Can someone explain the silver fish to me?

Basically, it's as you might imagine. The silver fish ate their way through a number of boxes and packs. Many of the cards were badly damaged and ended up in the garbage. But their was still a number of packs and boxes that were untouched that were sold after the find in Sports Collectors Digest. I can't remember the prices, but I remember the advertisements. Maybe someone still has a copy they can share.

He offered me a copy of this book and I declined and I told him I read the first one. While talking with him another guy came up and he asked him if the wanted a book. The guy said I guess. Then Al asked if he wanted his autograph and the guy told him Hell no. His ego was so big that it did not faze Al one bit. Interesting guy.

mint
 

I once owned a 54 B Willie Mays from that TN find,..

..card was interesting... it actually had a few NM corners..no creases..but had gum stains..more then gum stains..more like hardened gum stuck to it /kind of lumpy ...a corner eaten away ( silver fish/ bugs ? ) ,staining...it was a sight !

I got a copy of this book. Maybe I will put it up on the Net54 LIVE auctions if there is any interest in that sort of thing. It is a good read.

I was told he would buy sets, pulled the cards he wanted then at the end of the show would leave the rest on the table for other dealers to have for free.

On the flip side I ask my employee to take him a complete Topps poster set, he came back with $350.00 cash. I Ask him to take my another set Rosen yelled "the first set wasn't mint" then Alan supposedly threw his soda at him ?

Al Rosen's briefcase
 

I hope I'm not repeating myself....

Rosen carried around that briefcase stuffed with cash. That was his signature.

He was always after Frank Nagy, who was basically the godfather to Detroit area collectors. Nagy was a genius.

His line to Nagy was, "When are you going to invite me to your house?" This was presumedly so he could root through Nagy's collection.

Nagy, who really was the smartest guy in the room in those days, would reply,
"Bring more briefcases."

I love that.
lumberjack

Thanks, Al
 

Judging from most of the people who knew or met Al Rosen, he was a "Dick". I didn't know him, and am generally in favor of people being good and kind to each other, and not being a "Dick".
I do have to give him credit for one thing. He made it as well known as possible that baseball cards were valuable and worth something. So many card collections have been thrown away. How many got saved because of all the publicity he brought to the hobby ?
For that alone, all card lovers should thank him.

Around the time that he died, I heard many stories about him. Some good, some bad, but the one thing that was consistent was that he was a larger than life personality in the hobby.

I know it's very easy to say, Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and we often look on the past with rose colored glasses, but as someone that didn't experience it, I would kill to see what the hobby was like back then. Not even for the prices of the cards, just to see what it was like. I've heard stories, especially about the AC show in 1989, or what the National used to be like!

All I have to say is amazing Book. Great stories and sharing on this thread.
Keep it all coming.
Love the history of baseball and love the history of the hobby

‘Youse guys’ was new to me when I traveled back east, but y’all have no idea how common ‘y’all’ is round here



On that note: How many board members here have ever even been to New Mexico?????

Taos is beautiful. Great restaurants, art galleries, locals. But anticipate a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive from Albuquerque and drink plenty of water on the drive.

The main problem with Rosen is that he modeled behavior for a generation of card dealers. Loud, arrogant, obnoxious, Aloha shirt, Rolex-and-pinkie-ring, wannabe wise-guy style assholes. Any concepts of being cordial to people and not behaving publicly in a way that would shame their mothers went right out the window because of Rosen.

I had one such experience with a wanna-be Rosen at an Anaheim show in the early 1990s where I'd set up to deal. A guy standing between our two tables asked me if I had a card for sale, I did, and he bought it. I think it was all of three bucks. My neighbor got apoplectic over the sale because I answered the guy's question but he was looking over his right shoulder at the other guy's case when he asked it. This Rosen clone (let's call him pig-man in a mumu) ran over to tell me that I had stolen his customer, then threatened to "break me" and shook his fist at me. Well, pig-man was maybe 5'10" on a good day and twenty years older than my mid-twenties 6'4" 220# (at that time) self, so when I stood up to 'discuss' his position he quickly scurried back behind his table and shut up for the rest of the afternoon.

