News and Views

Unocal Update

Some interesting news has come my way concerning this issue - For those who have not followed, there was a promotion with Unocal 76 gas stations in Southern California. With every fill-up of gasoline, a card could be purchased for a low price. Since the promotion was geographically limited, the price of the cards rose. A couple of months ago, an ad in a national phonecard magazine priced these cards at levels that were considerably lower than market value. There were a number of dealers participating, which suggested that the cards were dumped. This is most likely not the case though. They were probably sold for a higher profit to the dealers than they would have been if they sold through the gasoline promotion. There were 100,000 10 unit cards produced, and only 50,000 were distributed through the gasoline promotion. That leaves another 50,000 to be sold directly to dealers, which is very high in my opinion. The original purpose of this promotion was to expand phonecard collecting to non-phonecard collectors, and to support local athletes. LDDS, the carrier for these cards, donated 1,000,000 units of time for this promotion. This means that Brilliant Card Co. did not pay for the phone time. By selling the 10 unit cards to the dealers, they probably made a larger profit than if all of the cards would have been sold through the Unocal promotion. As far as I am concerned, I am disgusted by this whole matter and will place Brilliant cards very low on my list of cards to collect. There seems to be a lack of integrity here, and I am not surprised that we have not received any official comment from the folks at Brilliant.

USA Cards Goes Under

(By Tori Stone, Moneycard Collector Magazine)

USA Calling of Atlanta has formally ceased operations. This company should not be confused with USACard, a respected prepaid phone card issuer based in Denver. USACard, which produces the popular Pink Panther Cards and various coin-show cards, has been inundated with frantic calls from collectors who wish to be reimbursed for unused phone time. USA Calling issued cards that could be purchased at KMart, Meijer, Service Star and Coast-To-Coast Stores. The cards are now non operative. The United States Telecard Association is currently attempting to solve this problem by seeking companies to honor this phone time. Nine of the USTA member companies are exchanging non-working prepaid phone cards issued by the former USA Calling Company, and will provide USA Calling Card owners with live phonecards from a USTA member company. Further details will be available in the May issue of Moneycard Collector.

Brief Analysis by Alan

Nothing much more to add to this story. Because of the unregulated market, expect to see more companies merging or going out of business. I’m please to see that the USTA has stepped in to guarantee these cards, but I suspect for most people who have the cards they have no idea what the USTA is. What we need is some sort of information about the USTA guarantee when the cards are sold.

Large Card Show

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a large sportscard show in Fort Washington, PA (Philadelphia) - Since I am a sportscard collector, I had a great time. There was a disturbingly small phonecard presence at this show. I found a couple of the Upper Deck Mantle sets (all very overpriced, one dealer had a retail price of $200 on the set, he was selling for the discounted price of $90 with one of the cards having been used) and a couple of other cards. I picked a couple of $20 cards (Shoeless Joe Jackson and I believe Honus Wagner, but not much else. Classic Proline (18 packs per box, 1 phonecard per pack) was selling for $38. Most of the dealers at the show had a national presence, this is not a good sign for phonecard collecting. I'll be going to the National Convention this summer, there should be a larger phonecard presence there.

Small Card Show

I'll be selling and promoting phonecards at a small show in Binghamton, NY this weekend. If you live near the area, stop by and say hi on Saturday at the Metrocenter in downtown Binghamton.

Kit Kat Variety

(by Richard Heckbert)

Yesterday, I received yet a third variety of Kit Kat Calling Cards. Card is closer in size and color to 1st card but carries the same expiration date, 12/31/1996 as the second card, versus 7/31/96 for the first card. Are they making yet more cards? I'll send you particular on size etc. but you can see the cards on my web page http://www.tufts.edu/~rheckber and follow the link at the bottom of the page. Each card is in the same place in the front and back pictures.

Promotional Offers

HT Technologies Offer

HT Technologies is offering a free subscription to its full color newsletter and one of its collectable cards with a Coca-Cola or other corporate logo. Simply send your e-mail address, snail mail address, phone and fax number (optional) to htsales@htti.com

Rite-Aid

Rite-Aid Pharmacy give away a $10 phonecard (issued by Liberty) with any new or transferred prescription from other pharmacies. Available at some stores only. Expires Mar.9.
From: Lei Zhang

Until Next week, Happy Collecting,

Alan

Distribution

Phonecards On-Line is written and distributed by Alan Cohen. It is a weekly newsletter devoted to phonecards - Current news, viewpoints, and reviews of new issues. It is distributed free of charge, and available two ways.

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