Press Releases

"Having just celebrated the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street and preparing to celebrate the 30th birthday of Sesame Place, we're more pleased than ever to provide quality building toys that let children engage with their favorite characters from an iconic television program," said K'NEX President Michael Araten.

Since 2007 K'NEX has been a proud partner of Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street. The K'NEX/Sesame Workshop partnership resulted in the first collection of Sesame Street-themed building sets for preschoolers.

The new K'NEX Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection building sets let children build Elmo, his friends and their neighborhood complete with a police station and ice cream truck. Elmo fans will also enjoy the new Elmo's Cowboy Adventure and Treasure Hunt Adventure building sets. Kids can build Elmo, outfit him for the high seas or the Wild West and with a push of his head hear Elmo talk. The new K'NEX Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection and Elmo's World Adventure building sets are available at Target, Wal-Mart, Toys 'R' Us, online retailers and on www.knex.com.

Seven Finalists Each Awarded $1,000 Savings Bonds

K'NEX Brands, one of the world's leading construction toy manufacturers, has chosen the winners of its 2010 K'NEXpert Search. The nationwide search asks kids ages 5-12 to submit original designs made entirely out of K'NEX pieces.

This year, three Grand Prize winners and seven finalists were chosen from three age categories. As Grand Prize winners, Alex from Waterloo, ON, Canada (5-6 year-old age group); Connor from Severna Park, MD (7-8 year-old age group) and Ian from Olympia, WA (9-12 year-old age group) will each be awarded a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond to be used for their education. The seven finalists, who will be awarded $1,000 Savings Bonds, are: Wesley, age 5, from Ottawa, ON, Canada; Connor, age 6, from Mentor, OH; Melissa , age 8, from Plano, TX, Lanie, age 8 and her brother, Kyler, age 11, from Amarillo, TX; Brendan, age 11, from Livonia, MI, and Luke, age 12, from Grosse Ile, MI.

The three Grand Prize winners will visit K'NEX headquarters in Hatfield, PA on December 1. As guests of K'NEX President Michael Araten the winners will receive their award checks, enjoy a lunch with K'NEX designers and take a private factory tour. Their award-winning models will be displayed at K'NEX headquarters.

"The K'NEXpert contest is the highlight of our year," said Araten. "K'NEX fans consistently surpass our expectations with their creativity and innovation, building elaborate works of art," he said.

One of those works of art is the Chinese Imperial Dragon built by 12-year-old Ian Culhane. At ten feet long and made of approximately 9000 pieces, the dragon is a colorful, larger-than-life K'NEX build. The creation was inspired by a trip Ian and his family took to Malaysia. The Chinese Imperial Dragon is Ian's second Grand Prize winning creation; in 2008 he was awarded a Grand Prize for his Belly of the Beast build, a Godzilla-type model with a working roller coaster.

The two other Grand Prize-winning builds are equally impressive. Six-year-old Alex Liao used his interest in Mars exploration to create his Eureka Mars Rover which includes an extendable arm and four independent rear wheels for stability. Connor Garmey, age 8, created the Amazon Adventure Park, a 2800-piece tropical themed amusement park that includes two roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, and a super spinner ride.

K'NEX is the world's most innovative construction toy company. As the winner of more than 200 international awards, K'NEX encourages youngsters to "imagine, build and play." The K'NEXpert Search is an annual contest that asks kids to design an ultra-creative, original model made entirely out of K'NEX parts.

"Being lucky enough to work in an industry built around children, supporting The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was a natural choice for us," said Michael Araten, president of K'NEX Brands. "Having witnessed the tremendous strength kids demonstrate as they face illness or injury, and the support they get from adult medical heroes, we are honored to support their work." The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has been ranked # 1 for pediatric cancer care by U.S. News and World Report and is the nation's largest provider of services for pediatric cancer patients. Funds raised allow CHOP researchers to focus on finding the best non-invasive treatments and ultimately cures for every type of childhood cancer. Children's Hospital is at the forefront of developing new therapies to treat pediatric leukemia and other blood disorders, brain tumors, sarcomas, retinoblastoma, and neuroblastoma.

The relationship, which names K'NEX Brands as the licensee for "do it yourself" customizable plastic construction building sets, combines the award-winning K'NEX building system with the exciting world of Orange County Choppers custom motorcycles.

The new Orange County Choppers line by K'NEX will be available April 2010, and will include scale motorcycle models with stylized chrome colored parts.

"We are extremely excited to be partnering with Orange County Choppers," said Michael Araten, president of K'NEX Brands. "Both OCC and K'NEX deliver on the promise of building and customization. This partnership will empower kids to imagine, build and play with creative K'NEX interpretations of the bikes revolutionized by Orange County Choppers."

