I just bought Thomas a couple of days ago and, so far, my 4 year old son is having a blast with it. You know he really likes a toy when he demands to take it to bed with him. My concerns with with this toy and the rest of the series is the durability of the link-ups and battery installation. The pieces that connect the trains and the cars don't seem to be very strong. If a child tries to pull the toys apart too hard, it may break the hook. As for battery installation, it's not as easy as the instructions say! Just push two tabs together at the bottoms and lift the top off. No, sorry, there's not enough room to get those small tabs pushed in enough to lift that top off. I found removing the bottom piece in the front that holds the two front wheels in, moving the front set of wheels to the back of the engine and gently removing the middle wheel piece gives you enough room to push the tabs in and pull the top of the engine away to put in the battery. Other than that, for a four year old boy, this toy should be just fine!