K'Nex, a Toymaker, Come Home to Roost

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James R Hagerty, A Toy Maker Comes Home to the USA; K'Nex brings production of snap-togetherbBuilding pieces back from China. Wall Street Journal, Mar 11, 2013.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 34062190251402.html

Quote:

"a huge U.S. deficit in the toy trade. In 2012, U.S. imports of toys, games and sporting goods, mostly from China, totaled $33.5 billion, or about three times US exports of such items.

"K'Nex still imports small battery-powered motors for its toys from China because it hasn't found a competitive US supplier.

Note:
(a) The Irish surname Hagerty is variant spelling of Haggerty.
(b) Hatfield
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield,_Pennsylvania
, a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, is ~25 miles north to Philadelphia.
(c) History. K'Nex Brands Limited Partnership, undated.
http://www.knex.com/About_KNEX/KNEX_History.php

Wiki:
(i) "The name is, presumably, a phonetic variation of connects, and is pronounced the same way."
(ii) "The first K’Nex Box was launched in the US market in 1993."
(d) Company founder is Joel Glickman.

The Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname Glickamn is the "elaborated form of Glück," which is "from Middle High German g(e)lücke ‘luck.’"   
(e) The report states, "Last year, K'Nex took over production and sales of Tinkertoys under license from Hasbro, which used to make them in China. Tinkertoys, a century-old product, were originally made of wood and later included both wood and plastic parts. To reduce costs and make U.S. production economical, K'nex last year switched to plastic for the remaining wooden spokes."
(i) Tinkertoy. K'Nex, undated.
http://www.knex.com/Tinkertoy/

Wiki: "created in 1914"
(ii) Hasbro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasbro
(The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island; In 1923, three brothers, Henry, Hilal, and Herman Hassenfeld, founded Hassenfeld Brothers, a company selling textile remnants; the company shortened its name to Hasbro Industries in 1968)
(f) Lincoln Logs. K'Nex, undated.
http://www.knex.com/Lincoln-Logs/
(g) For Baxter robot, see photo 1 of the report.