ON THE COLLECTORS' BEAT: IS TED WILLIAMS CARD CO. GONE?

     According to Norm Cohen of N.Y. NEWSDAY, "all signs point to
the fact that" the Ted Williams Card Co. is out of business,
"although there have been no official confirmations."  Cohen
notes their MA-phone number has been disconnected.  Tom Cosentino
of Lapin East/West, who represented the card company until they
stopped paying their bills:  "It was a niche product that fell
into the black hole of a bad market" (N.Y. NEWSDAY, 4/16)....The
"Ring Leaders Phone Cards," inserted in Topps Stadium Club
baseball Series I, will also be inserted in Series II due May 15.
At a rate of one per 96 packs, the 13 different cards each
contain three minutes of long distance phone time
(Topps)....NASCAR's SuperTrucks will be featured in an 80-card
set from Finish Line Collectibles, which will also include phone
card inserts (Baltimore SUN, 4/16)....In his upcoming book, "Card
Sharks:  How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby Into a High Stakes
Billion Dollar Business," Pete Williams examines Upper Deck's
"metoric rise" under President Richard "Mac" McWilliam (MacMillan
Publishing).