K'Nex is a construction toy system founded 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. K'Nex was purchased by Florida-based company Basic Fun! in 2018. The toy's building system consists of interlocking plastic rods, connectors, blocks, 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 larger version, Kid K'Nex, is aimed towards children 5 and younger. The toy has been released and marketed in various stores, as well as online websites. K'Nex has released various sets, educational kits, and models consisting of assorted parts, the last of which includes parts and instructions specifically packaged to be assembled into a specific model. History The concept behind K'Nex was originally conceived by Joel Glickman while attending a wedding. There, he started thinking of what he could do with his straw if he could connect it to other straws. He and his brother Bob Glickman discussed the idea and started the K'Nex company. The original building system kept very closely to the idea that Joel Glickman had: basic rods and connectors which could be easily attached together to make various constructions. Other parts such as wheels and pulleys are 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. K'Nex made contacts at the four largest toy companies at the time: Hasbro, Mattel, Lego, and Tyco Toys, and all four turned K'Nex down. As a result of that, Joel Glickman made contacts that ultimately led to toy retailing giant Toys "R" Us, and the purchasing people there encouraged Joel to produce and sell K'Nex directly. The first shipment of K'Nex was made to Toys "R" Us in early October 1992. Until 2001, K'Nex did not make sets containing licensed brands (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, and later launched the OCC (Orange County Chopper) line of toys in 2006