The response to the giveaway last week has been tremendous. The 30 original Japanese cards are long gone, with other cards being awarded in their place. Thanks for the kind notes, and thanks to the couple of people who actually sent me cards!
Finally, lately (see story below for an example) I have been completely overwhelmed with e-mail. In the past, I have tried to respond to all messages, but I find that getting more difficult to do. My "REPLY NOW" mailbox is overflowing, I may never catch up! I appreciate all comments from my readers (Over 1200 direct subscriptions now) and want to keep receiving them - If I do not respond, it is not because I don’t think you have a valid point or appreciate your letter. Thanks for understanding.
1) The phone rates for STS cards are not 60 cents per minutes, as previously reported and circulated elsewhere. Several people wrote to say that a 30 minute card costs $10, while a 60 minute card costs $20. This brings the price down to 33 cents per minute, not 60 cents. From my perspective, a user card should have a rate of less than 40 cents per minute. Anything more makes the card too expensive to use. I am willing to pay more if the card has a neat image, but I can’t imagine why a card should cost that much when so many others cost less. 33 cents falls in line with many other cards.
2) STS Investigation - This information was copied from a web site dedicated to fraud. Outside of this venue, I have not aware of any problems with STS - Other Network Marketing companies do have problems, and if STS problems are reported in the media, they definitely will be reported here. This information was included to emphasize that many of these companies do have problems. My main concern with STS was based on two things. The first was the high rates, which no longer is a concern. The second is the closed marketplace that has developed because of the nature of MLM’s
What I mean by closed marketplace is that STS seems to be outside the phonecard industry, and the prices that STS cards can sell for on the secondary market are elevated in my opinion. While this is an example of the free market at work and I would not want to interfere with this (I am a stronger believer in free marketplace, capitalism, etc. - I was accused of being a socialist by someone!) I feel I have the right to comment on this activity. It is very easy to get carried away when a product is climbing in price and get involved. Historical examples include collecting rookie cards for baseball cards in bulk (now unheard of, and cards that sold for dollars sell for cents if they can sell at all) - Another example is the silver market climb in 1980. Silver that sold for $50 an ounce in 1980 can barely break $5 in 1996. Take inflation into account, and people lost big! The golden rule among collectibles, phonecards included, is collect what you want. While I would be not be telling the truth if I said that I did not put an occasional card away because I thought it would be worth more later, I have never purchased anything that I would be unhappy with should the price decline.
Finally, I am now aware that there are STS sites on the internet (My newsletter and comments appeared to have been passed around on them) I do not know where they are located though! Can someone out there who knows send me information on how to access this? I’m sure I would find lots of valuable information there, in order to learn more about STS.
Noting the growing number of other successful retailers, both regional and national that have been adding prepaid phonecards to their product line, Northwest, retailer of home improvement materials and products Thurman Industries, is producing a utility card in a variety of denominations to be sold in 15 of its chain stores. The graphic design for the card was done in-house by Thurman’s Art Dept., with design and content parameters for the back of the card provided by Gazelle. (Card is pictured at the Web Site) The cards will be in stores in time for the holiday season. These cards are available in 15,30,60 and 120 minute denominations. Phone Service provided by LDDS. Cards expire 12 months after first call, and 5700 cards were produced. For more information, contact Vince Porteous of Gazelle at (800) 726-5995 or (206) 935-3515
Naturally, each and every Coke collector dreams of owning a the world's first Coca-Cola phonecard. These historic pieces were produced by a Japanese bottler in 1985 and can rarely be found. Very few pieces remain on the collectors market.
Fortunately, more and more Coca-Cola divisions and bottlers discovered the telephone card to be the ideal advertising medium in recent years. The "telephone voucher" is not only a very practical device, but it also serves the producing entity, when featuring an attractive motif such as the cute Coca-Cola polar bear. Such phonecards have become a desirable prize in raffles and promotions, an extraordinary present for staff members and business associates, and as a lasting keepsake to remember a special event. Last but not least such telephone cards are in tremendous demand as a collector's item.
Through this year (1996) more than 1,000 editions featuring the Coca-Cola motif were produced in over thirty countries worldwide. If you add all the Coke-related cards the number goes up to about 1,200. Not one single motif can be found as often on telephone cards as Coca-Cola.
