The Rosen '52 find

[flpm08]

I also remember the Rosen '52 find. Paul Lewicki , a card dealer and associate of Rosen, called me and offered the high number run for $12,000. I asked him what the Mantle was like. He said off-center and so I passed. I also think that find may have included 251 through 310, the semi-high series. The find that I remember more vividly was the Kansas City find of September 1985. This find i think included the last series 181-252 of 1950 Bowmans, 1951 Bowmans, 1952 Bowmans, 1953 Bowmans, 1952 Topps and maybe 1953 Topps. I happened to be visiting New Jersey at the time ( I live in California) and called John Broggi who I met at the 1985 National in Anaheim. He said " you would not believe what I got". I drove right down to his shop in Highland Park and I bought some beautiful 1952 Topps and 1953 Bowmans and eventually bought many 1951 Bowmans. I do not remember whether the find included high number 1952 Topps. Those were the days. Frank Martorana

[Johnny T]

When I was a kid, I bought all of my cards from John Broggi. From his store in Highland Park as well as his booth on the Rt 1 Flea Market in New Brunswick NJ. Memories.

[Johnny T]

My first "real" card I bought from John was a 1964 Topps Rose at his booth in the flea market. I paid $19...early 80's...when I showed my mother what I bought and how much I paid she flipped out! I said "I'm simply traded paper (money) for cardboard"...always the salesman. Anyway, my Mom walked me over to John's booth and kind of layed into him, thinking he took advantage of a kid. He convinced her what I bought was a good purchase and that the value would "double" in 6 months. It did! Sold that card and the rest of my collection when I went to college and used the proceeds to buy my first car. Now I'm in the process of buying all of those cards back (at the price of a house) as a mid 50's adult. Funny how things come full circle. Wonder how Broggi is doing these days.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by Johnny T

My first "real" card I bought from John was a 1964 Topps Rose at his booth in the flea market. I paid $19...early 80's...when I showed my mother what I bought and how much I paid she flipped out! I said "I'm simply traded paper (money) for cardboard"...always the salesman. Anyway, my Mom walked me over to John's booth and kind of layed into him, thinking he took advantage of a kid. He convinced her what I bought was a good purchase and that the value would "double" in 6 months. It did! Sold that card and the rest of my collection when I went to college and used the proceeds to buy my first car. Now I'm in the process of buying all of those cards back (at the price of a house) as a mid 50's adult. Funny how things come full circle. Wonder how Broggi is doing these days.

John is doing just fine as co-promoter of the NSCC (National).

Rich

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by Johnny T

My first "real" card I bought from John was a 1964 Topps Rose at his booth in the flea market. I paid $19...early 80's...when I showed my mother what I bought and how much I paid she flipped out! I said "I'm simply traded paper (money) for cardboard"...always the salesman. Anyway, my Mom walked me over to John's booth and kind of layed into him, thinking he took advantage of a kid. He convinced her what I bought was a good purchase and that the value would "double" in 6 months. It did!

He handled that better than I would've at the time. Once when I was set up at a show during the junk wax era, a kid (maybe 12) walked up with his mother and asked me a price on something in a 25% off Beckett box, which I quoted him without having to look it up.

Mom drags him away saying something like "don't believe that cause people will tell you anything" (practically to my face). I respond with a dagger glare and hold out the current Beckett, telling her she's more than welcome to check what I said. That was ignored and they walked on.

Obviously you need to teach kids to avoid getting screwed over, but that message of simply "the salesman is a POS and must be lying" is horrible, lazy parenting on many levels. Show your kids how to figure out what's good and what isn't, instead of always assuming the worst.

[steve B]

Mr mint was at one of the shows I helped work. I was at a table about 12 ft away and got to watch him work.

Just not my kind of guy, all hype and puffery. He did know his cards though.

[Collectorsince62]

Rosen was at a show in St. Louis manning a table. When I walked up he asked me what I was looking for and I told him I needed one card to finish a mint '62 Topps set. The term "near mint" hadn't been coined yet. I knew the types of cards he handled and knew he certainly wouldn't have the 7th series checklist I needed. To this day I'm still astonished by what happened next. He reaches behind him and pulls out a box filled with nothing but '62 Topps 7th series checklists, all in perfect condition. It was like a magic act. Why he had about 100 of that card, the only card I was hunting for that day, is still bewildering. I have other stories about some of his shenanigans at St. Louis shows, but the checklist story I had to share.

