Visiting K'nex Headquarters

I was invited on a tour of the K'nex Headquarters in Florida!
K'nex is part of Basic Fun! I toured their offices and got to see some of the massive displays they had.
Thanks to Jon Gumble, Senior Product Designer for providing all the cool background info, and Maureen Dilger, Senior Director of Brand Marketing for helping to make this all happen.
#knex

[@Bengraziano]

I worry for the future of K’nex. I wish they would release something like the Screamin Serpent again to give the coaster builders parts for the future. There’s still a huge fan base of custom coaster and ball tower builders out there that K’nex just ignores. We’re gonna run out of purple plastic rail tubing one day.

[@LXW-Arts]

True, I shouldn't had gotten rid of knex thrill sets. Knex sets now are sad looking and boring re color designs

[@S.J.C._Entertainment]

I’m sure a dedicated fan would reproduce it if it becomes that scarce.

[@danieltriana4228]

K’Nex was my child hood. Forget Legos. I feel like K’Nex was for all us kids who wanted more of a challenge. Always wanted to be a thrill ride engineer bc of these. Brought me fond memories of my childhood. Thanks.

[@mistergears130]

it's great to see the company is still there :D

[@chanmacarno8503]

Thank you K'nex! My son and I have spent countless hours building so many projects. Such a great product ❤!

[@cynthiasealy573]

K’nex is STILL my favourite toy! Love it!

[@CoasterWriter]

K'nex is the best

[@hollowmm6044]

I’ve never been able to build anything😢

[@cynthiasealy573]

We Are Nerds I’m sorry, that sucks! I’ve always loved K’nex and Lego…but especially K’nex!

[@5MadMovieMakers]

Super neat!

[@thepebble6709]

Hello there again.

[@darreldash]

I really with that they’d still make sets with the cross tie type roller coaster track, I always loved building the those.

[@sairosekk]

Cranking up the big boys!!! From the commercial. I wanted that ball factory and roller coaster so badly. I only got the basic builder set.

[@joelynch6098]

I love building things with K'nex. Those coasters look AWESOME!

[@kummer45]

1:28 That clock is simply beautiful. I imagined it in all white k'nex pieces. Struts could be black if needed. This is strictly parametric design. It's way too beautiful.

[@brodypenn]

I had that knex clock tower in my childhood room haha! The batteries have been dead for a while and I’m too lazy to replace them but it does in fact work! I want to get back into the coaster hobby once I’m out of college.

[@CoasterWriter]

That's awesome! I never knew it used to be an actual set until this visit.

[@brexstudios8407]

had one to! I saved an entire summer for it

[@MaxPidgeon]

I remember when I got to visit the old factory in Philadelphia. Awesome to see the new factory and some of the new things K’nex is trying to implement like the replicas of famous man made structures

[@migsy1]

That’s so cool! Great video!

[@TracksideViews]

I used to build the heck out of some K’nex back in the day!!

[@thattransproto4510]

It’s either knex listens to the community and makes more and better coaster sets, or knex falls out and lego coasters become better. Knex coasters are the foundation of the community and if those fall out, knex may just be gone forever. It’s been almost a year since we’ve had a good coaster, I fear we may lose these incredible coasters forever. I hope this doesn’t happen, but based on the less and less coasters they’ve been making it may happen.

[@orionwatts9200]

I really want to do this for a living

[@narakusdemon.88]

Wow very cool video. You're really inspiring me to explore this new hobby.

[@CoasterWriter]

It’s a really great hobby! Hope you’re able to build some amazing things!

[@a-totally-random-person]

Glad to see the office exists, but will they release any new products? What are they doing with the brand?

[@Mateus.77]

Wow.. amazing

[@CoasterWriter]

Thanks for watching

[@AscenciaFL]

i love that this office is like 20 minutes from me

[@xzaz2]

But still we aren't able to buy specific parts. Please reintroduce the 'suitcases' again.

[@bricktimelapsebuilds]

i still own the classic ball machine :) and didn‘t know that knex still exists cause here in germany there are no sets sold for a long time. are there any replacements for the looping tracks of the classic ball machine?

