Mario Kart K'NEX sets.

[simonjedi]

http://www.knex.com/mariokartwii/

So yeah...

Edited March 18, 2011 by simonjedi

[Peppermint_M]

AWESOME

I will be seeking out some of these sets Siblings and myself shall enjoy these

[Omicron]

AWESOME

I will be seeking out some of these sets Siblings and myself shall enjoy these

What she said. Minus siblings.

-Omi

[Geki Brick]

W00t. Now can they expand and make Nintendo characters sets?

[dr_spock]

Cool. It's one of fav my games on my Wii.

[RubeusHagrid]

AWESOME

I will be seeking out some of these sets Siblings and myself shall enjoy these

What she said. Minus siblings.

-Omi

W00t. Now can they expand and make Nintendo characters sets?

Cool. It's one of fav my games on my Wii.

You do realise people, that this is KN*X, not Lego

I don't know as much about here, but over at Brickset we don't talk about Clone Brands, such as M*ga Bl*ks, and we censor some letters from their name (!)

I don't know why you're getting excited. I would be if this was Lego, but it's just some cheap plastic Chinese rubbish, made to mimic the building brick we all know and love.

[Aanchir]

You do realise people, that this is KN*X, not Lego

I don't know as much about here, but over at Brickset we don't talk about Clone Brands, such as M*ga Bl*ks, and we censor some letters from their name (!)

I don't know why you're getting excited. I would be if this was Lego, but it's just some cheap plastic Chinese rubbish, made to mimic the building brick we all know and love.

First of all, K'nex is manufactured in the USA (my dad was actually watching a show on it just a few days ago). So don't be making up garbage about something you don't know anything about-- it just makes you look like an ignoramus.

Secondly, I'm impressed, as this is the first decent-looking use of the K'nex bricks that I've seen. True, they are still not too well integrated into the traditional rod-and-socket based structure of classic K'nex. And yet the end result is attractive, and the sets themselves maintain K'nex's spirit of functionality (the karts have motors of some kind; probably pull-back). It's nice to see that clone brands are finally treating their licenses with some dignity-- the Mega Bloks Halo sets and these Mario Kart sets are a good example, and certainly outshine the pathetic Narnia and Pirates of the Caribbean licensed sets that Mega Bloks used to release.

I used to love K'nex in my childhood, and I don't see the point of acting like it and other "clone brands" have no redeeming qualities. Indeed, if clone brands didn't release quality sets, there would be no incentive for LEGO to maintain the superior quality of their own products. Besides, we should try to appreciate our favorite toy brand based on its real advantages over other brands-- not out of blind faith that it's superior in every way to any possible competitor.

[Hive]

Indeed, if clone brands didn't release quality sets, there would be no incentive for LEGO to maintain the superior quality of their own products. Besides, we should try to appreciate our favorite toy brand based on its real advantages over other brands-- not out of blind faith that it's superior in every way to any possible competitor.

Amen to this. The level of blind and one-sided LEGO fanboyism on these boards sometimes astounds me.

[RubeusHagrid]

First of all, K'nex is manufactured in the USA (my dad was actually watching a show on it just a few days ago). So don't be making up garbage about something you don't know anything about-- it just makes you look like an ignoramus.

Secondly, I'm impressed, as this is the first decent-looking use of the K'nex bricks that I've seen. True, they are still not too well integrated into the traditional rod-and-socket based structure of classic K'nex. And yet the end result is attractive, and the sets themselves maintain K'nex's spirit of functionality (the karts have motors of some kind; probably pull-back). It's nice to see that clone brands are finally treating their licenses with some dignity-- the Mega Bloks Halo sets and these Mario Kart sets are a good example, and certainly outshine the pathetic Narnia and Pirates of the Caribbean licensed sets that Mega Bloks used to release.

I used to love K'nex in my childhood, and I don't see the point of acting like it and other "clone brands" have no redeeming qualities. Indeed, if clone brands didn't release quality sets, there would be no incentive for LEGO to maintain the superior quality of their own products. Besides, we should try to appreciate our favorite toy brand based on its real advantages over other brands-- not out of blind faith that it's superior in every way to any possible competitor.