[ALBB]

yea, lotta storys about Rosen...

He insisted his table was the first one that customers saw as they walked into big shows

He made a big stink when one promoter didnt give him the the " best table"

He threatened ..and various time ..never to to a show again...never to set up at " so and so's" shows, etc..

I remember the time I called him to sell stuff...left a message....he called me back later...and to annoy him, I pretended I didnt know who he was ! LOL. I kept saying loudly " Who ? , Mr. What ? " !!

[stlcardsfan]

Originally Posted by Collectorsince62

Rosen was at a show in St. Louis manning a table. When I walked up he asked me what I was looking for and I told him I needed one card to finish a mint '62 Topps set. The term "near mint" hadn't been coined yet. I knew the types of cards he handled and knew he certainly wouldn't have the 7th series checklist I needed. To this day I'm still astonished by what happened next. He reaches behind him and pulls out a box filled with nothing but '62 Topps 7th series checklists, all in perfect condition. It was like a magic act. Why he had about 100 of that card, the only card I was hunting for that day, is still bewildering. I have other stories about some of his shenanigans at St. Louis shows, but the checklist story I had to share.

I used to buy cards from a guy who told me that exact story about those checklists-Don Burnett- said Rosen was walking around that show with a briefcase and someone asked him what was in it and he opened it to show the mint checklists.

[Hxcmilkshake]

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

He handled that better than I would've at the time. Once when I was set up at a show during the junk wax era, a kid (maybe 12) walked up with his mother and asked me a price on something in a 25% off Beckett box, which I quoted him without having to look it up.



Mom drags him away saying something like "don't believe that cause people will tell you anything" (practically to my face). I respond with a dagger glare and hold out the current Beckett, telling her she's more than welcome to check what I said. That was ignored and they walked on.



Obviously you need to teach kids to avoid getting screwed over, but that message of simply "the salesman is a POS and must be lying" is horrible, lazy parenting on many levels. Show your kids how to figure out what's good and what isn't, instead of always assuming the worst.

Ha! I have almost that exact story. At the Durham Fair, probably 1983, I bought a VGEX 64 Mantle for $23 and my Mom thought I lost my mind.

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[MK]

Originally Posted by flpm08

I also remember the Rosen '52 find. Paul Lewicki , a card dealer and associate of Rosen, called me and offered the high number run for $12,000. I asked him what the Mantle was like. He said off-center and so I passed. I also think that find may have included 251 through 310, the semi-high series. The find that I remember more vividly was the Kansas City find of September 1985. This find i think included the last series 181-252 of 1950 Bowmans, 1951 Bowmans, 1952 Bowmans, 1953 Bowmans, 1952 Topps and maybe 1953 Topps. I happened to be visiting New Jersey at the time ( I live in California) and called John Broggi who I met at the 1985 National in Anaheim. He said " you would not believe what I got". I drove right down to his shop in Highland Park and I bought some beautiful 1952 Topps and 1953 Bowmans and eventually bought many 1951 Bowmans. I do not remember whether the find included high number 1952 Topps. Those were the days. Frank Martorana

So are there any written accounts of the Kansas City find like there are the Rosen find? I’ve heard of it, but really don’t know the particulars.

[flpm08]

Originally Posted by MK

So are there any written accounts of the Kansas City find like there are the Rosen find? I’ve heard of it, but really don’t know the particulars.

It happened in September of 1985. John Broggi and few other East Coast dealers split the find. As I said in my previous post I was visiting New Jersey and called Broggi and he said just that he just returned from Kansas City with some beautiful early 1950s Topps and Bowmans. Evidently some collector had preserved them well. When I visited Broggi about an hour after the call, he was just unpacking them. They were in a large metal briefcase tightly packed. I purchased some beautiful low numbered 52 Topps, i.e., Spahn, Snider, Hodges, Roberts and Feller ( second series) and also some beautiful 1953 Bowmans. I do not think that he had any high number 1952 Topps or high number 1953 Bowmans, but I think that was because of the way the dealers split the find. I know that there were 1951 Bowmans in the find because I purchased some directly from Broggi in two groups of 30 common cards for $89 each. In January 1986 , I purchased over 200 1951 Bowmans at a card show in Sacramento. The dealer said that they came from the find. They
were all beautiful cards. If you further interest contact Broggi he is a co-director of the National. I am sure that he will remember the find.