Yesterday we had a family get together in celebration of my middle liberal's birthday. He has been indicating to us for months that he would be having a Thomas the Train birthday, so who are we to argue. To supplement the Thomas birthday, the middle liberal received Thomas bedding, Thomas cake, and various other Thomas toy accessories from his parents and relatives. 
It was during the process of shopping for all these Thomas the Train items that I learned of the true genius of Thomas. Aside from the classic marketing tool of putting Thomas on every single item you possibly could, the people who make these trains have taken marketing and money making to a whole new level. As a consumer, one would think that if I go out to purchase Thomas the Train and the track that comes with him that the person I am purchasing these items for would have the ability to purchase more of the same tracks and trains. Well, you would be wrong! In what might be the greatest marketing ploy of all time, the Thomas the Train folks have made multiple styles of track with multiple styles of trains to fit those tracks. That means when well intentioned friends and family go out and buy Thomas trains and track sets they may be buying an entirely different set than the one the child currently owns. Whether those are wooden tracks or the varying styles of plastic tracks, I have so far counted three different styles (and there could be more). By the time everything is said and done, parents are collecting all the different styles of tracks and trains.
Congratulations, Thomas, on a marketing job well done!
