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Phonecards

June 22, 1996


Issue 38

Phonecards On-Line is written and distributed by Alan Cohen


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News and Views

ITA Conference on CompuServe

The ITA (formally the US Telecard Association) held a conference on CompuServe this past week addressing top collector concerns about phonecards. It was a very active conference, at least with questions thrown at ITA Representatives Howard Segermark and Tom Zelinski. Over the past couple of months, the ITA has been trying to change its image as a collector and dealer friendly organization. Many active members on CompuServe have been openly critical of the ITA. The IPC (International Phonecard Collectors) group has been formed to better represent collectors, dealers, and small issuers (The organization is still working out important aspects such as its charter, etc.) While I am pleased to see the ITA pay more attention to collectors and dealers, I have two comments to address.

1) I'd like to see more concrete policies on collectors and dealers in the ITA. Right now, I am hearing a lot of "we'll talk with our collector members to find out what they want." While I appreciate an organization concerned about what its members want, there is a problem with this. First, there needs to be some direction from the top. Any organization that does not have a clear voice ends up not being very effective. Second, there are simply not enough collector members yet to gain a wide consensus. We need the ITA to let us know what they plan on doing.

2) The price to join. The $30 rate for collectors is in the reasonable range, but why charge $250 for dealers? There doesn't seem to be a reason, except to raise more money for the organization. A lower dealer rate would probably encourage more to join. There are a lot of collectors who are part time dealers, I am one of them. I have a tax ID, I collect sales tax and pay income tax, I've sold at shows. Am I a dealer? I don't really consider myself one, at least not a "real" dealer. Would I pay $250 or $30? I think the price should be $30 for everyone to join. The ANA (American Numismatics Association) charges $29 a year for people to join, regardless of their status in the collectibles community. You can be a collector or owner of a coin store. For that $29, you'll receive a monthly publication (over 100 pages each month), free borrowing privileges from their library, etc. You receive a phonecard from the ITA, a $250 phonecard for dealers. Granted that the ANA has 100 years and a multiple of collectors over the ITA, but the point is still valid. At a $30 rate, more people (especially dealers) might consider joining the organization, even though the membership at this point might not bring much added value. At $250, you'll see many dealers sit on the sidelines, and I don't blame them. I would not want to spend that money just so I can say I am a part of the ITA.

Representative Tom Zelinski made an analogy about the chicken and an egg at the meeting - Which came first? For this organization to work, people must support it first. While to a certain extent I agree with this, in the case of the ITA, the egg has already hatched and we have the chicken. After not paying attention to collectors and dealers, $200 dinners and more, the ITA needs more than words to show me that they are changing.

Classic on Shop at Home

The "deal of the century" - and so it appears. For $99, you could purchase a box of Assets '96. This alone is not a good deal, since I see these boxes advertised at $35 in Sports Collectors Digest each week. What is stunning is what gets thrown in with the deal:

It does appear to be quite a deal, and many collectors are purchasing. If I watched the broadcast, they probably would have had my credit card number too. It seems interesting that Classic would have to give away so much to move its phonecard product. Classic has a history of dumping product on tv, and at one point about two years ago said they would not anymore. While this is not exactly dumping, I am concerned. First, cards sold on tv programs have a stigma in the sportscard hobby of either being overpriced or not resellable. While this has the possibility of expanding the hobby to many, there might be some disappointment when people realize that a $100 classic phonecard is good for 100 minutes of phone time. With 10 cent a minute rates being advertised by Sprint on TV, it may not take long to realize that what they have is worth a lot less than $100. My second question is how did they pull enough $100 Ripkens for the promotion. I doubt these people opened case after case looking for the card. Did Classic print a new $100 card for the promotion? (This would be okay if they did) Did they overproduce the regular $100 card? I have more questions than answers.

Winston Cup Phonecards

Winston Cup phone card. The value is $2.00 (4 minutes) It costs $1.00 for shipping and handling with purchase of Nascar ice cream. There are 40 different ones. I received a Bill Elliott card just 8 days after I sent off for it. They are serial numbered (my was 1508 of 9500. They cards look good and come with some coupons for cents off the ice cream to keep up the habit. The form is on the ice cream box. Offer ends 7/31/96. Phone time expires 6/30/97. The cards are by Finish Line Collectibles.

