Looking for experienced advice - tool bench & stroller/doll set & train table

hello all,

I am doing research in finding good quality tool bench for our son for x-mas....we'd like one a bit more advanced so he can use it for years to come plus he likes the challenge, he'll be 2 in march.
anybody knows a good website or knows a specific bench/work shop that is great?

same question for stroller doll set for our girl, I am looking at the Graco Smart Baby Doll Play set, it has stroller, PnP and tons of other pieces, it's an interactive doll, which I don't know if it's that great. ($45)
or the Graco Baby Doll Play Set, stroller, swing/highchair, and other pieces ($30)

does anybody have another one that they can suggest?

also, I am looking at train sets without table, we have a good height couch table that serves as table. I am looking at TRUS but they only have Thomas the train mostly, I love BRIO wooden ones...are they harder to find? just curious...for the aftermath, if we want to add more pieces to the set, I don't want it to be very hard to find and get.

thank you all!

 

We bought a Melissa and Doug trainset that seems really good quality.

 

The only thing I can help with is the train set... My oldest started getting into trains at about 3-4 years old. I decided to go with Thomas and boy was that one of the best ideas I ever had LOL... As I sit and type this I have a HUGE track of trains going around my living room. He still plays with them ALL the time (he's 9.5y/o) and now the twins are really starting to like them.
I get that there are probably better train sets out there but the thing that has made me so happy with Thomas (wood) is that anybody can find them anywhere. He has gotten sets of Thomas stuff that was worth 100$ but also trains worth 5-10$. Plus anyone can find them. He has a ton of tracks and trains and we've never had one of them broken or not work. He even uses the tracks for his cars too. We never did get a train table because we have hardwood floors and didn't need one.
Good luck!

 

We tried trains at Thanksgiving and my two are definitely not ready for them - I think trains will be their present for next Christmas, so I really haven't researched them.

For the stroller doll set, I know that Target has one on sale this week, so you could look that up. I bought a second hand Fisher Price stroller (the one that goes with Little Mommy dolls) and they love it though.

 

I recently bought a stroller and doll for my baby boys actually. I bought the stella doll from Manhattan Toy company and the stroller that goes with it. The doll is okay, it is a soft doll that is really light weight. The stroller is excellent, perfect height, etc.. It is good because they were huting themselves with another doll that my mom brought over and was too big, hard and heavy.

 

Just ordered fisher price strollers (soo cute) and baby dolls for my BOYS (gasp!) yesterday from Walmart! They LOVE babies and LOVE pushing strollers so I cannot wait to get it!

Their dad is rather primitive so he's going to FREAK when he sees that I bought them but I don't care! I think boys need to learn how to care for things too. Babies and strollers are NOT just for girls. I have no idea where that idea came from but it's not a good one. I think all toys should be for both sexes. I do not think it makes ANY sense to separate them.

We got the train table from TRUS and it was the imaginarium one. It's cheaper and works fine for us.

Good luck