Buying collections - can this work?

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Rosen had much more in his repertoire than just the open display of cash. I can only imagine what it would've looked like had social media (especially video) been ubiquitous during his heyday.

To be fair:

In small doses, his routine might be impressive and mesmerizing. Prolonged exposure, though...not so much.

Definitely agree. If he started out today and tried doing what he was doing back then, with all the online connections, social media, and FB and other such online groups, podcasts, and whatever out there, he'd overwhelm the sensibilities of most people in the hobby in a heartbeat. Nowadays, something happening clear on the other side of the world can become known across the globe in a matter of minutes. Wasn't like that back then, and so, sometimes people used/needed these more over the top methods to get their message out there, and the buzz started. Just like flashing lots of cash, while advertising you're looking to buy collections, at a local show will likely get a buzz quickly started among attendees as well. Continue doing it over, and over, and over, and it eventually becomes a bit passe' for sure.

But since mostly only the older collectors will really remember Rosen and his techniques, or maybe even ever heard of him and what he would do, enough time has probably passed since he was at the top of his game and some of his "tricks" if initiated by someone else today would likely be greeting a whole new generation of potential sellers, and thus have a greater likelihood of working and raising interest because they hadn't been seen by a lot of these people before that could now be potential sellers.