Make:

@The NYC Toy fair 2008 K'nex had their line up of builder toys (favorites at Instructables) as well as some new efforts. There's now a line of educational sets, DNA - solar, stuff like that and a new line of carnival rides, very fun. I think K'nex's new additions are good a direction to go - project based with an element of "danger" the rides in real life aren't as enjoyable (depending on their safety) as actually building mini-versions.

K'nex is another group that is proudly made in the USA. I'll have a bigger post on this later, but with all lead and drug coated toys that came out of China - the USA manufacturers (I think) are in a good position to use their location and quality as an advantage - many told me it's now better and more cost effective to make things in the USA... that said, there were 20 or so "lead testing" companies scattered all over the place at the Toy Fair.

More:

• K'nex - Link.
• More photos of K'nex @ Flickr - Link.
• Giant set of NYC Toy fair 2008 photos @ Flickr - Link.
• MAKE's coverage of the NYC Toy Faire 2008 in one place! - Link.