pursuinghisnextbigscore.Andthatmakes
himmoreor lessthe lastofhiskind.
The call waitingbeeps
andRosen ex-
cuses himself.Minutes later, he’s backon
the line: “I justmade 600bucks,” he says,
hisvoiceacackle.Amanhemetatacollect-
iblesshow inChicago iseager tosellasetof
Hartland statues, a circa-early-1960s set
of 18figurinesdepicting theera’sbestplay-
ers,andRosen’salreadygotabuyer inmind.
Despite the presence of legendarynames
likeMantle andBerra andMays, Rosen is
eager togethishandson the lesser-known
figures, specificallyDickGroat andRocky
Colavito.“Thosearetheonesthatareworth
themoney,”Rosensays.Acallismade,dollar
figuresareexchangedandadeal isconsum-
mated.Thatmakestodayagoodday.
Rosen’scareerhasseenmanyof them.A
ninth-gradedropout,Rosenreturned from
four years in themilitary to findhimself
rudderless. He took a job selling copyma-
chines and calculators door todoor, even-
tually startingabusinessofhisown.Aside
from amonthlong stint selling insurance
—“Iwas terrible. Ineedsomething tangible
to sell.”—he labored in the job fornearlya
decadebeforeprofessionalrotsetin.“When
youhate something, it’shard tobepositive
about it,”hesays.
Salvation came in the formof a friend’s
invitation toabaseball-cardconvention in
early 1978. Rosen, a baseball fan and one-
timecollector—whosecollection, ironically,
metthesametrash-can fateassomanyoth-
ers thatwere stored inaparent’sbasement
or attic— took to it immediately. Starting
withonlyasalesman’sbravadoandthebelief
thathe “knewbaseball from thebeginning
G
-
ball cardsgatheringmold in
thebasement?Haveabunch
stashed away in a climate-
controlledvaultbuiltdeep intoamountain
onaremote island?Alan“Mr.Mint”Rosen
— thenickname refers tohispropensity to
traffic predominantly inmint-condition
cards—would likeyou to call him at your
earliestconvenience.
In fact, do so themoment the flight at-
tendant clears you to resume using your
cellphone.He’sreachableat(201)307-0700.
Hegenerallyreturnscallswithinthehour.
No,really;dothis.Hewantstohearfrom
you.Heck,he’dprobablybeOKwithhearing
fromyoueven ifyoudon’thaveanything to
sell—ifyou’reacollectorattemptingtosuss
outthevalueofyourcollection, forexample,
orakidthinkingaboutgetting intothebusi-
ness. Because that’s the kind of guyAlan
Rosen is, and that’s thewayhe goes about
hisbusiness: theold-fashionedway, via the
phoneor inperson (he’s traveled toAlaska
twice in the interest of assessing andbuy-
ingaprivatecollection).Evenasmostofthe
baseball-collectible tradehasmigrated to
theInternet,Rosen,67,stillgoesontheroad
fordaysatatime,sleeping intwo-bitmotels,
AREALCARD (COLLECTOR):
Rosen, aka “Mr.Mint,”
hasbeen called the “nation’spremier cardmaven”
by
Sports Illustrated
.
MEMORABILIA
TheKing
ofCards
Known in collectors’ circles
as“Mr.Mint,”
ALANROSEN
wants
yourbaseball cards—and
he’ll travel anywhere toget them.
¨©ª««©¬«®
¯°«±©©¨«²³¨´
FORINFORMATION
aboutconventionsandshowswhereAlanRosenwillbe,visit
. Ifyou’re interested indoingbusinesswithRosen,call(201)307-0700.
38
APRIL 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
