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Ricky YHe was curt with me too...I wear that as a badge of honor 
He did impact the hobby...and I think his appearences did bring out a lot of good stuff into the market..but I think it was all about the money and publicity for him...one came with the other. I'm sure he could be charming if you brought him the stuff he liked...but if you didn't then he was not always pleasant. I saw him at many shows..and I saw him act that way a lot. He may have been busy and I'm sure he was hounded a lot at shows..but if you cared about the hobby you should act with some form of civility and care for your customers. I mean its not that hard to just say politely "I appreciate your interest in wanting to sell to me..but I'm not interested." 14 words..is it?
To show a flip side of the coin..I called Rob Lifson once about some stuff to consign..he walked through each stuff with me and thanked me for calling him although some of the items were just "not suitable" for his auction...but he was friendly and courteous throughout and treated me like someone he had known and dealt with for many years. I'll bet if a little kid went up to him at a card show and asked him if he wanted to buy a 2000 Topps card, Rob would still show courtesy and interest.
Ricky Y