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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gsalexan, post: 2022373, member: 24274&quot;]Here&#039;s the latest news from the BEP, gleaned from another conference call today. The platemaking process is going slow, particularly for the large card, so they have not been able to print proofs yet which will be used to market the cards. They are hoping to have something by around Thanksgiving. </p><p><br /></p><p>The subscription rate for all three 2015 cards will be $99; individual cards will be $75 for the large award certificate and $22-ish each for the small cards. The pulled proofs of the eagle card at the FUN show will be the usual $50, the large pulled proofs will be $100. The BEP marketing rep apologized that the larger card turned out to be more expensive than anticipated, but the production costs have also been higher than expected. </p><p><br /></p><p>They are also concerned that they may not have enough time to make many of these large pulled proofs before the show -- the plant shuts down over the holidays and the show is Jan. 8. Each card has to be individually inked and I know from personal experience how exacting that process is on just a tiny intaglio print. At best they will have 50 ready for the show (and 60-80 of the smaller eagle cards), but if things get bogged down these may be among the rarest cards the BEP has ever produced.</p><p><br /></p><p>Depending on demand for subscriptions, the run of standard cards will be 1,000 to 1,500. It would be nice if we could generate some higher sales numbers for this series. If that happens, I think the Bureau will be far more receptive to collector input in the future. This is probably the most transparent design process they have ever attempted -- I&#039;m very impressed by their outreach to the collector community. But if this project tanks in 2015, things don&#039;t bode well. To quote the rep: &quot;We&#039;re not making money on these cards. We&#039;re doing this to build collector interest.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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