To choose one favorite card is very hard. Very hard indeed! I've been collecting for about 6 months and have about 200 cards. Quite a few of them are near and dear to me for various reasons. I guess the one that really stands alone though is the 1st Cracker Jack card. It reminds me of my grandmother. She use to treat me to a box of Cracker Jacks when I would visit her. Even when I wasn’t there though, she would gobble them up herself and save the prize for me. She had a drawer in her bedroom devoted to nothing but Cracker Jack prizes. Yes, I would have to say that's my very favorite card. That's a part of what card collecting is all about...collecting the cards that mean something to you. Whatever the reason...
Here are some other random entries:
I probably don't have many phonecards in comparison to some of the other collectors, but each one is very special to me. My favorite, however, is a Steiff teddy bear card that was sent to my by an Internet friend in Denmark. She got the card in Singapore. With Steiff being a German company, and my living in Michigan... Well, with the two of us being 'net pals, it just seemed appropriate that so much of the world was covered in the process of my getting this card. It was the first card I had ever seen, and, as such, was what prompted me to begin collecting.
By Debbie Kesling
Althought I can not describe my favorite card by its issuer, quantity produced or even face value, I am excited about it. You see, my favorite card is always the next card that I will add to my collection. Anticipation for that next card keeps me searching for it. I might find a specially marked package that contains a free phone card with an item I buy at the store. Or, in the Sunday newspaper, there might be a mail-in offer of a free phone card for sending required proofs of purchase. Or maybe I'll win one in a contest found on the computer. Who knows, maybe my favotire card will be AT&T rec.collecting.phonecards.
By Betty Megyesi
One of my favourites in my phonecard collection is the card which started me collecting phonecards -- a Swedish issue showing Santa Claus with 6 reindeer and the Auroa Borealis in the background. In May of 1992, while at World Columbian Stamp Expo in Chicago I was looking for additions to my growing Santa Claus collection of mainly stamps and covers. I was visiting the various Post Offices asking for unusual items with the Santa Claus image. Besides stamps, one is apt to find books, pins, postal stationery and coins. At the Swedish Post Office, I must have asked the right clerk, the right question, at the right time. She went to a shelf at the back of the booth and brought me a Santa Claus telephone card. It meant the world to me -- it opened a whole new area to my Santa Claus collection.
By Kathy Ward
Story behind the card: One horse, one rider, one hundred miles in less than one day. The Sixth World Championship for Equine Endurance held in Kansas, saw athletes from the US and 15 other countries compete for the Gold. The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) recognizes six equestrian sports for international competition, one of them being endurance riding.
The art was designed by Mark Muto specifically for the 1996 WCE, and depicts the pony express era. The logo ties in with other materials designed for the event. This is the first collector card ever issued for this event.
Face Value: 15 Units
The card has 10 minutes of time by WorldCom and only 500 were produced!!
200 free cards will be give out next week by Chen's rep, Tom Binder of Binder Fine Arts at the New York Art Expo, Jacob Javitts Center, Booth #2553.
[Please remember: This is not a free offer from Grapevine Telecards - but a chance for phonecard collectors to get a piece of art on a phonecard by attending the Art Expo] .
From: Jeff Waltcher, Grapevine Telecards
Greetings from Colorado. More information on our phonecard club. We started in Oct. of this year, for our first meeting we asked Larry West Jr. of Finish Line to help get us started, he sent some of his companies promotional materials and let us buy some of his phonepack foil cards at a club price in exchange for a list of participants. Fair deal! we had 7 people come to this meeting and 8 others who could not make it but wanted to join and be on Larry's list. Our Next meeting we asked Mountain America to come in a show us what they were offering, This is great, they came in with the marketing program they were doing for the Colorado Avalanche, it is a 6 phone puck package that is mounted on a miniature hockey stick. They offered our club a great price and chance to get on the order list before it was opened to the public. We tried to have a meeting right after the first of the year, but most of the members could not make it so we canceled until mid march. In March we are hoping to get one or two of the people form USA Card to come down to Colorado Springs and present their company. The club is set up so that anyone can come in and buy ,sell or trade phonecards for any company or country, we have a very diverse group from the STSers, to guys like me, what ever that is! Anyway, our hope is to have the next meeting 3/19/97 pending confirmation from Paul at USA, if he can't make it, we will go ahead, maybe with just a open trading table.
To contact Mike, write to him at doutek@ai.com
New rec.collecting.phonecards Phone Card Contest
Look at this cards unique image in the Phone and Money Cards Section Library on CompuServe & on the Net at http://www.cardmall.com/recphone/ and name four of the six cards on the card front that are flying through space and win one AT&T rec.collecting.phonecards. To win, call one of the three listed dealers by February 10th with your answers. We have cards for the first five winners. Dealers will note the time and date of your calls.
"Sprint was the first long distance carrier to introduce prepaid calling cards into the U.S. market, and we have long been recognized as the industry leader," said Marlene Waltz, Sprint's director of prepaid card sales and marketing. "Achieving this milestone solidifies that position and attests to the value that both marketers and consumers place in using the leader's product. It also clearly indicates how the demand for prepaid cards continues to grow dramatically."
Offering comprehensive programs for both promotional and retail markets, Sprint's overall prepaid card business saw triple-digit growth in revenue and points of distribution in 1996. Sprint has devoted considerable resources to its prepaid calling card business, and is the only carrier to operate fully- dedicated divisions in both the promotional and retail markets.
In the promotional market, the Sprint Prepaid Foncard has blazed the trail making prepaid calling cards the industry's hottest promotional product today. With major promotions for companies such as The Gillette Company, Anheuser- Busch and Norwest Corporation, the Prepaid Foncard has gained a reputation as an innovative and reliable marketing tool for Sprint's business customers seeking to build brand awareness, stimulate product trial and bolster sales. Sprint's promotional prepaid card growth eclipsed the industry's double-digit growth rate.
In the retail market, the Spree Prepaid Foncard has transformed the way prepaid cards are marketed in the retail industry. Sprint supports the Spree brand through major consumer and trade advertising plans, and offers quarterly promotions that have included: Mother's Day and holiday promotions that reward Spree customers with extra calling time; the Spree NFL prepaid calling card launched last fall with a built-in Super Bowl(TM) sweepstakes; and, coming up, the Spree Dante's Peak promotion in conjunction with the MCA/Universal Studios' film due out in February.
To commemorate the record-making 100-million mark, Sprint will produce a limited-edition prepaid calling card in 24 karat gold. The customized message for the commemorative card will be recorded by Sprint spokeswoman Candice Bergen. Sprint will give the commemorative card to a limited number of its promotional and retail customers. Consumers can order the regular cards through the Sprint Prepaid Foncard Web site at www.sprint.com/prepaidpromo.
Also as part of its 100-millionth card celebration, Sprint will introduce a $100 Spree Prepaid Foncard, the industry's first $100 retail prepaid calling card. The first $100 card produced will be the actual 100 millionth prepaid card. The $100 Spree card is available to select retail stores nationwide.
The most recent industry-wide inventory of prepaid cards on the market, according to the August 1996 issue of Telecard World, reported an average of 2.9 million prepaid cards distributed by phone card companies in 1995. Sprint distributed in excess of 32 million cards that year.
Submitted by John Rodgers
From: Fred Reiner
That’s all for this week,
Alan
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