News and Views

Vacation Notes

I’m back from Mexico. Besides getting ill toward the end of the trip, (I write this loaded up on medication) I had a good time. I’ll break this down to the two ports that I visited on my trip.

Catalina

I had not been to Catalina in a few years. What amazed me about my stay on this tiny tourist island off the coast of California was a complete lack of phonecards. Granted that most of the tourists probably come from Southern California, and the island is technically still Los Angeles County, and local phone calls are cheap. However, not a single store sold phonecards, not even bland generic cards you see at so many places. I was hoping to find a card that had a picture of the island on it, but no such luck. Still had a good time there though.

Ensenada

I traveled all over the city during my few hour visit, and I did see a lot of places selling phonecards. However, I was disappointed to see that every single store sold two varieties of the same design, with three different denominations. It is a pretty boring card, so I only purchased a few of them. I looked at every phone I could, and did not find any used cards either.

Overall, I was disappointed with my phonecard hunt on this vacation. My next cruise will be to the Caribbean, and hopefully there will be more to tell.

International Phonecard Collectors

The first issue of the IPC (International Phonecard Collectors) newsletter was mailed to members last week. For those who are going to attend the Chicago show in April, you should consider membership to this organization. Admission to the show ($15 per day) is free with membership. The cost is only $15 for the year, and includes a 5 Minute IPC membership phonecard. Additionally, you will receive a quarterly newsletter, and more. You can e-mail me for further information, just reply to this message or contact me at alan@cardmall.com

The Telephone Card Club of Great Britain

I received an issue of this club’s magazine this week. It’s published bi-monthly, and is 30 pages long. If you have an interest in British phonecards, or want another perspective on collecting, you may want to inquire about membership (15 pounds in England, 20 in Europe, and 25 elsewhere) contact the editor, Charlie Lockwood at 106415.1613@compuserve.com. Additionally, their web site is located at:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telephone_card_club

Bettie Page on Phone Cards

Vanished in 1957 at the height of her career, Bettie Page left us a look and mystique that has endured the test of time. Like Marilyn Monroe, her contemporary appeal has carried well into this generation. Whether it be the innocent pose of the girl next door or with the sultry expression centerfold, Bettie teased us with a unique and magical style. She has inspired artists and photographers from around the world and has been featured on more magazine covers than Marilyn Monroe or Cindy Crawford! "She is the model of the century, yet she remains one of its best kept secrets."

Argo City can not only help you to answer those questions but, can help you to reacquaint yourself with the "pin-up of pin-ups", Miss Bettie Page! Argo City is proud to announce their debut of the first officially licensed Bettie Page phone cards. Each Bettie Page phone card will include 5 units (minutes) of pre-paid long distance and can be used to make calls both foreign and domestic. Each edition will be limited to 1000 individually numbered cards. They have a suggested retail price of $8.50. There will also be a special signature edition limited to 100 of each image. These special signature editions will be hand-signed by Bettie Page!

Take a journey with Argo City and rediscover one of the most beautiful and talked about women of our time. For more information, call 1-800-345-9155 or e-mail kebarnes@csrlink.net.

Tuff Stuff Update

Jeff Burgess points out that the toll free number given for Tuff Stuff Collect last week (1-800-883-8779) is incorrect. As of press time, I do not have a correct number.

Post Office Update

Scott Nemeroff of Florida reported seeing four new designs at the local post office. "Two ($10 & $20) have a futuristic design, one has an eagle ($50) and the last has a basketball player shooting a hoop ($10)"

He writes "The clerks had little preliminary information (as usual) but I bought the basketball card anyway. The cards are now packaged differently and are partially exposed to allow them to be activated at the post office. The back of the card has a magnetic strip (for activation) and a scratch off for the pin. The card is also individually numbered with a mintage of 60,000."

Discover Card Offer

I received my Discover Card statement in the mail today and enclosed was an offer for a ValuePhone Card from Discover. The card has a picture of 2 zebras on it and has 60 units at $0.38 per unit, plus $2.20 for shipping and handling. Discover has an 800# set up for orders (1-800-561-3177) and members can call this 800# and order cards as gifts and Discover will send the card to the person receiving the gift.

From: Dirk Kringen

Pearson’s Card

A silver & green foil card is packed inside Pearson's Mint Patties large plastic containers. The card is for 3 minutes, time is by SmarTel, it expires 12/31/97 and has a scratch-off over the pin #. Look for an orange sticker on the outside of the shrink-wrap indicating there is a card inside the container. This one was purchased at Sam's Club in southern California. The card is packed in the top of the container, but isn't wrapped in plastic itself, so it may have marks on the white reverse from the candy and it will smell like chocolate!!!

From: Randy Bowden

Until Next Week,

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

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