backhoe loader

Hatfield, PA (Vocus) February 18, 2010

K?NEX fans can now add new coasters, construction machinery and cool mini-robots to their collections. This year, K?NEX will introduce Construction Crew Series 1 & 2, Amusement Park Series 2 and Micro-Bots to join the hugely popular Collect & Build Series. Building enthusiasts can collect all the sets in each series!

Construction Crew Series

Create vehicles that will make the earth move with the Collect & Build Construction Crew Series?! Construction Crew 1 includes an excavator, front loader, steam roller and backhoe. Each set comes with approximately 120 K’NEX parts that build a working construction vehicle, a K’NEXman, and accessories to add to the fun! By combining all four sets young builders can create their own construction site! Suggested retail price $ 11.99. Available January 2010

Crazy about construction? Construction Crew Series 2 adds even more fun builds including a bulldozer, giant excavator and dump truck to round out the series! Each set comes with over 200 parts to build a heavy-duty vehicle and a K’NEXman driver. Bring the bulldozer and dump truck to life with realistic motorized movement, and listen as the giant excavator makes real construction sounds. Combining the three sets lets kids build a giant house on their construction site! Recommended for builders ages 5+. Suggested retail price $ 24.99. Available August 2010.

Each Collect and Build series, like each individual set, provides a complete building experience which can be enjoyed alone or together by combining the series and the sets.

Amusement Park Series

Introduced in 2008, the K?NEX Amusement Park Series? has quickly become one of the most popular assortments in K?NEX history. Now the series is expanding with the addition of three new rides: the Corkscrew Coaster, Wonder Wheel, and Vertical Viper Coaster. All three are motorized for exciting, realistic performance! Each set comes with over 300 parts and everything kids need to build a working thrill ride. Combine all three for a complete amusement park at home! Recommended for builders ages 7 and up. Suggested retail price: $ 20.99. Available August 2010.

Micro-Bots Series

On the heels of last year?s popular Moto-Bots Series? new Micro-Bots are here. Each mini-robot ? Scooter?, Hopper?, Speedy? and Crawler? ? has over 100 parts and a motor that allows for unique mechanical motion features as each robot’s name suggests! Scooter scoots along, Hopper jumps, Speedy is lightning-quick on wheels, and Crawler creeps along on four legs! Collect all four and combine sets to build 2 larger robots ? then turn them on for head-to-head battling action! Recommended for builders ages 7 and up. Suggested retail price: $ 11.99. Available January 2010.

K?NEX Collect & Build series feature uniquely shaped packaging specific to each theme, and include step-by-step instructions to make building easy. All the Collect and Build series and sets work together and provide even more building fun as kids collect them all They are available at major retailers nationwide.

About K?NEX Brands

Founded in 1992, K?NEX Brands, the world?s most innovative construction toy company, was established to make and sell what has become one of the world?s leading integrated construction systems for children. Winner of over 200 international awards and recognitions, American-made K?NEX encourages youngsters to ?imagine, build and play.? For more information, please visit http://www.knex.com.

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Image by shawnogram
Backhoe, part of the construction crew.

On your vacation to the mountains this year, you’ll probably go skiing. If Colorado is your destination, you may take a snowmobile tour, a horseback ride, or hit the tubing hills. But only if you come to Steamboat Springs can you spend your day operating massive construction machinery in the country’s only heavy equipment play area.

Dig a pond with a 10-ton Catepillar Hydraulic Excavator! Push boulders the size of an ATV around an obstacle course with a Bulldozer! This is not your everyday experince. This is a whole new breed of adventure, one that is sure to leave you smiling for days.

When you arrive at the cabin, instructors begin with a safety briefing, dedicated to fully preparing each patron. Next they will go over the various controls that you’re about to wrap your fist- and your brain around. You are given a bright orange construction site vest to wear, a head-set radio and water to keep you hydrated. You’ll  have plenty of time to get aquainted with the cab of the giant machine, which you will find to be spacious, climate controlled, and comfortable. Then you head out into a jumbo sandbox that spans 10 acres!

Initially, it seems overwhelming; so much to remember, so much going on! Then, as you play this real-life video game, against a backdrop of white mountains, practicing and discovering, suddenly everything clicks. Most guests get their bearings within about 20 minutes. By the end, you’ll feel as though you’d be an asset to any construction crew!

The owner of this innovative adventure has created various exercises involving three different machines; excavators, bulldozers and skid loaders. Each participant gets his or her own work area. One drill has you carefully picking up and strategically stacking small boulders with the enormous arm of the excavator, known as the “boom”. Another challenge involves building an 8-foot ramp with a Bulldozer, driving up it and teetering on the edge, absorbed in the anticipation of crashing (safely) down the other side.

If you’e the ambitious type, timed challenges and team competitions have been designed to intensify this already exciting undertaking. Also, this adventure is suited perfectly for corporate team-building excursions. You’ll leave with an undeniable sense of accomplishment, and smile they will not readily fade.

This activity is fun, empowering, and ground-breaking…literally.

Veteran American diplomat Richard Holbrooke has died at the age of 69, after undergoing emergency heart surgery. Nicknamed ‘The Bulldozer’ he’s best known for pushing the US agenda in the Balkans during the Bosnian war. More recently, he became Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. But RT’s military contributor Colonel Yevgeny Khrushchev says American foreign policy in Afghanistan, especially in the fight against drugs, was itself in ill-health. RT on Facebook: www.facebook.com RT on Twitter: twitter.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5