MEMORABILIA
of time,”Rosenprovedaquickstudy.
“Hewasaheadofhis time in recognizing
thevalueofmint-conditioncards,”saysIan
Donnis,apoliticalreporterforRhodeIsland
PublicRadioandRosen’s informalmentor,
despitebeingseveralyearshisjunior.Donnis
letRosen sit athis tableduringcard shows,
walkedhim through the insandoutsof the
businessandeventuallytaggedhimwiththe
“Mr.Mint”nickname.He’snotsurprisedthat
Rosenmadeacareerof it: “[Alan]wasgood
at self-promotionandveryknowledgeable
about thefield… just an irreverent, charis-
matic,cocky,entertainingperson.”
In 1983, Rosen sold his copy-machine
business toanassociateandwent all inon
baseball cards.His timingwas fortunate:
The 1980s saw a cardboom, one inwhich
heighteneddemand for the cardsof yester-
year combinedwith an influxof new card
makers(suchasDonrussandFleer)topush
themarket into overdrive. Rosen says he
notchedannual sales in theneighborhood
of$8millionthroughoutthedecade,topping
outat$9million in1989.
Eventhen,heknewitwasn’tlikelytolast.
Some of the newcomers “weren’tmaking
baseball cards; theyweremakinga lottery.
And that’swhat it isnow: a lottery,”hesays,
referring to thepracticeof inserting auto-
graphed cards andpatches of game-worn
uniforms intoonlya fewcardpacks. “They
don’tpromote thebusinessof teachingand
makingyoungsterscareabouttheirproduct.
Now,whenakiddoesn’tget thesignedcard
orthespecial[treat]that’ssupposedtobein
thatbox,youknowwhathedoeswiththose
cards, right?Hechucksthem.”
Another call-waitingbeep.
Uponhis
return this time, Rosen soundsdistracted,
as ifhismentalwheelsareprocessingsome-
thingrecentlyheard. “Thisguy justnow,he
had 1,000Harper rookie cards fromwhen
hewaswiththeminor leagueteam,”hesays,
referringto2012NationalLeagueRookieof
theYearBryceHarper of theWashington
Nationals,thoughtbymanywithinthegame
tobeitsnextsuperstar.“ButIhateinvesting
incards.”
That’snotacommentonHarper’smake-
up somuch as one on the business itself.
“Therearenomoreground-flooropportuni-
ties,”Rosenemphasizes, notinghow cards
featuring topprospects sell for apremium
longbeforemost fanshave seen thosepros-
pects play. The cardbusiness hasn’t done
40
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