Happy New Year! Yes, I'm still here, still looking for Promos, and working on getting the website right, that's why I'm sending this Alert. With the exception of a couple of Exclusives, there haven't been any new Promos, until now.

I wonder about the timing of this promo, since the sponsor also sponsors one of the NASCAR Winston Cup races, I looked for this car for weeks, before and after the race! I would have thought that a couple weeks before would have been a better time to roll out this Promo.

You can buy the car separately or get it free when you buy a pack of Sharpie markers. The Kurt Busch #97 Ford is a pretty good example of a Team Caliber die-cast. The only drawback I saw was, it is a "black-window" model. The graphics are excellent, the main sponsors - Sharpie and Rubbermaid, and associate sponsors - Little Tikes and Graco/Century are there. The Goodyears are labeled correctly, (one-piece plastic) race-product decals are behind the front wheels, and Kurt's autograph is over the window. The grey plastic chassis is nicely detailed, with only "Made in China" stamped on it. I didn't see any dates on the chassis or packaging, so you'll want to keep record of when you got this one, or in 4 or 5 years, you'll be like me (did I get this before or after the Auto Parts Hotwheels set?).

This sponsor first showed up on this car at the Martinsville Busch series race back in April. Actual photos from April show the Sharpie pen perfectly horizontal on the hood, the "finalized" art, and the promo show the pen at a slight angle. Except the nit-picking, missing product decals in front of both the front and rear wheels, different angles on the pens on the rear and behind the rear wheel - this is an excellent model.

I got mine at Office Depot, I didn't check discount stores like Wal-Mart. I could have gotten the less expensive 3 marker set, but I got a neat 8 color set. The car was not attached, so you could choose any set of pens, but you got the car right away, so we'll call it a "product-attached" promo.

I haven't had a lot of time to fix the website, but I'm working on it. Please bear with me and...

Keep your eyes peeled - they're out there!

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