Amen to this. The level of blind and one-sided LEGO fanboyism on these boards sometimes astounds me.

Ok, Ok, you win. I admit defeat.

But I'm still (privately) convinced Lego is by far better.

[autobrick]

These look really great; I will definitely pick up one or two of the Mario/Luigi bikes. I'm not a big fan of the Mario kart series - I'm more a sim-racer myself - but the bikes really capture the in-game look and feel.

The only downside is that this means Lego won't be able to secure a Nintendo license (of course, the odds of this happening were already poor).

But I'm still (privately) convinced Lego is by far better.

I'm pretty sure that everyone here prefers Lego to all other building brands. The allure of these sets comes from the license and the simple but fairly good design of the bikes (the carts are a different story).

[Peppermint_M]

Oh spare me.

I love all building bricks. In defrence to prevailing opinion I do not build (many) MOCs using parts harvested from other brands, but my custom figures have plenty of this and aftermarket product.

K'nex always eluded me, having been more expensive than Lego back in the day but with my own income, if these sets are in UK shops, I will certainly be buying some. If they expand to other Nintendo franchises, I will get those too.

In April I will be buying Doctor Who sets from Character, just last weekend I upped my total of Click Brick figures to 26 and tonight I will more than likely investigate some more sets from Oxford Toys or suchlike.

Compatible brands are a result of Capitalism, competition will drive quality in product and theme to avoid losing out to other manufacturers (Lego already loses on price these days, a huge consideration for many parents).

If you did some looking around you might notice that there is a bit more discussion on clones than on Brickset and that the construction toy TLG outright cloned was invented in the UK but then altered and developed by LEGO.

So please, do a little research

Disclaimer: These views do not reflect staff opinion, just my opinion. (Signed the user formerly known as Queen of the Clone Brands).

[Clone OPatra]

Although these look very cute from the pictures, I'd like to see what they look like in "actual form." I'm not attempting to bash it at all, but plenty of companies (including TLG) use CG pictures to make things look better than they really are.

I'd just like to see what these figures will turn out looking like in real life.

[vexorian]

Yeah, outside of CGI realm knex bricks don't have a great quality. It is so sad LEGO didn't get this license but despite of the figs that look more like Mario Kart statues than minifigs. The kart designs are underwhelming.

LEGO invented the LEGO system, interlocking bricks, sloped elements, wheels, minifigs and all those things. The original interlocking brick had just that and the interlocking was not optimal, besides that TLG didn't outright clone it, they paid for the original patents. This is something that clone brands did not do.

Capitalism seems to be failing us as clone brands focus so much on low raw prices but the quality/price quotient is much worse in most of them than in TLG.

Edited March 25, 2011 by vexorian

[Aanchir]

Yeah, outside of CGI realm knex bricks don't have a great quality. It is so sad LEGO didn't get this license but despite of the figs that look more like Mario Kart statues than minifigs. The kart designs are underwhelming.

LEGO invented the LEGO system, interlocking bricks, sloped elements, wheels, minifigs and all those things. The original interlocking brick had just that and the interlocking was not optimal, besides that TLG didn't outright clone it, they paid for the original patents. This is something that clone brands did not do.

Capitalism seems to be failing us as clone brands focus so much on low raw prices but the quality/price quotient is much worse in most of them than in TLG.

LEGO paid for the patents after they had already started producing the bricks. And keep in mind that while LEGO has a lot more attributes than Kiddicraft bricks did, at the time LEGO bricks were first produced they didn't have any of those additional features. They were just plain bricks, and almost exactly the same as Kiddicraft bricks. LEGO's acquisition of the brick was to be honest not something you can whitewash-- it was pretty much out-and-out plagiarism, and no purer in its intention than the actions of mainstream clone brands today.

