The Rosen '52 find

[marzoumanian]

The late Al Rosen was definitely NOT a collector like Mr. Burdick and Mr. Copeland.
I just pulled out his "True Mint," written in 1994. Here's a paragraph I thought you would get a kick out of (from page 33):
"I placed an advertisement in SCD [in 1986] trying to sell the [1952] Mantles for $3500 each, perfectly centered gem mint cards...I didn't sell any Mantles at that price. I was crushed. So I started blowing them out and most of them I sold to dealers for $2000 each. The last 10 I sold to John Broggi of JKJ Sports Collectibles. He paid me $12,500 for 10 of them."
For Rosen it was all about making deals and money. That's not a knock, by the way. Just the way he was.
As you know, today Broggi runs the National.
Times have changed, right?

[theuclakid]

whole runs of high numbers were offered for $12000....I passed as it was a lot for my family back then....and no, not all of the 52 Mantles were centered...still an exciting find as was the 1953 Topps cards #1-86 a few years later from a Canadian dealer (case of wax boxes opened, packs opened)...I did get a couple Mantles and Robinsons from that find.......I had called the dealer about an ad in SCD, and he just happened to mention he had these 53 Topps....years later (1996) I got one each of the Mantles and Robinsons graded, they both received 9's...the Mantle was the last one to get a 9 until 2016....Bruce Perry

[whitehse]

I remember the Rosen find and laughing at his asking price. Someone please find me a time machine....quick....

[Jobu]

Instead of going back to 1986, I hope you'd go back to 1952 instead.

Originally Posted by whitehse

I remember the Rosen find and laughing at his asking price. Someone please find me a time machine....quick....

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Instead of going back to 1986, I hope you'd go back to 1952 instead.

Yep. Stand by the Hudson River and wait for Sy Berger to come along on his forklift.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Instead of going back to 1986, I hope you'd go back to 1952 instead.

Originally Posted by ASF123

Yep. Stand by the Hudson River and wait for Sy Berger to come along on his forklift.

If you're going to do that, you need to go back to 1960 or so because that's when he dumped the unsold '52s.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

If you're going to do that, you need to go back to 1960 or so because that's when he dumped the unsold '52s.

Always best to go back in time before cards get all moist.

Brian (time travelling back right now to hopefully score some Cracker Jack cards before their contact with caramel)

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by ASF123

Yep. Stand by the Hudson River and wait for Sy Berger to come along on his forklift.

A 20th century urban myth circulated by those trying to talk up the price of their cards from the last series of 1952 Topps Baseball. Check out Toppcat's analysis here:

Highly Doubtful - Topps Archives

[maniac_73]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Instead of going back to 1986, I hope you'd go back to 1952 instead.

Where's my Delorean?

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Instead of going back to 1986, I hope you'd go back to 1952 instead.

...



....Late September , early October , 1952 : ......you could buy three "FIVE CENTS " packs of those high number last series 1952 Topps Baseball Gum Cards or...... one of these...



....

[Tabe]

Are there any pictures of the find? Not individual cards but the big lot before being broken up?

[marzoumanian]

I just pulled out "True Mint" again. In the section about the 1952 Topps find you will find a gem mint Mantle photo and a gem mint Leo Durocher photo. In black and white. That's it. Rosen describes the guy with all the cards in Quincy, Mass., coming out with them on a big silver tray, "covered with cards piled high, 15 or 20 piles. I remember the cards were piled so high that I couldn't see over the top."
Unfortunately Rosen didn't expect to see this so he didn't bring a camera. As he tells it, all he cared about was the Mantles.
The book is definitely worth a read and I am sure you can pick it up pretty cheap on Amazon. He tells some amazing stories. Good luck and peace.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Are there any pictures of the find? Not individual cards but the big lot before being broken up?

In case you haven't seen this?
https://www.psacard.com/articles/art...-baseball-find

And another Net54 thread about the find here.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=276271

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Are there any pictures of the find? Not individual cards but the big lot before being broken up?

Does anyone remember "Find II" which happened shortly after the 1952 find? The Paris, TN find of unopened boxes of 1954 and 1955 Topps baseball, 1954 and 1955 Bowman baseball and 1954 and 1955 Bowman football. Apparently there were over 500 unopened boxes of the baseball, and 250 unopened boxes of the football.

I remember seeing photos in a magazine during the era with stacks of the boxes shown as found. Anyone remember what publication this was??

In the Nov 20, 1987 issue of SCD, Rosen was offering;

- 1954 Bowman baseball unopened packs for $125.00 each or $2500.00 per box (24 5 cent packs)
- 1955 Bowman baseball unopened packs for $150.00 each or $3000.00 per box (24 5 cent packs)
- 1955 Topps baseball unopened packs for $200.00 each or $3500.00 per box (24 5 cent packs)
- 1954 Bowman football unopened packs for $10.00 each or $1000.00 per box (120 1 cent packs)
- 1954 Bowman football unopened packs for $20.00 each or $425.00 per box (24 5 cent packs)

[Fetamore]

I too remember the Rosen find. Seeing his ad in SCD, I immediately called Him to see if he would sell me one of each Phillies and As cards, he did. Then he said he still had one complete set left. I could have it for $12,000. I had 3 children under 8 hrs old and a stay at home wife who would have killed me. I thought about it and passed. Just one of many bad card collecting decisions in my past.