From: Rick Rogers

Finesse Phonecard

Finesse Shampoo and Conditioner is giving out a 5 minute phone card in part of their sweepstakes. It is a nice plastic phone card that comes with specially marked packages. The phone card has the shampoo and a picture of a model in the front. When you make your first phone call you will hear a message to let you know that if you are one of the lucky winner in their sweepstakes. The phone card expires in 11/96. For more info, contact mchang@trivalley.com

From: Jason Black

AT&T Olympic Card

Today's paper (Sunday June 16) contained a special Olympic-related insert...and included in the insert is info. on AT&T Prepaid Calls phonecards. Two selections are offered - Selection A consists of one 50 unit card, Selection B consists of three cards, 10, 15 and 25 units. Each selection is available for $22.50 plus s&h. The cards are very attractive and picture U.S. Olympic athletes.

BUT, what appears to be the best part of the offer is that now through September 30, when you buy $22.50 worth of US Olympic AT&T Prepaid Calls, you'll get an exclusive 1996 Olympic Games collectible, good for 10 minutes of calling time for free. From the picture, the card appears to be a die-cut in the shape of "1996".

To order, call 1-888-964-8433 toll-free.

From: Jim Silva

Red RIBBon Card

Red RIBBon, a non-profit organization dedicated to AIDS/HIV Relief and education, have just released their first Telecard designed to raise funds for AIDS & HIV charities world-wide.

This is a very attractive 30 mil laminated card with 60 minutes of calling time on it. (full color front and back)

It is not available for sale!

An annual membership is available for a minimum donation of $35.

Members receive the following:

While anybody can become a member of Red RIBBon Telecard, the purpose of the Telecards is to produce an ongoing revenue for the research and cure of AIDS/HIV. Please be sensitive to this when calling.

They can be contacted during normal business hours (PST) at 1-888-733- 7422 (RED RIBBon).

From: Kevin Pirolo, ACMI

SCLC Doubles the Time

SLSC through a new agreement, without going into details, has been able to increase its existing 10 unit cards to 20 units. Cards that have been affected are:

These cards have now been converted to 20 unit cards. People that all ready own these cards, the remaining time on them will be doubled, up to 20 units.

Pricing on the cards will stay the same!

From: Tom Hunt

A note to Grapevine and HT Technologies

I've been following this situation closely over the past few weeks. I've received some feedback from collectors, and many were glad to be able to get both sides of the story. I've also received e-mail about people alarmed at a situation that has developed. Dan Tudor of HT publicly commented in rec.collecting.phonecards about something that Bruce Harmon of ACME Telecards was selling, which happened to be a Grapevine product. The comment was in poor taste, and Mr. Tudor acknowledged that. This situation is hurting the hobby as a whole. My recommendation would be to let the courts decide who was right and who was wrong. Trashing a product is like shooting yourself in the foot. We are all in the phonecard hobby together. If a producer goes under (like Telemax) it gives the entire hobby a black eye. We need to project a more positive image about collecting. I hope we don't see any more negative ads again

Harmon Bowden

Your very own phonecard.

I wanted to showcase two phonecards that were created by friends of mine. (Not available via e-mail, check out the web site for the pictures) The first is commemorating the wedding of Bruce and Sandy Harmon (Congrats Bruce and Sandy!), the second is commemorating a $2,500 win by collector Randy Bowden in Las Vegas. Both happy occasions! This would be an interesting subset to collect - vanity cards. As phonecard collecting grows, we'll see more of these cards. STS will actively promote these types of cards for a reasonable price. Most have small print runs, and if they are of people you know, there is definitely an added value.

As many of you know, next week is the National Convention. This means there will be no newsletter for two weeks. I will come back with a full show report, have a great two weeks. If you will be at the National, you can ask for me at Tony Craig's (TC Card Co.) booth. It will be my National "base"

Regards,

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.

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

2) Direct e-mail. Send a message to: phoneline@cardmall.com

If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, or find yourself with two subscriptions (It does happen), please reply to the ORIGINAL message that was sent to you - This will assist me in removing your name