I always think that, while Clone brands usually are taking advantage of LEGO products, let's not assume that they're all out-and-out plagiarizing the complexity of the LEGO building system. Most brands-- Mega Bloks is a good example-- don't copy much besides the 5/6 ratio inherent to LEGO bricks and the basic bricks that are based on that ratio. There are companies that do worse, and plagiarize LEGO and its clone brands alike-- recently, I've discovered the "Super Blox" line of toys by Cra-Z-Art which has no qualms about copying specialized slopes, windshields, and other parts from LEGO and their competitors. But companies like Mega Bloks and K'nex aren't really blatantly stealing any ideas that they didn't copy a long, long time ago. You might as well say that Windows is a clone brand of Apple because it stole aspects of its operating system from Apple long, long ago-- and few people would make the allegation that Microsoft is doing anything criminal by continuing to produce their Windows operating systems to this day.

Lastly, K'nex bricks, if anything, are an example of capitalism failing K'nex, not us. If traditional K'nex products (which I can confirm from my childhood are brilliant) had sold well enough on their own, the bricks would have never needed to be sold. But the fact is that when pretty much every building company other than K'nex could promise inter-connectivity with other brands (well, I guess Erector/Meccano still doesn't have a LEGO-compatible brick, but they're one of the few exceptions), there was no way K'nex's equal- or higher-quality products could compete.

[Omicron]

You do realise people, that this is KN*X, not Lego

Yes.........

Anyways who cares about the clone drama, lets just talk about how awesome Mario is. :O

-Omi

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I don't know, I guess I'm still getting used to regularly checking a forum but, I have seen a few members, and topics, getting in a bind with staff over topics of other brand stuff (i.e. MB: Halo).

Now don't get me wrong, Mario is awesome, ESPECIALLY Mario Kart (64; Yoshi). IT IS nice to see a relatively good quality brand taking a Nintendo franchise and putting out what looks like a good group of sets. I can't say I will be getting any of these but, I know a little about K'Nex, had a friend that had the old Ball Roller Coaster back in the day, and they are a nice quality building toy. That was in their original toy design. I have not seen K'Nex bricks. I am guessing, that in the last decade, K'Nex has started producing these bricks. Being the largest toy producer in the U.S. (seen same show Aanchir dad saw) and seeing how successful Lego is, that seems like a good move on their part. That being said, I do not think they will match Lego quality and fall somewhere in the ball park of MB. Its still great to see Mario in the building toy realm

[Plastic Nurak]

LEGO paid for the patents after they had already started producing the bricks. And keep in mind that while LEGO has a lot more attributes than Kiddicraft bricks did, at the time LEGO bricks were first produced they didn't have any of those additional features. They were just plain bricks, and almost exactly the same as Kiddicraft bricks. LEGO's acquisition of the brick was to be honest not something you can whitewash-- it was pretty much out-and-out plagiarism, and no purer in its intention than the actions of mainstream clone brands today.

The BIG difference is that product that a joint venture of Scandinavian plastic products manufacturers (LEGO, Prima and Swedish GEAS) proposed in the Scandinavian market (the ABB) was inspired by an experimental product (the Self Interlocking Brick) that during its market life never sold well because of the limits of the product (opposite to versatily of very Popular rubber-made Minibrix, the toy that used for the first time modern stud, although in the bottom of the brick).

Since the LEGO Mursten period (1953-4) quality and versatilty of Danish product became superior than the orginal one's. They're fact, not mere hypothesis.

Edited March 30, 2011 by Plastic Nurak

[Aanchir]

The BIG difference is that product that a joint venture of Scandinavian plastic products manufacturers (LEGO, Prima and Swedish GEAS) proposed in the Scandinavian market (the ABB) was inspired by an experimental product (the Self Interlocking Brick) that during its market life never sold well because of the limits of the product (opposite to versatily of very Popular rubber-made Minibrix, the toy that used for the first time modern stud, although in the bottom of the brick).

Since the LEGO Mursten period (1953-4) quality and versatilty of Danish product became superior than the orginal one's. They're fact, not mere hypothesis.

