K'Nex

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]

The company's products were sold at Toys "R" Us, starting in early October 1992.^{[citation needed]} By 2011, K'Nex was distributed in over 25 countries, including the United States.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, all of K'Nex's assets were purchased by Basic Fun!, a Florida-based toy company.^[3][4][5] The acquisition was valued at around $21 million.^[6][7][8]

In 2024, Basic Fun filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company will use bankruptcy proceedings to repay its creditors while remaining in operation.^[9] Basic Fun emerged from bankruptcy on November 1, 2024.^[10]

The basic K'Nex pieces used to make models include rods, connectors, and bricks. Basic K'Nex pieces are made out of polyoxymethylene plastic.^[11]

Concordia University's Engineering and Computer Science Association (ECA)^[12] has erected models of a Space Shuttle, the Sears Tower, the Eiffel Tower, Habitat 67, and mazes out of K'Nex.^[13] 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. 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.

K'NEX The Lost Mines: Adventure Begins, was released in 1998 by EAI Interactive for Windows 95,^[14] and Virtual K'Nex was also released in 1998 by Fox Interactive for Windows 3.x.^{[citation needed]}

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