News and Views

New Years Greetings

Greetings everyone, and I hope you all had a Happy New Year! As some of you know, I have been extremely busy lately, which was one of the reasons I took two weeks off from writing this newsletter. (Another reason being that many people were not around over the Holiday Break) We're back to business now, and I plan on publishing again on a weekly schedule.

Announcement

Sometime this month, the official announcement for a brand new Web Site will me made - The new web site will be called PCM On-Line. I have been working with Sandy Bashover, the publisher of the Phone Card Market Report, the largest monthly price guide for U.S. phonecards, to create a web site that will be The Center for phonecard collecting! A 1000 listing subset of the PCM Report that will change each month will be available free of charge to anyone who visits the web page! A much more detailed listing, along with a search engine to find values for specific cards will eventually be available for a monthly fee. Everything else at the site will be free of charge, including

A Live Chat Room
A message board for phonecards. We plan to start out with a U.S. and International board, but this will expand as the need arises.
A Breaking News Arena - Will contain hot news and be updated regularly
Current Company Promotions - We will list as many promotions that we hear about, and attribute the first person who sent the information in.
On-Line Articles from past PCM issues, plus other regular columns that are planned.
A regular auction sponsored by PCM On-Line
Dealer and Issuer areas - You will be able to view and purchase cards from among the best phonecard dealers and issuers
Links to other great sites
This newsletter will be archived at the PCM On-Line web site.

To get a sneak preview of PCM On-Line, visit us at:

http://www.pcmreport.com

Supermarket Promotions

At least two supermarkets had phonecard sales over the holidays. In Southern California, Ralphs Supermarket was selling GTI cards. They have a special card to promote their market. For a week or so, they were giving out a free $10 movie card with the purchase of a $10 grocery card. That is $20 worth of cards for $10, or in phone time, 12.5 cents per minute. On top of that, coupons were available for discounts. A friend of mine had a coupon and received both $10 cards for only $6 - A mind boggling 7.5 cents per minute!

Here in Central New York, a grocery chain called Wegmans was offering a 2 for 1 deal on Frontier entertainment phonecards. These were $10 cards. Although the rate is 50 cents per minute, it was nice to get two for one.

Finally, Dominics Super Markets (Chicago Area) are selling an AT&T Card with a Santa Picture. Prices are 4.95, $9.95 and $24.95 (I am unsure of mintage or price per minute)

Unocal Update

A few weeks ago most of this newsletter was focused on Unocal cards - These cards were advertised at a price much lower than the price most dealers had originally paid for the cards! There is still no news concerning this, an eerie silence. I'll continue to give a Unocal update until some news is heard

DPC List

Ron Abler, of CompuServe, is in the process of trying to define a list of cards called the "The Definitive Phonecard Collection." He states:

"I started the thread by asking members what might be the definitive phonecard collection ten or more years from now, given the benefits of hindsight then. My goal is to establish a guideline for serious collectors as to what might be wise to pick up now rather than *wish we had picked up ten years ago. The criteria for selection have distilled (so far) down to Historical Importance, Technological Importance, and Collecting Importance. I am soliciting *all nominations for consideration."

Any suggestions can be posted in the CompuServe Phone and Money Card Section, or can be e-mailed to me so I can forward to Ron.

New Pac Bell Cards

New cards that will be available starting January 15 from Pacific Bell, in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50. Print run unknown. Pac Bell can be reached at 800-600-0094

Angel Phonecard

Available at Target (I wish there was a Target in Central NY!) if you purchase a certain type of watch. 10 minutes of time on each card. Lenny Rapp is selling for $7 if you can not get to Target

Wise Potato Chips

Win a 10 minute sprint card with the purchase of a large bag of chips (Good-bye New Year's Resolution!) Not sure of the odds. There is also a second chance drawing. Write to:

Phone Card
PO Box 7756
Young America MN 55573-7756
Mail by 3/31/96. Hand print your name and address on postcard. Odds of winning 1 in 50. 20,000 prize cards available.

MCI Limited Run Card

A limited edition of cards called "Small World" series, designed by artist Sally Vitsky are available. Checkout Marketplace MCI at:

http://www.internetmci.com/marketplace/prepaid/ Renuzit Promotion There is an offer for a 10 minute Renuzit Air Freshener Phone Card. You need to buy two of the Roommates® air fresheners and mail in both UPC's with the order form and receipt. The order forms are on the back of specially marked boxes.

Distribution

Phonecards On-Line is available via:

1) On-Line on the World Wide Web. The address is: http://www.cardmall.com

2) Direct e-mail. I'll be setting up a mail distribution system from my internet account. For those who have not already joined this mailing list, my e-mail address is: phoneline@cardmall.com

Until Next week,

Alan