True Mint by Rosen

[tulsaboy]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I finished reading it last night and I was trying to figure out how to discuss it on here with yawl (I learned that word from Leon!)

Just a minor correction, as a boy who grew up with this word in daily conversation...we tend to properly spell it here (even in court transcripts) as "y'all."



kevin

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by tulsaboy

Just a minor correction, as a boy who grew up with this word in daily conversation...we tend to properly spell it here (even in court transcripts) as "y'all."



kevin

I prefer youse.

[tulsaboy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I prefer youse.

OK, fair enough. We'll agree to adopt different spellings to reflect regional dialects.

kevin

[rjackson44]

I would sit at his auctions in montvale nj he was a character i guess no one is perfect

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by tulsaboy

OK, fair enough. We'll agree to adopt different spellings to reflect regional dialects.

kevin

Y'all at least has a charm to it. Youse just sounds moronic, even worse than most of that Jersey tough guy talk. Bleep youse both.

[Bpm0014]

In Pittsburgh people say ‘yinz’. Terrible...

[drcy]

I read the book more than two decades ago and enjoyed it. An entertaining read.

I found his grading philosophy interesting: Mint = pack fresh, and a pack fresh card can be off centered.

His job was businessman making a regular salary, and his job was to sell would he bought for a profit asap. He wasn't an investor, and remember that you don't know if the cards will go up or down in value.

[jcmtiger]

When he setup at Plymouth Mi show I was setting up at same show. He always paid extra for his table to be right at entrance to the show. That’s how he was able to buy walk ins 1st. Very arrogent, did not keep things very long. I, myself don’t credit him for “making the hobby for what it is today” Many other true collectors & dealers did that.

[kkkkandp]

Originally Posted by Bpm0014

In Pittsburgh people say ‘yinz’. Terrible...

In Ireland, it's "yous," which make sense. It is the plural of you!

[parkplace33]

I heard he was not a popular person among dealers.

[bigtrain]

Alan was in the hobby as a business. While he enjoyed holding on to some things for a short time, he often said that the only
thing he collected was $100 bills.

[toledo_mudhen]

Originally Posted by tulsaboy

Just a minor correction, as a boy who grew up with this word in daily conversation...we tend to properly spell it here (even in court transcripts) as "y'all."



kevin

And the plural of Yall is "All Yall"

[661fish]

Can someone explain the silver fish to me?

[GasHouseGang]

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.

[bobbyw8469]

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.

[Directly]

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 ?

[lumberjack]

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

[cannonballsun]

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.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by cannonballsun

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!

[nineunder71]

‘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?????

[ocjack]

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.

[Exhibitman]

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.

[dbrown]

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

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by dbrown

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.

[nineunder71]

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.

Originally Posted by ocjack

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.

[nickedson]

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.

[sfmays24]

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.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by nineunder71

‘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?????

Home of the Isotopes.

[butchie_t]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Home of the Isotopes.

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

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by nineunder71

‘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?????

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?

[GeoPoto]

Originally Posted by nineunder71

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

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.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by nineunder71

‘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?????

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!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[trambo]

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.