Mr. Mint -- Alan Rosen

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Posted By: Josh Evans

I have known Alan Rosen a long time
I used to sell him stuff back in the late 1970s when I was a kid and in some small way he helped put me through college (at least helped pay for beer)
His second baseball show was my first (I had been in the antiques business for many years before that)

Yes Alan Rosen was then, and sometimes still is a big a-hole
One of the biggest
As for his business practices I am sure there is some merit to some of these horror stories but there are also two sides to every story
At least some of the stories (!)

However, you must put Alan Rosen in proper historical perspective
This guy “made” the baseball card business
On the money side he made money for all of us
He made your stuff worth more
He brought countless new people into the field
He brought out of an attic that card you sold last week

On the “stuff” side he drew out a ton of cards
Tons
The stuff that now sits in your collection and you love

He (and others) did the work that we all now draw benefit from
Yes he benefited too but he still deserves his due
You should see the other side

Those are saying he was a jerk I cannot disagree with
I have had more fights with Alan then just about anyone
He attacked me with a baseball bat at a show (true)
And I am sure I did plenty to antagonize him through the years

But after all these years we have forgiven each other and moved on and we are now friends again
We have both mellowed (thank God)

I guess my point is you don’t have to like him
But you should respect him on some level
And anyone that thinks that Alan is still not a force in this business does not have a clue
If he is a joke than he will probably have the last laugh

By the way, I just hate it when this Forum attacks people on a personal level
My father always told me whthat when you get personal in an argument you lose that argument
How Alan’s wife Marnie feels about him (by the way a lovely lady who was always nice to me even when Alan and I were battling) has no place in this Forum
It is childish and mean

Josh Evans