Cool man, I got a bunch of them too and they've really brought the shine out in my hair that i always knew they could have!

PS the closest to spires' mint I found so far is 3265C or 3265M

Explain pantone please.

Pantone is a company that sells a system of color matching and color communication. A designer can choose a color and specify that exact color to a printer.

from wikipedia:

The Pantone Color Matching System is largely a standardized color reproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another.

One such use is standardizing colors in the CMYK process. The CMYK process is a method of printing color by using four inks—cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The vast majority of the world's printed material is produced using the CMYK process, and there is a special subset of Pantone colors that can be reproduced using CMYK. Those that are possible to simulate through the CMYK process are labeled as such within the company's guides.
However, most of the Pantone system's 1,114 spot colors cannot be simulated with CMYK but with 13 base pigments (15 including white and black) mixed in specified amounts.
The Pantone system also allows for many 'special' colors to be produced such as metallics and fluorescents. While most of the Pantone system colors are beyond the printed CMYK gamut, it is only in 2001 that Pantone began providing translations of their existing system with screen based colors (Screen based colors use the RGB—red, green, blue—system to create various colors).

Pantone colors are described by their allocated number (typically referred to as, for example, 'PMS 130'). PMS colors are almost always used in branding and have even found their way into government legislation (to describe the colors of flags). In January 2003, the Scottish Parliament debated a petition (reference PE512) to refer to the blue in the Scottish flag (saltire) as 'Pantone 300'. Countries such as Canada and South Korea and organizations such as the FIA have also chosen to refer to specific Pantone colors to use when producing flags. U.S. States including Texas have set legislated PMS colors of their flags.

dude, try working with NCS some time. they have plugins for all design programs, and a REALLY fantastic numbering system- each code makes perfect sense, and you can learn to notate by sight. man, i love it. the swedish dudes who invented it also only notated colours that are able to be reproduced in print/ fabric color/ plastic. so no weird colours that are unable to translate across all your clients' marketing needs. i love it.

/sales pitch

damn. I need a set of books.
Hey if you get a chance, and if you have a threadless cream tshirt, could you post the closest PMS #?
I would really appreciate!

They're a beacon in the storm thats called crappy monitors. I bought a pantone book after my first print, and saved my second one from looking all wrong trhough the help of the MIGHTY PANTONE!

NCS: Whoa, expensive! Looks promising though.

ndstille: 4685c, but about 20% lighter than the official color.

That's really neat! Great for doing print work of any kind. :) And they look pretty too~