Themed Attraction.com

[DancinBelle]

Someone nearby was selling a barely-used K'Nex Corkscrew Canyon kit. I got it for $40, it's usually over $200. Has anyone seen/used one of these kits? Are they good practice in seeing how these things work, or is it more just for fun?

[Holly]

Ah, I wish I could tell you, dear... but I am not familiar with that product! One of those childhood connector-set toys (can't remember which brand) was used to mock up how Soarin' would work, and the final ride is pretty close to the mock-up... so that toy is probably useful... and at any rate, it's important to stay playful and curious at any age So don't forget to just have fun sometimes!

[Loric]

From a google search, it doesn't appear to be really "like" a real version of that ride.

Something more real would be a high-end marble run for general coaster physics and many of K'Nex other offerings.

[DancinBelle]

I do have the Skyrail Quercetti set, and that's really nice. When I purchased the KNEX set, I litterally had no idea what set it was til they handed it to me, and I figured it was worth a shot.

[Holly]

Loric, you mean like this K'Nex set?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1470510247443053036

;-D

I had a very small set when I was a child that was similar to this one:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/japanfan/a4b4/

Hours of fun and frustration trying to get everything to work just right...

[icandrawem2]

Holly that is hilarious, EVERY YEAR i asked for that marble roller coaster thing for Christmas and i never got it! I can remember getting the new sears wish book every year and seeing that thing in there...and i think it was only like 30 or 40 bucks...oh well i guess i still turned out ok even if i didnt have it...

as for the knex roller coaster, definitely took some time to put that one together..its neat watching it because it goes so much faster, relatively, than a real coaster, but if you slow the video down, the motion would look realistic. Kinda like how they can shoot miniature explosions with a high speed camera and slow them down and they look full scale.

[wokcreative]

My boys have a few different knex roller coaster sets and an i-coaster that is much like them. I don't think there is anything else even close to being more practical as far as trying new designs. They come with a few suggested ones and the boys modify those, as well as come up with their own - trying new things to make it all work even better ---> even things that probably wouldn't actually work in real life. They learn the limits of the cars/marbles for each design (and each curve, twist, hill...) until it works.

Have fun! and buy more pieces to add to your set for even more options.

(Holly, those links are great!)