The only other encounter I ever had like that was in a casino at 7:30 in the morning (I like to play craps early; my morning craps, if you will). I was leaving the casino walking past the bar area wearing my favorite Yankees shirt. Some middle-aged, terribly drunk moron weaved out of the bar holding a metal bottle of Lite and drawled "Don't come in here with that crap on" and tapped his bottle against the logo on my chest. He then looked up and realized he was a welterweight picking a fight with a heavyweight, and said "even if you are about 6'9" and 300 pounds. Uh, sorry about that." For the record, I was 6'4" 275# at the time.

I posted this in a t206 thread a while ago but relevant here, too --

Back in the early 1980s, I was a 12 or 13 year old and obsessed with cards. My dad got into the hunt, and he would place wanted ads in the local (Bay Area) penny savers. Had a number of really good finds, and of course things were cheap. Those were the days.

One night we went to visit an older teenager in Atherton or Palo Alto - fancy neighborhood, fancy house. He told us that his dad was Alan Rosen, and he would give him cards when he saw him. (Divorced, and we can read whatever we want to into that transactional father/son relationship.)

The kid had a sense of the value of things but was still selling at reasonable prices. What I remember buying - this was a very long time ago - was a 1969 Super Reggie Jackson (still a favorite card, it’s so pure) and all four T206 Cobbs, in a nice 4-window screw-down. (99% sure they were common backs.) We paid him $225 for the four. The green one was a bit rough, some creasing in it, the other 3 were what we would have called excellent back then, or vg-ex+. This was around 1983 or 1984. Give or take.

I should have kept the Cobbs. I did the local shows and priced them at $700 and they just sat there. It took a couple years to sell them, at $700.

David

I think we all had cards we wished we would have back. If I could pick just 5, I would be retired in a mansion somewhere in Belize.

Yes, Taos is very nice, however Ruidoso is far better, but still about 2 1/2 hours from the airport in Abq. Someday, the rest of the US will discover this gem of a state: great weather, awesome golf, awesome food, job expansion through the roof right now, and extremely low cost of living and RE prices....

Actually, not sure what I’m thinking w this post, please stay away and I’ll keep getting while the getting is good. :D

Rosen was a character
 

I knew Al Rosen for many years. I think he treated me well because I was a longtime monthly columnist for Baseball Hobby News. He once told me he considered baseball cards to be like loaves of bread - he sold them as quickly as he got them.
At one national show I watched him yell at a few of my friends. So I decided to play to his ego. He wanted to buy 8 vintage Topps “sub-sets” I had. I told him that one of the dealers he yelled at had already agreed to buy the sets for $1,500. So Al whipped opened his briefcase and counted out 18 of his $100 bills. I pretended to hem and haw for a few seconds, then agreed to the deal. After he left, I gave both of my dealer friends a $100 Rosen bill for letting me use their names in “playing” Rosen for his bad behavior. I wasn’t the only one who “played” Rosen because of how he mis-treated my fellow collectors and dealers.

Back in the day at a SF show, he handed me one of his business cards (the size and style of 1952 Topps) as I walked by his table. I later heard he got really upset when his request to grade one of these cards by PSA was turned down.

The next year, I approached him and asked him what he could offer for this Gem Mint card? It was his business card in a PSA 10 Gem Mint holder (from a holder I carefully opened with homemade flip). He was genuinely ecstatic, shaking my hand and thanking me for taking the time to do such a kind thing.

He then offered me 2 different books, which I asked him to sign and he added a nice note as well. I was aware of all the stories about him as well as his SCD ads and auctions, but each of my in person experiences were both positive.

Agreed.
He use to do a lot of Wilmington, Massachusetts shows at the end(In my neck of the woods).
I saw him as a ambassador for the hobby like Stan Lee for comic books(good or bad). One thing we can't take away from him was he was a great businessman as there were single years he would make more money than Mantle, Williams and Mays did in their whole careers. That is mind-boggling to me.