The more editions are on the market, the more people get a chance to learn about them. Many of the people who first held a Coca-Cola card in their hands started collecting them spontaneously. With a growing number of collectors and growing popularity, the number of editions grows. For quite some time now, the Coca-Cola Company, its bottlers and business partners have not been the exclusive producers of Coca-Cola phonecards. Licensees came on the market with attractive and often inexpensive editions. For as little as $4 anybody can call a Coke telephone card his own. Even non-collectors have been known to take advantage of deals like that. The "Coca-Cola/Sprint Phone Card Cels" editions (I & II) produced by the American licensee "The Score Board Inc." are very popular because of their appealing motifs and their moderate price.
In order to be able to buy truly rare cards the collector will have to have very deep pockets. You may have to pay up to US$ 10,000 for one single rare card. However, there can only be a market price for those pieces that are actually traded on the market. Reality is, that most of the top rarities are in collector s hands and do not appear on the collectors market at all. Therefore there is no determinable price limit on the upper end of the scale.
Today, there are unfortunately also editions on the market that are not worth collecting at all. The black sheep of the business learned fast that you can make big money with Coke cards. Unlicensed or even falsified cards are produced and sold dally and the producers can only be called impudent. Here s an example: It is a fact that there has not been one single genuine edition in Russia, Malawi or Zambia. Nevertheless, many collectors were offered cards from at least one of these countries. Unfortunately, most ripped-off buyers realize far too late that these cards are nothing but worthless plastic with a color print and that every penny spent was wasted.
Now, how should you start your personal collection? How to separate the "bad" from the "good" cards? What is the realistic value of a particular edition? How can you avoid being talked into the purchase of unlicensed or even falsified cards? Now, finally the collectors can find all the answers and guidance in the "Phone Card Catalogue Coca-Cola". It is not only the first Coca-Cola telephone card catalogue, but also the first comprehensive telephone card catalogue that is exclusively concerned with only one single motif. On 256 pages the collector will find detailed descriptions, realistic market evaluations and full color prints of more than 1,000 Coca-Cola telephone and value editions from all over the world. Due to the fact that there is a growing interest among Coca-Cola collectors to include loaded "non telephone" Coca-Cola prepaid cards like cinema, vending machine, railway, cash cards into their collection, these cards were also included and described.
During the work on the catalogue the author Ilonka Giessen was not only supported by the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, she also received very valuable information from many Coca-Cola divisions, Coca-Cola bottling companies, Coca-Cola licensees, telephone companies and card editors from all over the world. The result of her comprehensive research is a catalogue that features almost every card edition issued so far and provides solid information on their background such as history, pricing, mintages and much other production information.
$24.95 (plus $5 shipping in U.S.) Contact James Moran at 70007.2253@compuserve.com for further information
Frontier anticipates the partnership will generate in excess of $100 million over the life of the agreement and will represent significant incremental revenue opportunities for both companies. The agreement positions both companies to take a leadership role in the rapidly expanding prepaid category. Frontier and Score Board now offer their customers the most comprehensive and exciting licensed offerings in the prepaid industry -- featuring athletes such as Cal Ripken, Jr., Troy Aikman and top Winston Cup drivers.
Frontier will have the exclusive right to distribute phone card products using the names and images of various athletes with whom Score Board has personal service contracts into retail outlets and other avenues of distribution and provide telecommunications services in support of Score Board's phone card programs. As a sign of the partnership, Score Board has also agreed to nominate a representative of Frontier to its board of directors.
As part of the agreement, Score Board currently markets phone cards bearing the likenesses of over 200 professional athletes and phone cards featuring the logos and images of various professional sports leagues and entertainment properties. The cards are currently distributed through 7-Eleven stores, television shopping networks and other leading retailers. Frontier will provide telecommunication services and marketing support for these phone card programs.
The ad continues to explain about the easy, hassle-free calling from American Express, the prepaid advantage, peace of mind in case of emergency and the reliability and security of their phonecards (if your card is ever lost or stolen, Am. Exp. will replace the amount of calling time remaining on your card.) Customer service reps available 24 hours. every day.
The PhoneFund phonecards are available in $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 values. They show a very small sample of the cards and the first card is a $5 card with a beach scene and palm trees, it is hard to see the rest of the cards beneath this one. The newsletter also states they are available at All Offices ( in my area). So, I would hope they are available at every AAA office. It doesn't say you have to be a member to purchase them.
From: Theresa McCandless
From Jim Silva
From: Theresa McCandless
From: Dave Berbert
Until Next Time, whenever that may be,
Alan
2) Direct e-mail. Send a message to: phoneline@cardmall.com
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