Book It, Buzz: Landing some Olympian ink for a bargain price

For years now, autographed books coming direct from the publishers -- or direct from the authors themselves -- have been an affordable way to collect ink from notable names in all realms of pop culture.

It's not a perfect system with stamped autos, fakes and autopens sometimes in the mix -- a problem for publishers to catch as they are not authenticators -- but thanks to dedicated collectors on the Blowout Cards Forum and elsewhere, those problems often get caught and fixed ... or at least become well-known enough to avoid if it's an issue that goes uncorrected.

Getting ink in-person is always best -- book tours still happen, of course -- but landing autographed editions from publishers, online sellers or celebs themselves via their websites or other appearances are common.

Our latest subject and autograph in this ongoing series? Winter and Summer Olympic Games veteran Lolo Jones. 

THE RUNDOWN ... 
The Book: Over It: How To Face Life's Hurdles With Grit, Hustle And Grace (autographed edition via publisher/Premiere Collectibles)
The Author: Lolo Jones -- signed on photo bookplates here 
The Specs: Thomas Nelson Publishing -- released on July 20, 2021 (208 pages)
The Price: $12.49 on sale ($24.99 cover price)
The Spot: Books-A-Million for this one ... and still available

Why it’s Buzz-worthy: With the Olympics nearly here, that means we'll get some fresh cardboard -- this year it's on Chrome -- and then likely some new names in the headlines, commercials and elsewhere in pop culture during the action in Paris and then afterward depending on how things go for some. Jones is a past Olympic hurdler and then became an Olympic bobsledder in the past and this year was a 41-year-old competing at the Olympic trials 20 years after her debut. Why? On a mission for a medal? Maybe not ... but wanting to compete for sure. (She didn't qualify.) The former LSU standout was a phenom in the earlier days of Twitter as somebody entertaining as well as somebody with a story to tell. (That hasn't stopped, really.) Either way, she's one of many memorable names who could have a place in an Olympic autograph collection.

Why this item: Ultimately, this addition was all about price. She has past Topps autograph card appearances on official Olympic cards as well as appearances in other sets. They can be pricey at times -- maybe not always but definitely often higher than this one. Sure, it's the book collector's version of a "sticker auto" with a bookplate but at least it's unique to the book itself and not generic. (A lot won't have the title or a photo like this one ... so I have definitely seen worse bookplates.)

Chase ink on cards: Her latest certified autos are in 2023 SportKings Vol. 4, but she has past Leaf ink (in a few releases), Topps (2014 Winter Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics) ink and more. A lot of them are probably not found in box form these days, but SportKings is findable -- you can also hit BlowoutCards.com for newer Olympic cards.

The Bottom Line: Her autographed cards are pricey so this one is a no-brainer to add to the stash at this price if you don't have one already.

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Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

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