Mr. Mint also got into Star Wars action figures and Swarovski crystals(for his wife) in the late 1990s. These two hobbies didn't know what to make of him. The Star Wars action figures guys were less polite than us baseball card guys.
He tried to buy up all the Star Wars key action figures.
This guy was a character, but very interesting. A shame he died a few years ago. Would have loved him to live longer just to get his thoughts on how the baseball card market became even bigger than ever during the COVID CRISIS.
btw. I am neutral about the guy. I found that his book is very informative and find him a very interesting character.

That's honestly a really cool gesture on your part.

Home of the Isotopes.

I once brought him a 1962 Topps Baseball set to his office that looked great. He wanted it to be perfect. He said to me he was there to serve the top 0.5% of the collectors who had to have perfection. He said it was like legalized drugs!


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With the PSA10 card collectors he wasn't wrong.

Rosen, New Mexico, Early Nationals
 

I met Al several times in the late '80's and early 90's. He was a showman and could certainly be rude, at times. Later in is career he seemed to mellow, somewhat. At the last show I saw him in KC, we had a good conversation and I sold him a couple of cardboard signs.

As far a New Mexico is concerned, I have been to Santa Fe and Taos. Loved both them. Great state.

As for earlier Nationals, I attended two in Chicago, one in St Louis and I think two in Arlington. All centered around family vacations. The shows were great and prices were pretty much in line with what you would see elsewhere. Crowding wasn't an issue. At one of the Arlington shows, we were eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant when Muhammad Ali came in with his group and sat at a table near us. When he got up to leave he came over to our table and gave my young son and my brother's young sons signed copies of his religious pamphlets. That just wouldn't happen, today, with an athlete of his stature.

Al Rosen
 

Money makes the world go around

Completely agree.

They need to be the Dukes……and get back with the Dodgers. That was an awesome relationship during its run.

If you still have that set I am interested . . .

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At the first minutes of the 1987? National in Atlantic City, Mr. Mint blew out the remaining damaged boxes and packs of 1955 Bowman for $20 apiece, but he would open each one and scream out the price of each card he encountered. I was about 100th in line to enter the show and there were already screaming people around his booth about 20 booths from the front of the hall. I ran down there and threw $20 to one of his assistants who handed me a great pack. It was one of very few that were not opened by Rosen himself. My wife was not happy that I wasted $20 on that pack. It's still unopened and a Robin Roberts is proudly showing through the back wrapper.

I have been rock hunting in Rock Hound State Park in Deming - Found petrified wood and opals.

I camped in Las Cruces and came face to face with a mountain lion at night - he ran away when I shined a light on him.

I was preparing my lecture on the Confederate Invasion of New Mexico in 1862. Visited La Mesilla, Fort Craig, Valverde battle site, Glorietta Pass.

Visited the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe to see the exhibit on that campaign including the skeletons and relics of several Union soldiers found near Glorietta. Also went to Forked Lightning Ranch, formerly owned by actress Greer Garson, which was the site of the Union HQ for the Battle of Glorietta Pass.

Went through Truth or Consequences.

Visited Gila Cliff Dwellings National Park - late in the day so did not go into the ruins.

Camped in Raton in the rain.

How is that?

Three super-sized natural wonders of North America (that I have visited): Canadian Rockies between Banff and Jasper; Grand Canyon; and Carlsbad Caverns. Wind, Jewel, Luray -- all spectacular, but Carlsbad is an order of magnitude larger. Hard to get to, but worth the detour.

Of course your experiences were positive! You made it all about him.

Ummm...nailed it.

I only met him once. I was in college and we had stumbled upon a 1930's find which included 1935 National Chicle Rockne AND Nagurski. Neither were mint but both were part of a collection from a farmer in my area. I was really, really excited to meet him at the Strongsville, OH (I think) show in early 1992 because we knew he would likely be the guy to buy those from us. Without getting into it too deeply, we did not end up doing a deal with him and the Sports Illustrated image I had in my mind of him (idolizing, that is) was forever tarnished and I was left with a very sub par experience.

It wasn't so much that he didn't buy the cards from us. Some of his comments made me question his ethics surrounding cards. I'm sure there are many, many great stories about Mr. Rosen. I just don't have any of them to share.

Yes, I've seen the bobbleheads. I think I still have a couple of the Rosen Beanie Baby style bears in a box somewhere that he was throwing out at a National in the 90's for advertisement.

