News and Views

National Phonecard Show

A lively topic of discussion this past week was whether the hobby was ready for a National (and regular) phonecard show. If so, when, where, how, etc. Phonecard collectors probably feel more isolated than most mainstream hobbies. Coin, sportscard, and stamp collectors have stores, shows, even shop on television programs. Phonecard collectors have a handful of magazines, and the internet. There are very few retail phonecard stores in the US, and currently no phonecard shows for collectors.

Does this hobby need a national show? I think so. I realize that we are still a relatively small and geographically diverse group of people, but a show could really increase awareness of our hobby. One show that was being discussed is the Long Beach collectibles show. It is held three times a year in Long Beach, California. It is really a coin show, but there are other collectibles. Every show there are 3-8 phonecard dealers already there. It appears that this would be the perfect show to start a regular and national show, as it would have a built in crowd. There are a few problems though. This show is going to reduce the floor space, as there have been problems in recent years selling out the tables. This is a problem that could be overcome. The biggest problem is convincing dealers to set up at a show. It’s quite expensive when you factor in time, transportation, table fees, room and board, etc. This became very clear to dealers when they set up at the B&B show about a year ago. I believed this to be the first of many "national" collector shows that focused on phonecards. While the show was well promoted, it did not meet expectations for the many dealers that were set up there. The biggest problem was the lack of crowds at the show, and most dealers probably ended up losing money.

It’s quite a difficult thing to determine which is more important - Getting dealers together and hoping the public will show up, or by promoting the need for a show, setting one up, and hope that dealers will make it. While I would love the idea of a national phonecard show, I still think it may be a while before the idea is viable. I think dealers would get a lot of out showing up and making valuable hobby contacts and inter-dealer sales, while with the right amount of publicity, there will be some turnout. The Long Beach show in my opinion would be the perfect venue, because there is already a healthy amount of collector traffic, and there is some established phonecard presence. Time will tell if the Long Beach show will be the home of a National Phonecard show.

State of the Hobby

How is the hobby doing? I receive a lot of reports from dealers, collectors, issuers, etc. This along with my perceptions bring me to the conclusion that things haven’t changed too much in the past few months. We are now right at the beginning of summer, which usually means a slow down in all collectibles markets. People have other things to do over summer, such as take vacations, plant a garden, have a baby, etc. Collecting seems to be in the back of people’s minds. I don’t expect things to change too much over the next few months, either. I see a slow and steady increase in the number of collectors. I see people purchasing cards carefully and with a lot of scrutiny. Very few cards that are released these days (and the number of releases are down) require that people act immediately before the price increases. While seeing a card increase in value rapidly is exciting, especially if you own it, overall it is a bad thing for the hobby. I don’t think anyone should go into phonecards thinking they will make money. You should collect because you want to collect. Overall, I think the hobby is very healthy. The internet has definitely made it easier for people to find other collectors.

Chlor-Trimeton

I found a 15 min. free phonecard offer with Chlor-Trimeton antihistamine at the grocery store today. It may or may not be a new offer as I have been collecting such a short time.

From: Peggy Brown

Garcia Y Vega

A 15 minute prepaid phone card is inside 50 count boxes of cigars and miniature cigars (ed. note - I have purchased 2000 razors and lots of product I don't use, but draw the line at cigars - Yuck!) A red sticker is on the front of the specially marked boxes.

From: The Phone Card Shopper (EMCards@aol.com)

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.

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