Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Multi-Activity Play Table - For Trains, Puzzles, Games, More

I was extremely nervous about buying this train table after reading several reviews about poor quality of materials. My husband and I spent a good amount of time looking for another table that would be the same size or bigger for a reasonable price. We were getting it for my son's birthday so as the time drew closer we just decided to get it. The table is the perfect size and is so far very sturdy. The material doesn't feel cheap or flimsy but it does appear to be particle board or something similar. It was not hard to assemble and we were able to put it together in a little over an hour. The table does sit low to the ground, which is the perfect height for my little. He prefers to be standing when he's playing with his trains. I could see how low it sits to be a con for some however. Overall, I think it's a worthy buy for a children's table.

This table was genuinely easy to put together. We were missing a bolt and the seller send us one in the post straight away, no questions asked. Great service! The table itself is not beautiful; heavy, basic, draw hard to pull out for the under 2 year olds. Having said that, these features make it a good buy for 5 years and under. I've had three 18 month olds crawling over it at the same time, plus a roudy crowd of 4 year old scootering into it. No paint chips or collapse so far. The only reason I haven't given it 5 stars is its quite low. If your children are tall or 5 years and over, you might find this limited.

We used this activity table for a train set up with the Melissa and Doug Train Set. This is a great quality table that we will use for YEARS! The table was pretty easy to put together. Took my husband and I roughly 45 minutes to put it together with minimal tools. Due to size - definitely recommended having 2 people for assembly. I was worried about the storage drawer being too small, but it has plenty of room for spare train parts (maybe even the full set if my toddler actually ever wants it put away). The table is very sturdy and is holding up to the 3 yo durability test after a month.

I wanted to get my son a table for his train sets that he received for Christmas, but didn't want something that was specifically just for trains. I wanted he, and my daughter, to be able to use the table for Legos, coloring, etc. I loved the look of this table online and I have lots of respect for the Melissa & Doug line of products as we own several of them due to their great construction. This table leaves a little to be desired with it's construction, but overall I am pleased with it. I do have a few complaints however, which is why I only gave it a 4 star rating. First off, the table top, once the entire table is put together, is wobbly and doesn't sit very flush, which creates some issues when building train tracks on top of the table, as well as Lego structures. In addition to this, the drawer is not flush with the side of the table. The left side of the drawer sticks out about 3/4" from the face of the side of the table, which you can hit with your knees while trying to build train tracks. It's not a deal breaker, but I definitely would have preferred the drawer to be flush. In the other M&D toys that I have purchased and had to put together, especially the M&D kitchen, I did not have any of these issues with things not sitting flush to the surfaces. The table top support construction also leaves a little to be desired. Don't get me wrong, the support is enough to withstand the weight of trains, Legos, etc. but I would have expected there to be another cross brace or two underneath the table top itself to help level out the top of the table some more. My last issue that I had was not with the construction of the table itself, but the instructions to build the table. The instructions pointed at the wrong item when they were speaking of another, not a big deal for me, but I could see it being confusing to some. In addition to this, the instructions also called out for 'machine screws', but in reality meant 'wood screws', which makes sense, but if you don't know any better, you'd be searching for machine screws, but realize you were only given wood screws. I also did not like there were no pre-drilled holes for some of the wood screw locations and the wood screws did not have a point on the end to help drive them into the wood either. Again, not a big deal if you used a drill like I did, but for some it could be an issue. The last issue with the instructions/construction of the table were that some of the cam/locking nut holes were not drilled out enough and therefore I had to drill the holes deeper to be able to actually construct the table itself. All in all the table is a great quality, but has some minor issues that if improved, would make this an A+ table. But, with all that said, you definitely cannot go wrong with this M&D activity table.

I planned to buy my son a train set for Christmas, so I purchased the activity table ahead of time so that I could set it up early. The table collapsed within a month of me setting it up and a week before Christmas. (The bolts popped right out of the particle board.) Fortunately, my son was nowhere near the table when it happened. The bad news is the timing. This happened a week before Christmas, I didn't own it long enough to put the train set on it, and also, my Amazon return window had recently expired. I called the toll-free number on the Melissa & Doug installation instructions and tried to determine whether they'd help rectify the issue or whether I had to find a new table. Initially I was optimistic, but it's been a few days now of me calling repeatedly to find out where things stand and waiting for a call back, and I've lost faith in a Christmas miracle. In the short term, my plan to get some 2x4's or 4x4's and use them at every corner of the table to reinforce the side panels. This will hopefully make the table stable enough for my son to use his train set without me worrying about him getting hurt. The table won't look pretty, but that's not my main concern. In the long term, my plan is to build him a table using solid wood. I've looked at all the common tables that you can buy online, and they're all relatively thin particle board. After this experience, I'm not interested in owning another table made with the same material. I agree with another review who described it a little more sturdy than cardboard. (It's worth noting that there's at least one company online that sells solid wood train tables and they look great, but they're costly and I'd rather save the money and build one instead.) No, I can't recommend this to anyone. Even if my table didn't collapse, I'd be disappointed in the quality. UPDATE Jan 2013: Melissa & Doug shipped me a new table. I wasn't expecting it, as I haven't spoken to them further about the issue. I successfully reinforced the first table using the plan I described above. When I put together the new one, I'll most likely use the same reinforcements, and use it in a different part of the house as an extra table.