and teach your child. Wind the hands on the station clock to learn time. Identify letters and their sounds on the light-up display. Move the train across the electronic track to hear the alphabet.

With the SmartVille Alphabet Train Station, your child will whisk from whistle stop to whistle stop while learning letters, phonics, vocabulary, numbers, shapes, colors, animals, animal sounds, music and so much more. Requires 3 "AA" batteries (included). Measures 32.5"L x 20"W x 13.5"H.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25257 in Toys & Games
• Brand: VTech
• Model: 80-69600
• Released on: 2006-06-12
• Dimensions: 24.10" h x 16.10" w x 6.10" l, 8.40 pounds

Features

• One deluxe play set with 25 Smart Parts and 12 learning activities!
• Move the train to hear the alphabet.
• Light-up display reinforces letters and objects.
• Press the track to learn letters, phonics and words.
• 12 months +

Editorial Review
The Alphabet Train Station packs a slew of activities for preschoolers, usually found in a combination of toys, into one fun-filled set. Toddlers learn their alphabet by moving the train around or pressing letters on the track to hear the letter and object spoken. Letters light up on the display panel for additional reinforcement. When kids get tired of that, they can place one of the 18 plastic animals in the Smart Parts spot to discover which animal they are and the sound they make. Still looking for more? Preschoolers can attempt some composing on the five-key piano or work on telling time by turning the hands on the station clock. As a last resort, kids can ignore all the electronic bells and whistles and just have some good old-fashioned creative play with the animals, the train track, and the seven role-play pieces. As with many Vtech toys, the Alphabet Train Station makes a lot of repetitive sounds that kids love but can get on parents’ nerves. Thankfully, there is a volume control for quieter play. The toy comes with three short-term "AA" batteries for immediate play out of the box and an automatic shut-off feature kicks in if the station is left untouched for a few minutes. --Cristina Vaamonde

From the Manufacturer
Next stop's SmartVille! While other play sets are just poised for play, this smart set fuels your child's imagination with interactive Smart Parts. 25 brainy characters talk and teach when they are placed in fun hot spots throughout the station. And the learning continues all the way down the track! Wind the hands on the station clock to learn time. Identify letters and their sounds on the light-up display. Or move the train across the electronic track to hear the alphabet. With the SmartVille Alphabet Train Station, your child will whisk from whistle stop to whistle stop while learning letters, phonics, vocabulary, numbers, shapes, colors, animals, animal sounds, music and more!

Customer Reviews

Loaded with Stimulating Goodies!
We bought this for our son when he was around 9 months old. He's a little over 12 months now and it is still his favorite toy - even after all the goodies he got for his birthday! I always loved trains myself and thought this would be something we would both enjoy together. I was a little disappointed at first because there are no actual train cars and the included engine seems more of an afterthought. My son, however, was elated with the toy. He quickly learned how to place the figures on the pedestal to hear about what they are called and what sounds they make. The two modes (Learning & Discovery) can be easily toggled back and forth offering quite a bit of stimulation and the LED display really grabs his attention. It is extremely durable as my son likes to pull and push it, turn it upside down and bend it in ways you would expect it to break. I couldn't recommend it more...

Not Leapfrog...
For some reason I thought that the train was motorized and would travel around the track but unfortunately, that is not the case. The child needs to push it by hand. While doing this, music will start to play and then some of the ABC buttons on the track will go off arbitrarily. It's rather confusing and not very rewarding. The track is not well designed as the child needs to lean over or sit on the track to reach the buttons. I bought this hoping to reinforce alphabet learning but this toy does not deliver. The only way to hear the letters is to press the buttons on the track but the stickers are not very interesting and so get ignored. It seems the most functional part of the toy is identifying the animals yet the animals are rather abstract looking. This toy is very disappointing and not very educational.

My 1 year old son loves it
I bought this for my 1 year old son for Christmas. When I opened it up, I thought that he wouldn't enjoy it yet. Boy was I wrong! This is by far his favorite toy. If it's put away, he walks over to it for me to put it out for him. He loves the smaller parts, walking around with them and putting them in his mouth. He quickly figured out how to put the parts into the circular spaces where they belong, so that the toy gives a response. He also likes looking at the display that lights up according to which buttons are pushed.

The one thing I don't like about this toy is that although it conveniently folds up to put it away, my son has figured out where the hinges are and constantly tries folding it up himself, or tiping over the building part. I'm afraid at some point he might end up hurting himself. Also, the tote bag is so great, he wants to play with the empty bag. I keep it hidden when it's empty. I would also appreciate being able to adjust the volume, like with other toys.