Who is Mr.Mint and why do people not like him?

whitesoxmike

Just wondering. I saw a thread on Net54 but it really did not explain who this guy is?

fkw

He doesnt bother me anymore, but when he first hit the hobby I couldnt stand his ads in SCD. All he did was boast about big finds, brag, flash $100 bills in every ad, and thought he was the baseball card God....

I believe he has toned it down a bit over the last 10-15 years, but then again I havent read an SCD in that time too.

JeremyDie1

I'am sure he will be at the National and his table will be the first one you see when you walk through the entrance. People may not like him very much because he will look through a extensive collection in a few minutes than offer you a price. Take it or leave it.

Post25

Mr. Mint

Intersting read that was posted on here a few months ago.

PoppaJ

My sons and I were at a sportscard/memorabilia show at the Donald Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois on June 10, 2006.

Heading to the PSA booth, we noticed Al Rosen, aka Mr. Mint, waving his fanned $100 bills in people's faces as they walked by.

My youngest son went up to Al and said "wow, you sure have a lot of money mister...are those all real?".

Al looked at me, then back at my son, and gave him a $100 bill and said "don't spend it all in one place, kid".

Not a total JackA** .... Just rich!

clydecoolidge

Interesting article, but I had to stop reading 3/4 of the way down. It's pretty sad. I guess there's one thing that those of us that collected cards before the mid 90's can say; it was fun collecting cards and not a constant strain on the wallet and a constant disappointment trying to find that 1/1.

1980scollector

"My sons and I were at a sportscard/memorabilia show at the Donald Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois on June 10, 2006.

Heading to the PSA booth, we noticed Al Rosen, aka Mr. Mint, waving his fanned $100 bills in people's faces as they walked by.

My youngest son went up to Al and said "wow, you sure have a lot of money mister...are those all real?".

Al looked at me, then back at my son, and gave him a $100 bill and said "don't spend it all in one place, kid".

Not a total JackA** .... Just rich!"


This post above says alot about Mr. Mint- I know alot of folks dont like him but come one that post shows he has a heart and goes above being kind to some people.

billwaltonsbeard

<< <i>Interesting article, but I had to stop reading 3/4 of the way down. It's pretty sad. I guess there's one thing that those of us that collected cards before the mid 90's can say; it was fun collecting cards and not a constant strain on the wallet and a constant disappointment trying to find that 1/1. >>



I completely agree! I've been completely uninterested in new cards since 98 or 99. And when I do buy new cards, I'm happy just getting base set stuff. The refractors, 1/1s, jersey cards and multiple other parallels are all a waste of time IMO.

perkdog

I met Mr.Rosen a few years ago at a show here in Mass. I went up to the guy and said I heard alot about you and wanted to meet you- the guy shook my hand and seemed pretty happy that I came up to him, he didnt ask me if I had anything for sale just what I was into and we talked for a minute, he didnt try to sell me anything just a quick conversation that I thought was pretty genuine. It has taken me awhile to lighten up on dealers as Ive realized the bottom line is they own their stuff and have a right to sell it and offer buy prices whether they are high priced or low ball buyers, its up to the seller/buyer IMO to educate themselves and decide if they want to do a deal or not. I used to bash Levi for his sell prices but the guy along with any dealer owes me nothing as I decide whats good for me or not.

lostdart58

Does he still set up anymore? He wasn't at last years National. (although I think he was ill)...although I heard rumors that they would not give him a front row table and he opted out.

Griffins

They changed the entrance at the Anaheim show in '06, and a lot of people that were supposed to be at the front weren't. A lot of his business depends upon being the first table at the show, so he was justifiably po'd.
He's always been pleasant to me, and I think he's been instrumental in bringing a lot of new material into the hobby, as well as a lot of positive publicity. He had health problems about a year or so ago (possible coronary) but think he's back on his feet.

vintagechris

He has definately brought some great material into the hobby. I've never met him. Have heard lots of bad about him but you know how that goes. A few people start talking bad about somebody and then people who have never met him start piling on.

My Website

storm888

"I met Mr.Rosen a few years ago at a show here in Mass. I went up to the guy and said I heard alot about you and wanted to meet you- the guy shook my hand and seemed pretty happy that I came up to him, he didnt ask me if I had anything for sale just what I was into and we talked for a minute, he didnt try to sell me anything just a quick conversation that I thought was pretty genuine."

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

That is a pretty typical account of encounters with Mr. Mint.

ndleo

Are those finds on his website legit? I know he bought the huge 1952 Mantle lot, but the rest is still amazing.

