Mr. Mint Contest
marty
Posts: 202
Most of us have stories about Al "Mr. Mint" Rosen. What very few actually say is that he has brought a huge amount of attention to the baseball card hobby. The 1952 Topps Find got national attention. I am sure that he caused a lot of cards to be saved and brought into the hobby. That being said, I will start a contest. Lets hear about the best purchase that you have made from him. The winner will get a Mr. Mint doll.
The Grand Prize is the Mr. Mint Doll
Runner-up prize is a PSA 9 1977 TCMA Willie Mays card.
I own both of these items and I will ship for free. You will be responsible for all tax liabilities.
Please post a story that is positive. I know that he has sold some nice stuff. I will pick the winners based upon most unique piece, or nicest item, or some other criteria. I will also try to pick a true story. I will also use other members opinions, if any.
The contest deadline will probably be somethime this weekend. I want to be able to ship the prizes before that San Francisco Labor day show. I do not want to leave these pieces back at the office while I am gone.
The results will be final, but maybe questionable. The winners must be willing to provide shipping address, otherwise, I will send the prizes to a member that I have an address for.
Even though I have some eBay auctions up, I will not provide a link.
The Grand Prize is the Mr. Mint Doll
Runner-up prize is a PSA 9 1977 TCMA Willie Mays card.
I own both of these items and I will ship for free. You will be responsible for all tax liabilities.
Please post a story that is positive. I know that he has sold some nice stuff. I will pick the winners based upon most unique piece, or nicest item, or some other criteria. I will also try to pick a true story. I will also use other members opinions, if any.
The contest deadline will probably be somethime this weekend. I want to be able to ship the prizes before that San Francisco Labor day show. I do not want to leave these pieces back at the office while I am gone.
The results will be final, but maybe questionable. The winners must be willing to provide shipping address, otherwise, I will send the prizes to a member that I have an address for.
Even though I have some eBay auctions up, I will not provide a link.
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Last year after the National I was testing out a new camera/strobe system (I'm an advertising photographer). We were trying to do really high speed stuff like splashes and pours, darts piercing balloons, etc. Anyway, I had a Mr. Mint bobble head (don't ask why) and we ended up smashing it with a hammer and shooting at the exact time of impact. More graphic than the Zabruder film. Going to have to dig up that file.
Marty, do you think its safe to not have that doll in the new vault?
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
believe it or not:
It may be WAY overgraded, but it is the only one ever graded by anybody (save ZGA).
Actually, I never had a problem with Alan, and on a few occasions he was happy to share some obscure knowledge of my beloved regionals, so I tend to agree with your summation despite the many disparaging things I've heard. Although one of the things he told me I still don't believe.
I do think it assinine to run an auction that you can only participate in if you are one of the few SCD subscribers.
If i come in tenth you might try to send me 10 of those hideous things.
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well, maybe just move to LA, chnage my name to Jablonski, and collect all the PCL stuff I can find.
A couple of years ago when the Full Count board closed down, Net 54 was just starting and this board was mostly refractor talk I call him 3 times to try and order his books. Never got an answer or returned call. So I went on amazon and bought them. The book about his finds was actually really good. All of us have dreamt about "the big find" he's actually done it many many times. Reading about all the finds was really amazing. Stacks of '52 Topps Mantles, boxes of unopened Leaf shortprints, bug ridden '54-55 Bowmans, stacks of Wilson Franks. Anyway, it was worth every penny. The rest of the book is a rundown of various modern (post '48) sets, and no matter what you think about him personally he certainly has a lot of knowledge. I would highly recommend it.
Just don't call him to order it.
Murcer-
Sorry, the name Jablonski has been taken in L. A. . If you move out here you should use the name "F. Pearlsky"
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
and always will
Have you ever met Alan...or purchased anything off of him?
I agree with Griffins....the True Mint book has some pretty good storys.
I actually ran into Dick DeCourcey at this years Strongsville (Ohio) Show....Dick was with Mr. Mint at the 1987 Paris Tenn Bowman Find. I would of had no idea who he was if it wasn't for Rosen's book.
John
when you meet him you will either tolerate him or hate him but when you walk away you will remember him.
as far as self promotion again love it or hate it you will remember him who can forget a beanie or bobblehead.
he seems rude to some people because he doesn't take the time to discuss their items and tells them "NO"
and turns away to find the next deal. from what i see of him everything has a price and a resell price, he will make more money turning cards at a show than most people will make working a month.
you either dislike him or hate him. but i think a lot of it is being jealous.
everybody in the card hobby is waiting on that one big find. he has done it over and over
most everyone one in the card hobby want to have their cards acknowledged, he has done it over and over
every dealer wants people to know who they are, he is known by everyone that has been in the hobby.
i don't hate mr. mint : he is just another person that does things his way and has been successful with it. but he has been good for the hobby.
..........fab4......
At the Houston National in 1994, Mr. Mint's table was up front right inside the entrance (what a shock!). There was a line at his table, but he wasn't there. At the front of the line, a fellow about my age, stood with a binder in hand while one of Al's minions called him on cell phone (one of those big 1994 jobbies).
After about 30 minutes, Al shows up. The guy with the binder introduces himself and hands the binder to Al. As one might expect, quite a crowd had gathered by this time. Rosen opens the binder. "It's a 1965 complete set," the owner says.
Rosen doesn't even remove a single card. He immediately closes the binder, pushes it back and walks away, without saying a word. He leaves the table area and goes back to roaming the show.
I felt so sorry for Mr. Mint, that he had to waste his time with this chump with the set, I offered to buy the set. It's now the cornerstone of my collection, currently in the top 10 of the PSA Registry.
Everything in that story is true, except the last paragraph. Kinda like the mantra of ol' Al hisownself, a little embellishment never hurt anybody.
Edited for disclaimer.
Thanks for having such a selective memory
Ever sell that '51 Current All-Star Walt Dropo??
What's funny is that perhaps two or three years after he sold the cards from the find, he seemed to regret selling them for the prices he asked because the popularity of the set was skyrocketing. I distinctively recall him offering to buy them back in an SCD ad! As graded, these cards are now worth roughly 10 to 20 times what he sold them for. Imagine the return on his investment if he hadn't been in such a hurry to sell them!
Skycap
Or if he hadn't been so down on grading!
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
There have to actually be cards graded from a set to warrant it being included.
relevant sales data is apparently optional
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