Is Mattel Dumbing Down Things With Revolution?

certainly, I cannot say I have ever had any fun with a Fisher-Price set as I have with either TOMY or HiT Toys, but that remains to be seen.

I have to agree with that. I remember often playing with my Tomy trains, and during the FP reign, I was away from the line. I have bought a couple FP sets, and I absolutely can't have a lot of fun with them, but Tomy /hit toys just had the flexibility and the large sets that made the building of a layout a fun toy in its own.