Crystalix Car Cubes clearly collectible

Tired of the same ol' same ol' in NASCAR collectibles? Looking for something new and different? How about something that would look great in your racing room at home, but would also be a nice complement to your office or workplace? It isn't that hard to find, folks. The answer is crystal clear, literally.

Las Vegas-based Crystalix Group International has hit the ground running with the debut of its Crystal Car Cube collection. One of the leading manufacturers and marketers of laser subsurface engraved optical-quality glass products, Crystalix is best known for its personalized three-dimensional engraved crystal featuring facial renderings or other three-dimensional images.

The company's unique new addition to the NASCAR collectibles arena is a driver-specific 2" x 2" x 3.6" high-quality lead-free optic crystal cube that showcases an authentically detailed 3D image of the featured driver's race car and replica signature via a subsurface laser etching process. Each cube sits on an elegant 3" mirror base.

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Drivers currently available in the Crystal Car Cube series include: Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Joe Nemechek, along with the No. 3 Richard Childress-owned car piloted by Dale Earnhardt. Expect more drivers to be added in time.

"We think we have the type of collectible NASCAR fans have been hungry for," said John J. Lais III, chief marketing officer for Crystalix. "We are one of only a very few companies around the world that has both the licenses and the technology to produce this type of collectible. We developed the proprietary software. We build the subsurface laser etching equipment. We have a full in-house group that handles research and development both here in the U. S. and in Germany."

The definition and clarity found in the Crystalix engraving process is unmatched. Images are actually burned inside the collectible, not on it. The high-tech procedure implements a high-resolution digital camera, a laser image scanner, and a laser that is configured together by a standard desktop personal computer, using its proprietary software and a Windows operating system. The laser image scanner converts images from the digital camera, a digital image, or a photograph into a three-dimensional or two-dimensional digitally formatted image that will be engraved into the center of the crystal by the laser.

"Crystalix is involved in about eight or nine core markets and channels of distribution," said Lais. "This is a revolutionary industry. It's still relatively young. Licensed products-particularly sports and entertainment-is one of our key focuses. Part of our company's vision has been to bring assets like NASCAR and the top drivers, teams and sponsors to the table so we could maximize our opportunities to put our products in the hands of consumers."

Crystalix made its initial inroads into NASCAR nearly two years ago. The company first tested the market with crystal collectibles featuring driver head shots.

"We started our involvement with NASCAR in January, 2003," said Dave Blakeman, Crystalix motorsports manager.

"While Kevin Harvick, Johnny Benson, Matt Kenseth and John Andretti were here testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, we took our equipment out to the track and did a 3-D scan of their faces. We then processed those images and burned them into crystal. The response from those four drivers was overwhelming. We knew we were onto something. We did the same thing again with more drivers when the guys came back for the Cup race in March. After happy hour we had 17 drivers lined up and they were just going nuts over our product."

Team owner Richard Childress was so impressed with the quality of the collectible that he invited the Crystalix crew to set up at the RCR Museum's open house in May of last year.

"We did renderings of over 300 RCR employees, as well as fans that came through the museum," said Blakeman. "We've had a great relationship with Richard Childress all the other teams and drivers we've worked with."

Plans call for Crystalix to expand its NASCAR presence with new product categories and exciting new twists to existing product lines such as limited edition, sequentially numbered pieces. A broad selection of collectibles will be offered at a variety of market levels, ranging from higher-end items for the serious collector to moderately priced pieces for the casual enthusiast. Several new pieces are on tap for the holidays, and you can look for more info on those items in NASCAR.com Collectibles in the coming weeks.