thomas and friends board game.

So this is one of my stories that I break out when the kids complain about having to eat off-brand Mac & Cheese; or some other tragedy. This is not one of those stories where I had to walk to school barefoot, in the snow, up hill, both ways, using barbed wire for traction kind of stories; however, my father once made me a gift: A hand carved watch made from a real, honest to goodness, Kolkhoz raised potato.

I am here now sharing with you something that I never had: A three dimensional Thomas Great Race board game from the folks at Briar Patch. Now Briar Patch, are the same folks that bring to us some other great product lines that we are so familiar with such as I Spy, Fancy Nancy, DaVinci, Animal Sound, and my personal top ten, Goodnight Moon. This game allows for an interactive activity with a child where activity and interaction is actually encouraged. I tried to play Yahtzee once with a four year-old. No dice. Battleship? Well, that one sank. Puns were intentional.

I will now share with you a few reasons how Thomas’ Great Race is better than a carved potato watch, or the Kolkhoz:

Thomas & Friends themed board and card games have won awards and various acclamations. The watch? A polite and sincere “Thank you.”
Thomas’ Great Race rewards correct answers by allowing the player to add coal to the engine and move along the track towards the finish line. The Kolkhoz? Coal was rationed. If you were one of the lucky ones that managed to find some, you would still have to wait in line for hours.
Kolkhoz potatoes were genetically inferior to each previous year’s since the larger ones were sent off and the smaller ones were saved for next years planting. Thomas & Friends? The products keep getting better and better all of the time. Thomas’ Great Race is just one example.
The watch lasted the better part of an hour before it became a part of our supper. Thomas & Friends? The parts are big enough that for small children, they will not become a part of their diet.

Now, this watch was not for my birthday, or Christmas, or May Day, or Easter. One Saturday afternoon, my father decided that he would try to carve a watch out of a potato and so he did. No real tragedy. Shhhh… Don’t tell my kids that.

–Viktor

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