True Mint by Rosen

[HistoricNewspapers]

Originally Posted by vtgmsc

Your line:
"It was always sell, sell, sell! This hurt him really bad in the long-run."

Certainly a true sentiment value wise. Yes he was hurt financially BUT he obviously thrived and it was in his blood so I really feel he was not hurt by all the selling quickly. He made money most likely on 90% of his deals (estimate) because he literally flipped everything he had quickly!

Could his family had millions of dollars of cards if he had held on to some things? Yes! But it was not his style and I'm sure his family did fine in the long run.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the great "Cliffs Notes" version! Enjoyed it!

Peace, Mike

It is always easy to look back at the cards that grew 500 percent and wish you had kept them. But don't forget all the Eric Davis type rookie cards that were sold for $25 each back in the day that are worth .85 cents now.

Plus if those profits back then were used for Real Estate purchases or Stock purchases, then you may have realized the same gains anyway....and don't have the losses you would have by keeping all the stuff that went down in value like the Eric Davis rookies.

PS if that is how you were paying the bills by flipping and dealing cards, then keeping them isn't really much of an option anyway.

[ocjack]

The night before one of the Anaheim Nationals, I was out having dinner with my wife. A few tables over was Mr. Mint having dinner with Tony Galovich. Would have loved to have been a fly on the proverbial wall (or in the soup as the case may have been).

Another time, I was sharing a table at the '87 National. My friend had arranged for one of his contacts to bring him a Zeenut Dimaggio (with coupon) to purchase. Once the transaction was completed, he walked over to Mr. Mint's table and told him that he had just purchased some baseball books and this DiMaggio was tucked in the pages. Mr. Mint asked him how much he wanted for it. My friend said he was going to keep. Mr. Mint again asked and started pulling out his briefcase. My friend again stated he was going to keep the card but just wanted to show it to him. At that point, Mr. Mint went ballistic. He yelled at my friend, called him various names and told him to never bring him a card that wasn't for sale and to stay away from his table for the rest of the show. MY friend just laughed and walked away. To be honest, it was a little scary seeing how red a face can become in such a short time. lol

[Yoda]

IMO Alan was a wholesaler and lived by the code: flip or die.

But I believe his Mass find of '52 Topps high numbers may have been the greatest find ever. And the Tenn one wasn't too shabby either.....except for the silverfish.

[Ricky]

Back in the 80s Rosen used to set up every year at the Cranston show. He’d also appear on local talk radio talking about The hobby when he was in town.

[Schlesinj]

A 52 Mantle Rosen is selling tonight on Memory Lane. Currently $810k PSA 8.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Schlesinj

A 52 Mantle Rosen is selling tonight on Memory Lane. Currently $810k PSA 8.

Wow! Strong numbers across the board, 2.3 mil on the Goudey Ruth. Congrats to the Newman family and Memory Lane.

[Mitochondria]

Originally Posted by Yoda

IMO Alan was a wholesaler and lived by the code: flip or die.

But I believe his Mass find of '52 Topps high numbers may have been the greatest find ever. And the Tenn one wasn't too shabby either.....except for the silverfish.

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.

[Foo3112]

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.

[Mitochondria]

Originally Posted by Foo3112

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.

. 280 uncut Sheets of 1957 Topps with 400 Mantles!

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by Mitochondria

. 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!!!