With more than 5,000 new toys on the market this holiday season, the toy experts set about to take the guesswork out of parents' holiday shopping by sorting through the mountains of new products to find those whose play value, educational merit, cost, age appropriateness, and safety make them the best choice. Among the toy experts rating this year's toys were Child magazine's "Best Toys of the Year"; Family Fun magazine's "Top Ten Toys for 2001"; Oppenheim Toy Portfolio; Parents magazine's "Hot Toys for Holiday 2001"; Working Mother magazine's "Top Toys?Kid Tested, Working Mother Approved"; Canadian Toy Testing Council; Duracell Kids' Choice Awards; and Today?s Parent magazine's "2001 Toy Odyssey."

"Of the toys that experts reviewed this year only a select few were honored with three or more awards," said Chris Campbell, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for K'NEX. "We were delighted to learn that our new family fun construction set, Screamin' Serpent Roller Coaster, and lumberyard and train themed building play set, Lincoln Logs Sawmill Express, number among that group. Screamin' Serpent Roller Coaster and Lincoln Logs Sawmill Express each won six top awards from the toy experts."

K'NEX Screamin' Serpent brings the thrill of roller coasters into the home with this new set that constructs the world?s smallest real roller coaster. This ultimate family building activity constructs a 6 foot long, 3 foot high replica of a "steel-style" roller coaster that boasts 23 feet of twisting and looping track. Its motorized climbing action and aerodynamic rail-hugging cars that trigger an infrared sound sensor perfectly simulate real coaster sounds and riders' screams! All provide hours of building fun for both kids and their parents. As one child reviewer said, building his Screamin' Serpent was more fun than his trip to Disney World! Already flying off retail shelves, the K'NEX Screamin' Serpent is on track toward becoming the company's best selling new product to date. (Suggested Retail Price: $89.99)

Lincoln Logs Sawmill Express, this holiday season's most innovative new pre-school building play set, enables children to build a frontier lumberyard and railroad. Featuring interactive components, including "Magic Splitting Logs" and a log-splitting station (complete with realistic sawing sounds), this highly entertaining, pre-school role-playing toy enables kids to become junior lumberjacks! After assembly, kids can ride the rails on the four-car Sawmill Express Lincoln Logs train-traveling through the woods to chop down trees, pop off tree tops, split logs, and build a lumberjack's shack. This positive building experience from the Lincoln Logs classic brand combined with the popular pre-school theme of trains makes the Sawmill Express a winner among today's young builders. (Suggested Retail Price: $69.99)

Founded in 1992, K'NEX Industries was formally established to make and sell what has become one of the world's leading integrated construction systems for children. Winner of over 150 international awards and recognitions, K'NEX seeks to build young minds with its exciting product line and critically acclaimed K'NEX Education program. For more information, consumers can visit www.knex.com or call 1-800-KID-KNEX.

Lincoln Logs� is manufactured and distributed by K'NEX Industries under license from Hasbro, Inc. Originally invented in 1916 by John Lloyd Wright, son of the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Lincoln Logs�, which enjoys its 85th anniversary this year, has proven to be a simple, yet entertaining, entry-level building system for generations of children.