K'Nex is a brand name of a construction toy system invented by Joel Glickman, designed and produced by Industries of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, USA. Currently Michael Araten is the president of the organization. The name is, presumably, a phonetic variation of connects, and is pronounced the same way. The toy's building system consists of interconnecting plastic rods and connectors, which can connect together to form all kinds of contraptions. K’Nex is a construction toy, and therefore in the same genre as LEGO, Fischertechnik and Meccano. It is similar to Tinkertoy.
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The concept behind K’Nex was originally conceived by Joel Glickman. While he was at a wedding, he started thinking of what he could do with his straw if he could connect it with other straws. He and his brother Bob Glickman discussed the idea and started the K’Nex company.[1] The original building system kept very closely to the idea that Joel Glickman had: The K’Nex building system was simply Rods and Connectors which could be easily attached together to make different things. Other parts such as wheels and pulleys were also included to allow more flexibility in construction. The first K’Nex Box was launched in the U.S. market in 1993. Original models with moving parts had a handcrank to make things move. But soon gears and motors allowed models to move on their own.[2]
When K’Nex went to the big toy companies, such as Hasbro, and others, their idea was turned down, but they were referred to giant construction toy producer Lego. However Lego refused to even see their new toy. K’Nex is now distributed in Europe by TOMY.
Until 2001, K’Nex did not make sets containing brand constructions (as Lego had with Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.), but often based its sets around popular fads (such as mech warriors and RC cars). In 2001, K’Nex broke from this trend and introduced a line of toys using the BattleTech/MechWarrior [3] label, and later launched the OCC (Orange County Chopper)[4] line of toys in 2006 and a line of Sesame Street[5] building sets in 2008. In 2011, K'nex released a brand of Mario Kart Wii building sets with buildable karts and tracks as well as items and obstacles such as Mushrooms, Bullet Bills, Chain Chomps, Thwomps, Goomba's, Shell's and many more. This set came with Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and Yoshi as the racers.
For a more complete listing of pieces, see Main Article: K'Nex pieces.
The basic K’Nex pieces used to make models are Rods and Connectors. When both of these are used together, they can create a wide variety of 3D objects and contraptions. All K’Nex Connectors and Rods are color coded.
There are many other K'Nex pieces, such as Wheels, Pulleys, Panels, Spacers, Gears, Bricks, Roller Coaster Pieces, (SS and Micro Pieces) and "Flexi-Rods" to name some. These give greater variety to what can be realized when being creative with K’Nex. There are various Motors that can make the models move. New K’Nex bricks were added into the K’Nex matrix in 2008 as part of K’Nex's 15th Anniversary celebration.
K'nex has been used to construct virtually everything because many different pieces can interlock at different angles and directions. From miniature cows to complete table sets to roller coasters, many objects and contraptions various sizes can be constructed. Because K'Nex pieces are made of a strong plastic and interlock, these constructs are usually quite sturdy.
Many hobbyists have included low-power servo motors and wheels other than K'Nex in their constructions. Even real bikes (complete with bicycle wheels) have been constructed with K'Nex. With the almost unlimited variety of gears, wheels and motors available for use, even the most complicated, functional construct can be created with K'Nex.
Gadgets like little computers and solar panels also have made it a instant classic with hobbyists.
K’Nex has toured the United States with exhibitions which have large displays of K’Nex. Many of these models are ones that sell or have sold, but there are many unique professionally made K’Nex models. These can can be quite large and built from tens of thousands of pieces. For example an 8-foot (24 m) model of the United States Capitol building took 514,000 pieces to build, and is the biggest K’Nex model ever made.[7] Unlike Lego bricks which can come in any color, K’Nex pieces are color-coded and therefore come in certain colors based on their shape. This fact presents a challenge when attempting to make a model out of a specific color. Concordia University's Women in Engineering chapter has erected models of a space shuttle, the Sears Tower, and the Eiffel Tower out of K'nex[8].