"By partnering with K'NEX, we're aiming to expand our reach to a new generation of fans who may not yet have a license but certainly have the creativity and imagination that is at the heart of every OCC motorcycle," said Paul Teutul, Sr., founder of Orange County Choppers.

The new building toys will be specially designed for children ages 7 and up. All sets will come packed with K'NEX parts for age-appropriate building that stimulates imagination and creativity, as well as custom elements to give builders an authentic OCC experience.

About Orange County Choppers
Headquartered in Newburgh, NY, Orange County Choppers is regarded as one of the world's premier builders of custom and production motorcycles. The OCC shop is featured on American Chopper, a reality television series that chronicles the lives of the OCC crew as they battle impossible deadlines to create outrageous custom chopper creations. The show, which has contributed to the company's quick rise to fame, debuted on the Discovery Channel in September 2002 and in 2007, Discovery Channel's sister station, TLC, took over the broadcasting and it now airs on Thursday nights at 9pm ET/PT. For more information, visit www.orangecountychoppers.com

The relationship, which names K'NEX Brands as the licensee for building/construction sets in the U.S. and Canada, combines the award-winning K'NEX building system with the extreme action of Monster Jam. Feld Motor Sports, Inc., which owns and produces Monster Jam, is represented by 4Kids Entertainment serving as the property's master licensing agent.

"We consider Monster Jam to be a natural fit for our building system and are thrilled about this new partnership," said Michael Araten, president of K'NEX Brands. "This is a great addition to our portfolio of licensed vehicles because now fans of Monster Jam can imagine, build and play with their favorite monster trucks."

The new K'NEX Monster Jam line will be available July 2010 and will include some of the most popular trucks in the Monster Jam franchise, including Grave Digger®, Maximum Destruction®, Monster Mutt® and more. The building sets will be designed to capture the high-energy racing and freestyle action that make Monster Jam performances so entertaining.

"4Kids is thrilled to add K'NEX to Monster Jam's stable of blue chip licensees that already include Mattel and Activision," said Roz Nowicki Executive Vice President, Marketing & Licensing, 4Kids Entertainment. "The K'NEX team has such enthusiasm for the brand and the line is so innovative, we anticipate a great reception at retail."

Designed for children ages 5 to 12, a core audience for both K'NEX and Monster Jam, these new sets will provide a rewarding, age-appropriate K'NEX building experience.

About Feld Motor Sports, Inc. Feld Motor Sports, Inc. is the world leader in specialized arena and stadium-based motor sports entertainment. Feld Motor Sports, Inc. productions include Monster Jam®, Monster Energy® Supercross, AMA Arenacross Series, Freestyle Motocross, and IHRA® Nitro Jam®. Feld Motor Sports, Inc. is a division of Feld Entertainment, the world's largest producer of live family entertainment. For more information on Feld Entertainment, visit www.feldentertainment.com.

About 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. Master licensing agent for Monster Jam, 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: KDE), is a global organization devoted to the creation, development, production, broadcasting, distribution, licensing and manufacturing of children's entertainment products, with U.S. headquarters in New York City, regional offices for its trading card business in San Diego, California and international offices in London and Hong Kong.

Additional information is available on the www.4kidsentertainment.com corporate Website and at the www.4kids.tv game station site.

The relationship, which names K'NEX Brands as the licensee for interlocking construction building sets in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, combines the award-winning K'NEX building system with the fast-paced world of NASCAR racing.

The new NASCAR line by K'NEX will be available January 2010, and will initially include vehicles and accessories from one of the premier teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Hendrick Motorsports, and its popular drivers, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

"We are extremely excited to be partnering with NASCAR," said Michael Araten, president of K'NEX Brands. "Our focus has always been on delivering products that inspire creativity and build self-confidence - now we can build on those principles with a tremendous organization and give kids the opportunity to imagine, build and play with iconic toys from their favorite sport."

"The youth category is a very important focal point for NASCAR to reach," said Blake Davidson, managing director for licensed products for NASCAR. "The K'NEX building system allows kids to play hands-on with NASCAR in a way that will help connect them to our sport."

The new building toys will be specially designed for children ages 5 to 12 - a core audience for K'NEX construction toys and NASCAR alike. All sets will come packed with K'NEX parts for age-appropriate building that stimulates imagination and creativity, as well as custom elements to give builders an authentic NASCAR experience. Products will also be developed for preschoolers under the KID K'NEX brand.

About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport - holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in 20 different languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.

NASCAR consists of three national stock car series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), the Grand American national series, four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Conover (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City, and Toronto.