K'Nex is a

construction toy A construction set is a standardized piece assortment allowing for the construction of various different models. Construction sets are most often marketed as toys. Popular construction toy brands include Lincoln Logs and ''LEGO''. Toys ...

system created by Joel Glickman. It was first introduced in America in 1992. K'Nex is designed and produced by K'Nex Industries Inc. of

Hatfield, Pennsylvania Hatfield is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,290 at the time of the 2010 census. It is part of the North Penn Valley region that is centered around the borough of Lansdale, ...

. K'Nex was purchased by Florida-based company

Basic Fun! Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film * Basic, one ...

in 2018. The toy's building system consists of

interlock An interlock is a feature that makes the state of two mechanisms or functions mutually dependent. It may consist of any electrical or mechanical devices, or systems. In most applications, an interlock is used to help prevent any damage to the mac ...

ing plastic rods, connectors, glocks, gears, wheels, and other components, which can be assembled to form a wide variety of models, machines, and architectural structures. While K'Nex is designed for children ages 5–12, a bigger version, Kid K'Nex, is aimed towards children 5 and younger.

History

The first K'Nex Box was launched in the U.S. market in 1993. Original models with moving parts had a

handcrank A crank is an arm attached at a right angle to a rotating shaft by which circular motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. When combined with a connecting rod, it can be used to convert circular motion into reciprocating motion, or vice ...

to make things move, but soon,

gears A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine element, machine part typically used to transmit rotation, rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can ...

and

motors An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

allowed models to move on their own. Knex-bridge

The company's products were sold at

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

, starting in early October 1992. By 2011, K'Nex was distributed in over 25 countries, including the United States. In 2018, all of K'Nex's assets were purchased by Basic Fun!, a Florida-based toy company. The acquisition was valued at around $21 million. In 2024, Basic Fun filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

protection. The company will use bankruptcy proceedings to repay its creditors while remaining in operation. Basic Fun emerged from bankruptcy on November 1, 2024.

Pieces

The basic K'Nex pieces used to make models include rods, connectors, and bricks. Basic K'Nex pieces are made out of

polyoxymethylene Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde, is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts requiring high stiffness, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability. Short-chained POM (chain length ...

plastic.

Display models and exhibits

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

's Engineering and Computer Science Association (ECA) has erected models of a

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

, the

Sears Tower The Willis Tower, formerly and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan ...

, the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

Habitat 67 Habitat 67, or simply Habitat, is a housing complex at Cité du Havre, on the Saint Lawrence River, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, designed by Israeli-Canadian- American architect Moshe Safdie. It originated in his master's thesis at the School of Ar ...

, and mazes out of K'Nex. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center held a Guinness Book of World Records Award for the "World's Largest K'Nex Sculpture" and also has a huge space shuttle and rocket in their gift shop in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

. The Guinness World Record for "World's Largest K'Nex Sculpture" was broken in 2014 by a team in the UK with a 13.38-meter-long K'Nex replica of the Bloodhound 1600 km/h Supersonic Car. K'Nex also has a traveling exhibit, K'Nex: Build Thrill Rides, that visits schools and museums across the country.

Computer games

''K'NEX The Lost Mines: Adventure Begins'', was released in 1998 by EAI Interactive for

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

, and ''Virtual K'Nex'' was also released in 1998 by

Fox Interactive Fox Interactive was an American video game publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company published games based on 20th Century Fox properties such as ''The Simpsons'' and ''Die Hard'', yet also published several original titles, such as ...

for Windows 3.x.

References

External links