SWEET! New Knex Coaster!

Hello Coaster Fans Who Are Starting To Ponder What To Do In The Off Season,

I just stumbled upon this neat little contraption that looks like a lot of fun and has a good price:

http://knex.com/customer/product.php?productid=16763

looks cool, would be one insane ride in real life though lol, especially that helix on the left with the car on the ouside.

I dunno, it looks to unrealistic.

As opposed to all the other realistic coasters built out of tiny plastic pieces.

It looks neat but what I don't like is that the parts aren't compatiable with the other kits (this kit has smaller pieces). If I ever see it for under $30 I'll probably pick it up.

YAWN.

It looks like a good toy. Their biggest one yet.

I got it but I'm waiting to buy another set so I can build the coaster I really want to build. The smaller parts are easy to work with (although I'm not sure why it was necessary to use smaller parts and make it impossible to swipe parts from other sets aside from the fact it makes you buy more sets) but I don't like the track, which comes in sections instead of separate ties and rails. This means that corners can be a little tricky and the 90-degree banking is pretty much a given because the two rails will always be an equal length.

That is pretty cool. I have the others, and I've enjoyed building them. Of course, once you got CoasterDynamix, it's hard to go back!

Same here, I enjoyed my Screamin Serpent and Rippin Rocket sets. Not very realistiic but they're fun and the price is right.

Rob - Since you have it, can I ask you a question? I am interested to know if the track can support a marble? I use Quercetti skyrails and marble runs to run through and interact with my K'nex roller coasters, rides and structures. (The record was last summer at camp when we had a marble run, with 2 elevators, that was 36 feet long and 5 feet high)

I like the Qurecetti stuff but find it has some limitations...

1) The track ends break too easily

2) You can't order the extra parts you need

3) All straight tracks are the same length. All curves are the same too. (2 of them are 180 degrees)

4) When you bend straight track to make a loop, it tends to stay that way after you take it apart.

All in all - I Love K'nex, but I am a bit of a traditionalist. Their first coaster, the track with the orange cross ties, is my favorite. I started to get turned off by some of their rides when they began using more and more cardboard back drops.

When we combined thier bridge building set with the marble runs, we had a beautiful display. *** Edited 9/14/2006 2:57:18 AM UTC by Richie Reflux*** *** Edited 9/14/2006 11:25:05 PM UTC by Richie Reflux***

I've been collecting Screamin Serpent sets for years. Also been a part of this site (http://sscoasters.net/) for a few years. These kids have some generous parents and/or some amazing talent. This ride is probably one of the better recent builds--http://www.sscoasters.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=5678

The new model is very much a step in the wrong direction for me. Fun I'm sure, but backwards as far as realism. And all new pieces?!? Gotta start another collection if you really like them. And I haven't seen any other micro part sets either.

Richie - any pics of your marble creations? I'd be very interested in seeing them.

-danny

Are you talking about running an actual marble on the track? Because if you are, I don't think it'd be possible. First of all, the tracks are spaced pretty far apart (maybe an inch or so) and you'd need a pretty big marble. And even if you did have one, the track ties are right in line with the rails. But maybe I'm not getting the right mental picture of what you're talking about.

I'm with Danny- got any pics?

I have a few photos from last year's Lights On For Education display (My educational event that I publically invited everyone to last April).

I basically ran the skyrail track over the Knex Bridges in order to simulate traffic. We have all seven of the major bridges and a few minor ones.

I mentioned this to K'nex and they sent a wonderful representative to see what I did and he was kind enough to show my children some rides that were "under development" and he allowed the little kids to make and take Knex butterfly key chains.

Most of all, he was perfect for the event. He acted very professionally in front of all of the children (Grades K - 12) and their parents.

This year I will try to do the same and add some Rokenbok or a Coaster Dynamix. My budget is $500. It isn't much, but when you combine it with the other grants I've won over the years...it starts to add up. The big one from this summer was at a day camp. I will let everyone know as we get closer to the date next year.

Anyway...I am not sure how to share the photos. I can E-mail them privately with a regular E-mail address, but I don't know how to link them the way that many of you do. I also don't know if our Coasterbuzz messages can handle photo attachments.

Here is the link to the skyrail:

http://www.quercetti.com/

When you get to the sight, look up skyrail. INstead of using strings like a cable-stay bridge, I just placed teh track over the Kn'ex bridges and it worked very well. *** Edited 9/14/2006 11:38:05 PM UTC by Richie Reflux***