News and Views

2nd Annual Children's Charity Auction

The Second Annual CompuServe Phone and Money Card Children's Charity Auction is set to begin at the end of this month. I seem to have lost the exact date, but I plan on listing the lots here in this newsletter and on my web site. Last year's auction was a quite a success. The auction is organized and run by Jim Moran, the Section Leader of the Phone and Money Card Section. Phonecards are donated by members and issuers, there is a possibility for rare and hard to get cards. The winners write a check to either UNICEF or The Children's Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since your purchases are tax deductible, bid high and bid often! Again, the complete auction catalog will be included in a future mailing of Phonecards On-Line, possibly next week. It will also be available on the Internet (rec.collecting.phonecards) and on the CompuServe Phone and Money Card Section. Live bidding will end the auction only on CompuServe, so if you do not have a membership yet, now may be a good time to join. They can be accessed at:

http://www.compuserve.com

Kraft Update

Reports have been coming in that the Kraft Cards are being received. For those who do not remember or know about this promotion, Kraft offered a 45 minute phonecard with the purchase of $30 of their product. I still have my UPS's and receipt, I will have to mail mine out soon (I have been busy!) People report that the card is quite nice

UNOCAL Update

No new news, in fact, no news at all. Either people don't care or don't want to care.

PCM On-Line Update

January 15 is the target date for the Grand Opening. In the meantime, the site is up and running, although not all links may be present. You can access PCM On-Line at

http://www.pcmreport.com

Newsletter Notes

Subscription requests for this newsletter seem to be coming in on a daily basis. In the near future, I will begin a closed mailing list, more details on that later

Guest Writer

This week, Chris Inoue (cgi1@columbia.edu), who recently returned from Hawaii, writes about the state of the phonecard market there

With the growing exposure of phonecards, the fascination with cards from Hawaii has also increased, especially when they include a blue-chip name like McDonald's. After my two-week vacation to Hawaii (where I'm from), I have this report on certain popular issues.

GTE Hawaii:

I did not get a chance to visit a Phone Mart to check out if these cards existed. I have never seen these cards in person, but I hear that they have various nature scenes on them. However, I must say that there has been a great lack of advertising for these cards, since all the time I was home, I neither heard, nor saw, nor read about their existence.

McDonald's Pearlridge Puzzle Set (Sprint):

As far as I have seen, this is the most popular and sought-out Hawaiian phonecard issue. 1500 sets were issued, and only a percentage (I have heard 500 sets) were available with matched numbers in a collector's folder. This set was "America's Most Wanted" #1 in the January '96 issue of Moneycard Collector. The going rate on the set is about $140-160, but I saw a set (in folder) at a baseball card show for $95.

McDonald's Ala Moana (PCHI):

I know that there are two cards (at least) in this series, as I got the second series card for Christmas. The cards are stuck to a piece of paper describing the issue, and are sealed in envelopes with matching serial numbers. The cards were produced by Phone Cards Hawaii, Inc. (PCHI), and are individually numbered out of 2500.

McDonald's Pearlridge Holiday Set (Sprint):

Pearlridge McDonald's recently issued another four-card set beginning January 2nd. The cards are as follows: Ronald McDonald; Hamburglar; Grimace/"Mele Kalikimaka" (Merry Christmas); Ronald/Hamburglar/Grimace/Birdie/Fry Kids/"Hauoli Makahiki Hou" (Happy New Year). The cards were available individually, for $5 with the purchase of a value meal. They have 3 minutes from Sprint, and are individually numbered out of 2000. The significance of this set is the last use of "Pearlridge Phase I," since it is now called "Pearlridge Uptown."

McDonald's Hawaii "Non-Issued" (ITS/MCI):

This is a curious two-card set I picked up at a baseball card show. One card is green and shows ferns and a hula dancer; the other is blue and features petroglyphs and the King Kamehameha statue. The seller told me that they were never sold by the restaurant, but instead offered to dealers by ITS. Three minutes of phonetime is provided by MCI, and the cards are individually numbered out of 2000. A picture of the cards is in A&K Telecards' ad on page 34 of the January '96 Moneycard Collector.

Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts:

The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut company has an offer for phonecards. You need to send in receipts for a six pack of macadamia nuts, a bag of Royal Kona coffee, and a box of Hawaiian Treasures chocolates, all Mauna Loa brand, plus $2 to get one card. If you send for three cards, you get the complete three-card set (3 designs), plus a bonus card. No information is given on the carrier or phone time. Although this offer was widely advertised (newspaper, radio, and in-store display), I believe that these cards will be in short supply, since the required food products cost $25-35 (for ONE card), and the offer is only good in Hawaii.

Long's Drug Store (Talk N Toss):

Long's Drug Store, a Hawaii and California chain, is offering phonecards from Talk N Toss. The images vary, but all have the Long's Drugs logo; being typical Talk N Toss cards, they are thin laminated paper cards. Prices: $9.99 (30 min.); $27.99 (90 min.); $45.99 (180 min.).

7-11 Hawaii (LDDS):

I know that 7-11's nationwide have phonecards, but I think there are Hawaii-specific issues, since they feature local images. The 30-unit cards features the Hawaiian green sea turtle and is $10.99; the 60-unit card has the Hawaiian monk seal and costs $19.99; the 120-unit card shows the Hawaiian Nene goose and is $34.99.

Airport phonecards:

On my way back to New York, I saw a phonecard machine at Honolulu' airport. It was $20 for a card (four designs total), but there was no indication of phone time or carrier. Moreover, the designs were exactly like postcards I had seen. I believe that these cards were created by someone out to turn a quick buck, rather than a legitimate telephone carrier.

Times Supermarket:

Times Supermarket has put out two $10 phonecards, with time provided by Sprint and ASC Telecom. The designs are a tribute to Times' founding in 1949.

Overall, although Hawaii has spawned some very popular issues, such as the McDonald's and GTE Hawaii cards, the phonecard market is still in its infancy there. There was a severe lack of advertising in any form, and if I, an experienced phonecard collector who is *looking* for offers or cards, am not able to find them, how is the industry going to spread to other people who have no idea what a phonecard is? It is also surprising, because you would think that phonecards would be heavily promoted in Hawaii, since a good percentage of calls are long-distance. Right now the phonecard "market" in Hawaii is heavily geared toward collectors, and is far, far behind such places as New York or California. It is a market ripe for a phonecard boom, and it may be a good time to pick up some of the very first Hawaiian phonecards, especially the short-printed McDonald's sets.

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 Cohen