Excellent toy articles
Read all the latest toy articles here

Featured Articles
Steiff Bears

Building Toys
    Blocks
    Erector Sets
    Knex
    LEGO
    Lincoln Logs
    Mega Bloks
    Rokenbok
    Tinker Toys
    Other Building Toys

Action Figures
    A-Team
    Action Man
    Austin Powers
    Babylon 5
    Batman
    Bearbrick
    Big Jim
    Bruce Lee
    Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    Captain Action
    Captain America
    Daredevil
    Dark Alliance
    Evangelion
    Fantastic Four
    Final Fantasy
    Ghostbusters
    GI Joe
    Green Lantern
    Gundam
    Halo
    HellRaiser
    Homies
    Incredible Hulk
    Iron Man
    James Bond
    Jurassic Park
    Justice League of America
    Kiss
    Living Dead Dolls
    Lord of the Rings
    Macross
    Marx
    MASK
    Masters of the Universe
    Matrix
    Max Steel
    Mego
    Micromen
    Minimates
    Movie Maniacs
    Planet of the Apes
    Power Rangers
    Resident Evil
    Reservoir Dogs
    Robotech
    Saint Seiya
    Shrek
    Six Million Dollar Man
    Small Soldiers
    Spawn
    Spider-Man
    Sports
    Star Trek
    Star Wars
    Stargate
    Stikfas
    Superman
    Teen Titans
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    Terminator
    Thunderbirds
    Thundercats
    Tomb Raider
    Tortured Souls
    Transformers
    Ultraman
    Voltron
    Wonder Woman
    X-Files
    X-Men
    Xena
    Yu-Gi-Oh
    Zoids
    Mixed Lots
    Other Action Figures

Baby Toys
    Activities, Gyms
    Rattles, Teethers
    Other Baby Toys

Beanbag Plush, Beanie Babies
    Accessories
    Bammers, Bamm Beanos
    Celebrity Bears
    Disney
    Grateful Dead
    Meanies
    Ty
    Other

Classic Toys
    Balls, Frisbees, Boomerangs
    Colorforms
    Etch A Sketch, Spirograph
    Lite Brite
    Kites
    Magic, Magician Supplies
    Marbles
    Rocking Horses
    Slinky
    Yo-Yos
    Other Classic Toys

Diecast Cars, Toy Vehicles
    Aircraft
    Bikes, Motorcycles
    Boats, Ships
    Cars, Trucks-Cast Iron
    Cars, Trucks-Diecast
    Cars, Trucks-Plastic
    Cars, Trucks-Pressed Steel
    Cars, Trucks-Other Materials
    Construction Equip., Vehicles
    Farm Vehicles
    Other Vehicles Pre-1970
    Other Vehicles 1970-Now

Educational Toys
    Alphabet
    Geography, History
    Mathematics
    Music, Art
    Reading, Writing
    Numbers
    Science, Nature
    Other Educational Toys

Electronic Toys, Battery & Wind-up Toys
    Battery Operated Toys
    Electronic, Interactive Toys
    Friction Toys
    Wind-Up, Walking Toys

Fast Food & Cereal Toys
    Cereal Toys
    Fast Food Toys
    Others

Games
    Board, Traditional Games
    Electronic Games
    Game Pieces, Parts
    Mighty Beanz
    Miniatures, War Games
    Role Playing Games
    Other Games

Model Railroads, Toy Trains
    Live Steam
    Z Scale
    N Scale
    HO Scale
    OO Scale
    S Scale
    O Scale
    Standard Scale
    G Scale
    Mixed Lots, Magazines
    Other Scales

Models, Kits
Air Models
Anime

Models, KitsBoats, Ships
    Model Cars
    Boats & Ship Models
    Character Figures
    Military Models
    Monster Models
    Motorcycle Models
    Promotional Models
    Model Rockets
    Science Fiction Models
    Space Models
    Super Hero Models
    Model Tools, Supplies
    Wooden Models
    Other Models

Building Toys

Knex

Knex Article

K'NEX is a brand name of a toy construction system invented by Joel Glickman, designed and produced by K'NEX Industries, Inc. of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, USA. Currently Michael Araten is the president of the organization. The name is, presumably, based around a spelling variation of connects, but keeping the phonetic term. The toy consists of interconnecting plastic rods and connectors. It improved upon, and was inspired by, an earlier construction toy made of colored wooden dowels and connecting nodes called Tinkertoys. It is a construction toy in the same genre as LEGO and Meccano, although it uses rods, not bricks or metal strips. 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 label.

K'NEX connectors and rods are colour coded: K'NEX rods come in a range of lengths, each length being a distinct color. When the additional length of connections is taken into account, the ratio between successive lengths of rods is 1/2. This makes the construction of right-angle isosceles triangles simple, and these triangles provide the structural strength in models. Most types of K'NEX rods are only very slightly flexible, but there are extra rigid and very flexible versions of some of the longer rods. K'NEX connectors connect rods at angles which are multiples of 45 degrees.