I'm not the most amazing modeller in the world, but for trains sets, especially ones being sold for around $100, you should do the complete opposite, and buy everything seperately. There are several good sets out there, but the ones with a good quality locomotive and realistic cars can often go for over $200. Assuming that your friend wants his locomotive to last longer than one month, you should try getting a seperate loco with seperate cars, and a track plan that he might like (try not to buy an oval) with the track brand that seems best to you (if this present is a suprise, than this doesn't work very well). It may come out to be around $150 for the train and from $40 to $200 for the track, but the quality will help it last for years.
You can start by finding out which railway your friend might like (i.e. if you live in Los Angeles, you could choose BNSF or one of the railways with "pacific" in it), and build off of that. For grand kids who are under 8, try to get HO, S, O or G (With Walthers and Athern, it's HO or O). And good luck finding the perfect package of gifts.
I'd suggest the Athearn set. Athearn's are well known for their reliability and durability, so the set should last a very long time.
I got an Athearn set for Christmas last year, and even though the track is a little cheap, it's a good quality set. Here's a review I did on it a while ago. http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/740572/ShowPost.aspx
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Well, before he goes and spends a lot only to find out the grandkids really only want the last raz-ma-taz video game, I'd say lets not go robbing the bank. The sets can be cheap or more expensive, but any set within what ever pre-appointed price range he has in mind, should be fine. Does he/do they want steam or diesel? or one of each? what do the kids want? Thomas the Tank? What guage? WHat guage/set will he most likely be interested in when/if they loose interested?? How much room does he have to devote to this adventure?
All these and more must be answered. Only he can do so. Hope they have fun!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Darth Santa Fe wrote: I'd suggest the Athearn set. Athearn's are well known for their reliability and durability, so the set should last a very long time.I got an Athearn set for Christmas last year, and even though the track is a little cheap, it's a good quality set. Here's a review I did on it a while ago. http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/740572/ShowPost.aspx
The Walthers sets are mostly the old Lifelike sets that were more toy than HO train. Athern is reasonably good quality as far as running & detail is concerned, & very reliable for the long run. I have dozens of Athern engines & cars that date from the early '60's that still run well!!!