I don't see how that makes much of a difference, though. Does superior quality permit a company to use dishonest business tactics? Is it somehow more honest for a company to copy an unsuccessful product than to copy a successful one? If LEGO had purchased the patents before producing Automatic Binding Bricks, then they might be able to argue that they had greater dignity than their competitors. But as it is, can it really be argued that K'nex bricks or Mega Bloks are dishonest just because they can't match LEGO's quality? Seems a bit unfair, since that means that no competitors could ever feasibly compete with LEGO in that regard-- after all, LEGO is already a successful and well-known company that can absorb higher materials and production costs, whereas a competitor is almost invariably forced to begin with a lower-quality product.

I don't think that we should be saying any company can freely copy their competitors' products by any means. And I'm not saying that LEGO has figurative "blood on its hands" today for what it did over fifty years ago. But to treat LEGO like some sort of shining white knight of the building toy industry without acknowledging that their most successful product line began with a business strategy that wasn't much purer than the actions of today's clone brands (particularly the higher-quality brands like K'nex and Mega Blox).

[Captain Bayonet]

That looks an awful lot like the toddlers version of M#g@B%o$k*(I don't care what the official name is, it's still a clone brand of Duplo). And really? Mario Kart License? Really?

Just my opinion.

~Bayonet

[Peppermint_M]

Thank you for the valuable contribution there

Does anyone know when they will be in shops? There is a new toy store opening in town and I was hoping they might have some in stock. Or is it just in the US?

[Omicron]

Thank you for the valuable contribution there

Does anyone know when they will be in shops? There is a new toy store opening in town and I was hoping they might have some in stock. Or is it just in the US?

I haven't seen them yet. :/

-Omi

[Joey Lock]

You do realise people, that this is KN*X, not Lego

I don't know as much about here, but over at Brickset we don't talk about Clone Brands, such as M*ga Bl*ks, and we censor some letters from their name (!)

I don't know why you're getting excited. I would be if this was Lego, but it's just some cheap plastic Chinese rubbish, made to mimic the building brick we all know and love.

My Grandad adored K'nex in his later years. It was literally his hobby, like mine is Lego. He'd build large carosels with Knex that you couldn't with Lego unless you had 1,000,000 pieces or so. I still have some of his K'nex.

[Aanchir]

My Grandad adored K'nex in his later years. It was literally his hobby, like mine is Lego. He'd build large carosels with Knex that you couldn't with Lego unless you had 1,000,000 pieces or so. I still have some of his K'nex.

I myself had a large tub of K'nex parts during my own childhood, and when I was younger I played with them about as often as I did with my LEGO collection. These were the days when my dad had an ambition of setting up a children's museum in our hometown. To promote his idea to the community, he created exhibits that toured local schools. One such exhibit, an architecture-themed one, included tubs of K'nex and tips on replicating common bridge designs. Likewise, his space-themed exhibit featured LEGO Launch Command sets. Looking back down memory lane, there were points at which with a little outside pressure I could have just as easily become an Adult Fan of K'nex as an AFOL.

A possible reason that life didn't take me in that direction is that I wasn't very creative with K'nex. Being more technically-demanding than LEGO, I had difficulty turning ideas in my head into K'Nex models. And that could be part of the reason they've adopted a brick-based building system-- it's a lot easier for children's minds to comprehend, and it serves as an introductory step towards the more advanced products like roller-coasters, carousels, and Ferris wheels. Still, I wish they could have found a solution that didn't require copying the LEGO brick's design and simplifying the products to the point where you don't even get enough parts to make more complex models.

[simonjedi]

Thank you for the valuable contribution there

Does anyone know when they will be in shops? There is a new toy store opening in town and I was hoping they might have some in stock. Or is it just in the US?

Sorry for the bump, but I found a few sets in Forbidden Planet. (The Stoke one anyway.) They should be around the video game merchandise bit.

[Peppermint_M]

Sorry for the bump, but I found a few sets in Forbidden Planet. (The Stoke one anyway.) They should be around the video game merchandise bit.

Hurrah, I shall take a look in the Cardiff shop when next I visit the city.