[@make_it_look_easy]

dammm lucky, but did you ask them about any future coasters? they are so hard to find now days

[@CoasterWriter]

lol - probably the one of the first things I said "I want more rollercoasters!" We'll just have to wait and see if it happens though. This isn't any insider info or anything (just common sense), but the more social media presence our coasters have, the easier it should be for more coaster sets to sell.

[@ministrafe268]

First and so cool man

[@CoasterWriter]

thanks!

[@cyatophilumfr]

Amazing. All the questions I had are answered in the comments already.

[@knex_coaster]

Woooowww you're lucky

[@orionwatts9200]

0:12 i bought this wheel back in January

[@BrownR87]

Knex is my childhood. I would loooove to work there. Unfortunately it looks like one of those jobs where the office culture is critical to the job and remote work wouldn't be half as good.

[@eonbree8593]

it would be quite fun to work for em

[@themountainjake]

Thanks for sharing this! In your opinion, is K’Nex in good hands with Basic Fun? Are they going to keep expanding and innovating this “product line?”

[@CoasterWriter]

I’m no business expert, but I would definitely say yes. Knex feels like a valued brand within the company. And from the look of those new architecture sets (London eye, Golden Gate Bridge), it’s clear they are already innovating and expanding.

[@themountainjake]

@@CoasterWriter Thanks :) Your coasters are amazing, btw!

[@Anubalfer]

How are the connectors designated? Ask them the terms they use to describe them.

[@Goliath146]

The biggest flaw with the knex coasters are that it’s train slow down very quickly

[@williamworth2746]

Why did they stop making the large sets from when I was a kid? I guess kids don’t play with toys anymore

[@Ajs645]

I’ve never seen a video with no dislikes before

[@knexmaker1357]

Is this open to the public or did you get invited

[@CoasterWriter]

I got invited. These are the offices where they work.

[@BoulderWraith]

Wait knex had a head quarters?

[@orionwatts9200]

1:08 I also have this

[@AlansInventions]

Hey ! I am a knex fan myself and build random things on my channel. Would you be interested if I built an automatic speaker for you? I can probably 3D print the thing to fit with the knex connections.

[@mikeyg9958]

Next time can you tell them to go back to making fun amusement park rides with little people.

[@TeSoad90]

how do i still buy k'nex

[@CoasterWriter]

The K’NEX website online, Amazon, and for the classic K’NEX sets there’s always eBay and Facebook marketplace

[@doktaahwho8858]

Knex and Basic Fun never bothered to reply to my calls and emails. It's to bad really, I am working on devices that have the potential of generating green energy with K'nex.

[@kyle6525]

Would you be interested in receiving a K'nex toy gun I designed years back? It shoots 300ft fyi

[@SoccerPlaya706]

I'd be interested in seeing some pics/design for that! Sounds insane!

[@kyle6525]

@@SoccerPlaya706I'd get you a link to the design for sure but I'd love to get your opinion if I shipped it to you as well. I've shipped a few out in the past to other KZbin users years back. I happen to have one lying around and would love to get them to you to check out. You seem to have quite the engineering mind. Let me know :)

[@GoldChicken824]

basic fun ruined the company

[@Boys-R-Boys-and-Girls-R-Girls]

Should tell them to stop sellling those micro crap. They feel like they are knockoff china knex. Should be sold in a dollar store for $1.25

[@stevenbellll]

Hello sir. Are you in this video? The reason I’m asking, is because I need help. I have the ladder style track. I want the other style track without having to buy tons of separate tracks. I want to build a 2 in one coaster with both styles. I’ve tried Amazon and eBay, just to be ripped off. Is there a way to buy the track, and connectors separate? I’ll buy in bulk, or however. I’ll pay good money for it, and give you guys full credit. Knex has been so friendly on Instagram. Thank you so much! Please try to help me. I just took down my 8 foot tall coaster to make room for the new one. I’ll have to buy more sets to get the track if I have to, but please help me guys!!!!

[@CoasterWriter]

I'm sorry you've been ripped off. Other than eBay (which is what I use), I don't think there's a good way to get track pieces right now. I usually search "K'nex Crossties" and "Knex Tubing" to get good results on eBay. But we can always hope that one day K'nex bings back their online store where we can order pieces direct from them.

[@stevenbellll]

@@CoasterWriter thank you. I’ll have to try eBay again. The ladder style track is ok, but I want to build a really fast coaster with my son. The ladder style track is just so limited.