I never met him in person, but I enjoyed listening to his perspective on the hobby during the 1990s. I remember having to walk by his table which was always at the front of the entrance of the Nationals. His eyes scanning all the collectors to see what they were carrying. He most certainly was not a big fan of third party grading. You could tell that he was a gruff individual in public. You could hear his conversations with other hobbyists from afar even during a busy collector's show.

He was a true pioneer of baseball cards in a time when people didn't believe in them. This hobby is filled with overzealous individuals who simply don't want to root for individuals who are known (popular) or outspoken (good or bad) but Mr. Mint was good at what he did and you gotta respect the hustle.

One of my favorite Mr. Mint stories. The uncut 1957 Topps find!
 

. 280 uncut Sheets of 1957 Topps with 400 Mantles!

I have no knowledge of what happened to these sheets but it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up getting chopped, which is a real tragedy if that did happen as sheets from the 1950's are so much rarer than a stack of 400 Mantle cards.

A lot of the finds that Mr Mint and others of his ilk found back in the day would have been better off being found by almost any person other than them... If I remember the story I heard correctly he found a bunch of 1949 Leaf Short-Print boxes and then [ridiculously] opened all the packs looking for Paige's cards! They survived that long only to be opened!!! Can you imagine what those packs would sell for still in their unopened state? I personally feel the hobby would have been better off had he never ventured into the baseball card world.

Here is a single pack that somehow survived Mr Mint opening the packs...
https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=44356

Just a ridiculously stupid thing to do to open all those sealed packs from 1949!!!

Hiked Philmont Boy Scout Ranch for week+. Beautiful country. Went thru Taos during that trip. Then I got my MA at Adams State University and visited Red River and drove around Northern NM looking at all of the trailers of people waiting for aliens. That was a cool day trip. Then I went to Four Corners and put a hand in the corner of the state.

As for Mr Mint, never heard of him before today!

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I honestly never thought he was an expert on Baseball. cards, expert on cash yes, he could take big chances on cards he knew nothing about. Just my opinion. He bought a rare Mickey Mantle card from me, 3 years later told me it was fake. Ignored him , that was it.

According to True Mint, he bought four boxes. He opened two, because he really wanted the Paige card, but he didn't get a single one. He sold the other two boxes to Jim Copeland who opened them and got THREE Paige cards! OUCH!! :eek::eek: I would have been so pissed if that had happened to me! Anyhow, Rosen wasn't the only guy who opened these boxes. I think anyone would have opened them. Remember, this was over thirty years ago.

Not true.

People were collecting unopened material & people were paying large amounts for unopened material even then (not to todays standards by any stretch but still a pretty good premium.) 1949 Leaf unopened packs were impossibly rare even then so it was a huge disservice to the hobby in general to do that and was also very short-sighted.

Everybody bitches about Al. Al brought the hobby to a new level of interest. He was on radio, on tv, wrote a book and spent a ton of money. Most of all for Al is he made more than a ton of money. People are jealous of what he did. He was a business man. He made huge offers for stuff and he got it. Nothing was handed to him. I for one think he was a pretty smart guy.

It's entirely possible to dislike anyone for multiple reasons and not be jealous of them.

Exactly!

Jealous of what exactly? Money? That is not what makes one happy. I have met a lot of miserable rich people.

I just don’t understand those that can sit by and watch someone be a raging a-hole to others, often strangers, and still choose to socialize with them. If you can’t have the minimum level of courtesy with those you come into contact with in life then I don’t have much use for you. I will never understand those that can witness bullying behavior and simply say to themselves… “he was always nice to me so I like the guy”

If I hear anyone mistreating or verbally abusing someone else who has acted in a courteous manner, you can bet your life that I will have no interest in talking to that person or working for them, let alone give them a dime of my business. There have been several in the industry who meet this criteria. Another customer or businessman will always come along. Life's too short.

Actually many people were jealous of him. Especially dealers. He was getting all the great stuff and they were getting all the lesser stuff. You honestly don't think people were jealous of him? I was around at that time. They were.

I don't doubt that, but generally speaking, that may not always be the sole or main reason that you don't care for someone.