RipublicaninMass

kind of pompous, not a bad guy I guess. Hit on my g/f and I didnt mind. Levi was extremely nice. Although the g/f knew nothing about cards, and informed Levi pricing should be based on the overall sex appeal of the player, he was still willing to talk and show her cards. BTW Ruth cheap, Mantle expensive...according to her

itzagoner

wicked funny is how i remember him, and a master craftsman of Closing The Deal......it's been many years since i had personal contact with Mr. Rosen, and i enjoy taking an occasional shot at his pompousness, but i still believe that without his efforts in this business we may never have reached the position of being able to claim such value for some of our treasured cardboards

RipublicaninMass

In his defense, my g/f asked "why do you have a giant picture of yourself???" She also asked James Spence "who said you know who signed these cards" Of all th epeople to start chit with! Thats my girl

ymarea

<< <i>I met Mr.Rosen a few years ago at a show here in Mass. I went up to the guy and said I heard alot about you and wanted to meet you- the guy shook my hand and seemed pretty happy that I came up to him, he didnt ask me if I had anything for sale just what I was into and we talked for a minute, he didnt try to sell me anything just a quick conversation that I thought was pretty genuine. It has taken me awhile to lighten up on dealers as Ive realized the bottom line is they own their stuff and have a right to sell it and offer buy prices whether they are high priced or low ball buyers, its up to the seller/buyer IMO to educate themselves and decide if they want to do a deal or not. I used to bash Levi for his sell prices but the guy along with any dealer owes me nothing as I decide whats good for me or not.[/q

Kudos to you, Perkdog. Very well said. I never really understood the bitterness of many collectors who slam dealers for their high prices and/or low buy offers. I understand that dealers are in it (collecting) as a business, whereas I'm strictly a collector looking for goodies to keep. If I don't like a particular deal I can simply decline and move on. Seeing as how I have likely over 35,000 different cards in my personal collection, favorable deals are there to be had.


Edited for spelling and sentence structure. (I'd hate for my mother to see my poor writing effort!)

WinPitcher

Jealously.


Steve

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

<< <i>Jealously.


Steve >>



Yep. That jerk.

Catfish68

As I understand it, Rosen will not be at the National this year. I believe he made that decision public in an ad I read a few months ago. Also, the National is not listed on his show schedule.

Blackborder

Poor people always hate rich people.

dontippet

<< <i>Poor people always hate rich people. >>



Quote of the day. It is amazing that how you look at someone depends on how you view their social and financial status compared to yours.

Carew29

He's kind of like that burp you get after eating too much pizza that burns the back of your throat!!!

TheCARDKid

It's funny, when I got into the hobby in the early 90's as a kid, 14-15 years old, I got on a mr Mint "kick" so to speak.

When all you have in Beckett and SCD, I guess he looked pretty appealing. He was, "the mint man!" The, "Duke of Dough". Not sure, whether that was good or bad.

I bought both of his books....I think the titles were, "Alan Rosen's Insiders Guide to Baseball Cards" (with a red border on the cover). And he had a price guide. Mr Mint's Price Guide.

His auction catalogs were kind of cool for a 14-16 year old kid to look through...remember the yellow ones in SCD? Lots of "gem mints". He was a master at superlatives.

And of course, all those "Gem Mints" ended up in PSA 7 or 8 holders. They hardly all crossed to PSA 9 or 10.

He's been a comic book character for 20 years. The mint man! The man everyone wants to deal with.

He makes Don West look like a pauper.

I'm sort of suprised he's still in the business. The card business peaked years ago, he could have retired the persona a long time ago. Seems like it's just in his blood.

stevek

<< <i>Poor people always hate rich people. >>




I think with many negative comments about Mr. Mint it's more of a "cultural" thing than anything else and a "misunderstanding" as to how he likes to do business. I have no idea of his personal background but most likely he is from New York. I do a fair amount of business in NYC and the bottom line there usually is present your products quickly, get to the point, make a deal or don't make a deal, and that's that.

As Gordon Gekko phrased it, "If you need a friend, get a dog" and Gekko's overall premise was meant towards business. I've done around ten or so of these type of shows...it's a lot of hard work setting up the displays, standing on your feet throughout the day, etc., and these shows are not cheap to do...so when doing them I'm there for one reason and that is to make money.

To us as collectors the hobby is entertainment but to the dealers like Rosen it's a business and he's not there at shows to make friends...and when understanding that, I think it makes it easier to understand their behavior and accept it, and not always bash Rosen for being such a bad guy.

Estil

<< <i>
Al looked at me, then back at my son, and gave him a $100 bill and said "don't spend it all in one place, kid".

Not a total JackA** .... Just rich! >>



Believe it or not, that gesture doesn't really surprise me. I mean seriously, if anyone can just hand a C-note to a kid without giving it a second thought, it'd be him. After all, John D. Rockefeller, among other things, used to give out dimes to children (this was a century ago, so you must adjust for inflation of course); I guess a lot of rich people think if they got more money than they know what to do with, why not give away some of it when the situation is right?

fur72

No problem with Mr. Mint brings back alot of childhood memories.

Everything great about Mr. Mint