True Mint by Rosen

[Tere1071]

Alan Rosen was a very large fish in a very small pond.

[maniac_73]

Ok Now I actually want to read the book

[ALBB]

I think he helped the hobby grow

[theuclakid]

yea he was a character....willow grove mid 1980's...I had bought a 1955 Clemente Rookie from him he had graded EX (long before grading companies) and priced it as such...when I got back to my room, I noticed a noticeable crease on the back...at breakfast the next morning I showed him, his only response was I grade the fronts, not the backs....to his credit I got a refund....and..the 1987 National in SF...I was very busy setting up and he was walking around trying to buy..he asked to see my cards, but I politely said please come back in a few minutes after I finished setting up and getting organized...he screamed at me verbally for several minutes...but eventually walked away....as I said he was a character...later on though at Nationals, he would say hello...so he probably forgot those two encounters...Bruce Perry

[BabyRuth]

July 4, 1988 Issue of Sports Illustrated - I read the article and it got me back into the hobby back in '88 - I had the forethought to have the Mint Man sign it at one of the Boston Shriner's shows. Probably not too many of these that are signed floating around.

[Jay Wolt]

Didn't he have bobble heads of himself produced?
I know he had photo's that he signed.
Saw him at a few National's & the Ft. Washington shows

[jcmtiger]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Didn't he have bobble heads of himself produced?
I know he had photo's that he signed.
Saw him at a few National's & the Ft. Washington shows

Yes, bobble heads.

[Hankphenom]

Honestly, I don't think the hobby would have been worse off if "Mr. Mint" had never been a part of it, had taken his act to coins or lunch boxes or some other commodity he could exploit collectors' passion for. Apparently, he could have cared less about any of it. With his briefcases full of Benjamins in every photo and interview, he undoubtedly did a lot to clue the country in on the demand for what many of them had thought was worthless ephemera, for good and for bad: more stuff coming out of attics and closets, but at higher prices. For decades, I had to look at his greedy countenance and sweating bald head first thing after walking into every major show I went to. He was never looking at the people, just what they were carrying, calling out to draw them over to his table so he could show off how fast he could peel 100s onto the table. I don't know whether he was fair as a buyer or not, but I'd guess he would have paid a penny on the dollar if he could get away with it, but hopefully was smart enough to pay well in a rising market and grab his chunk of a quick flip. I had one unfortunate personal experience, offering him a pair of HOF press pins at a fair price when those were hot. Without a word, he pushed them back across the table and turned his chair away from me. I vowed never to talk to him again, and never did. And the next dealer I offered the pins to gave me my price, didn't even quibble. I never understood how his assistants at those shows, first Steve "Exhibit Man" Reeves (whatever happened to him?), then Dave Szuba, who were friends of mine and nice guys, could stand being around him so much. They would smile and tell me about the cool deals they got to witness, and that he would throw them a bone every once in a while, let them take a deal too small for him to bother with. I didn't envy them, but did admire their intestinal fortitude.

[rjackson44]

And when he went to the robots phase omg ,,im buying robots oh well

[marzoumanian]

I'm the old timer who recommended you read "True Mint," Mr. Samosa4U. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. Lots of great stories. As others have said in this thread, understand that Rosen cared about cards BUT only if they were as close to GEM MINT as possible. Because he knew that he could then make easy money selling them. So in that sense he was all about the Benjamins. But there's no denying that the SI piece from 1988 on him was a huge boost for the hobby.
On May 22, 2016 I interviewed Rosen for a book I'm working on about Mastro Auctions. I just pulled out the transcript. Here's what he said about money:
"Money means a lot to me. But money doesn't mean you have to be a pig. My thing was hogs eat, pigs go to slaughter. And I never was dishonest to anyone, anyone. And I preach that to my children, honesty is the best policy." Rosen died in January 2017.
I once asked him at one of the old Chicago Sun-Times shows in Rosemont, Ill., when he would be writing his next book. He told me that a publisher wanted him to write a book about his dealings with MLB players and celebs. But he had no interest. He then told me some off-the-record stories about how some of the players he dealt with could be pretty nasty to the public and how it shocked him. Yes, Rosen was a character, as others have already made clear.

[bmattioli]

I usually read this book when I get so bored in the Winter months after the Super Bowl prior the the start of Baseball.. So 80's memories..

[LEHR]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Didn't he have bobble heads of himself produced?
I know he had photo's that he signed.
Saw him at a few National's & the Ft. Washington shows

Yes, I've seen the bobbleheads. I think I still have a couple of the Rosen Beanie Baby style bears in a box somewhere that he was throwing out at a National in the 90's for advertisement.

[MRSPORTSCARDCOLLECTOR]

Originally Posted by Tere1071

Alan Rosen was a very large fish in a very small pond.

Agreed.
He use to do a lot of Wilmington, Massachusetts shows at the end(In my neck of the woods).
I saw him as a ambassador for the hobby like Stan Lee for comic books(good or bad). One thing we can't take away from him was he was a great businessman as there were single years he would make more money than Mantle, Williams and Mays did in their whole careers. That is mind-boggling to me.