Prior to going into detail about Patchwork Hiro, a little of our own "Thomas" history... As first time grandparents, my husband and I wanted to start some type of collection for our grandson that he could possibly pass along to his own kids one day. Our grandson was 2 1/2 at the time, and had been talking a lot about a certain train named Thomas (a little fella whom - now seems hard to believe! - we'd never heard of. After doing some research, it seemed the Take-n-Play line might be the perfect investment to engage and encourage his active imagination, as well as provide a fun way for us to interact with him. What a rewarding decision... we've had SO much fun together with this quality line of trains, vehicles and playsets! As he approaches 4, a large portion of our basement has become a wonderful Sodor land of make believe that we all enjoy visiting - and continues to hold his interest, which is quite a feat given the tendency at that age to move in and out of toy phases so quickly!
Patchwork Hiro is Hiro as he first appeared in 2009's "Hero of the Rails" movie, after the engines worked together to "patch" him up when he was found abandoned, prior to receiving his new, shiny black coat of paint! Hiro is a wise, kind and gentle Japanese engine, and in this version his colorful patchwork includes blue, green, black and rust colors, with gold boiler bands, flaked-off gold lining, his name written in black on gold nameplates on both sides, and a flaking, white number "51" painted on his tender. He has a total of 18 wheels (4 large & 4 small red, along with 2 large blue wheels on his engine, and another 8 small red wheels on his tender.) Patchwork Hiro was featured on Take-n-Play's original (Spring 2010) Collector Checklist... Fisher-Price recently raised Patchwork Hiro's MSRP from $8.00 to $9.99 (well worth the $8.99 I paid for my grandson's.) You can pair the "Patchwork" version up with the newly painted Hiro, as well as the movie's other new introductions (Victor & Kevin) if you'd like!