Book It, Buzz: Landing elite Olympian ink for less than $10

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? Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman.

THE RUNDOWN ... 
The Book: From My Head To My Toes (autographed edition via publisher)
The Author: Aly Raisman (with illustrations by Bea Jackson)
The Specs: Henry Holt & Co. -- released on April 2, 2024 (40 pages)
The Price: $9.49 on sale ($18.99 cover price)
The Spot: Barnes & Noble (no longer on sale but still available signed)

Why it’s Buzz-worthy: Raisman is one of the more-successful American gymnasts of recent years with three Olympic gold medals and three others at that level of competition -- a total that puts her late in the top 20 gymnasts of all time for any country and third among U.S. stars. (Simone Biles and Shannon Miller are ahead of her at 11 and seven.) So, with all that said, there's interest here for collecting in the Olympic realm and she has a number of card appearances through the years with stuff in past editions of Goodwin Champions, Panini Americana and official Topps Olympic releases, too.

Why this item: The cost of this book made it a no-brainer to throw into a slasher-sale order last year and that cost pales in comparison to that of her certified autos. Under $10 for a top-tier Olympian auto? Easy -- and a far easier addition vs. the cost of cards. These remain available so she likely signed plenty -- and the autos are big and bold -- with maybe the children's book genre holding back the appeal, though a likeness of her is on the cover. (Some might prefer a book with her photo on the front -- she had her memoir published in 2017 before retiring from competition in 2020.) A lot of celebs have dabbled in the children's book realm and you'd be surprised at the names you can find there alone.

Chase ink on cards: Raisman has almost a couple dozen options on certified auto cards including the parallels in the brands mentioned above. The cheapest options on eBay (asking prices) are roughly $40 and up with her official Olympic stuff $100 and up for certified cards, which are often, but not exclusively sticker autos. Would I need a card auto here at that price? Probably not on my radar as much, though actual sales of her auto cards can dip as low as $20 -- but most of them still land in those previous ranges.

The Bottom Line: This was an easy non-card pickup for ink and having a lot of variety in an autograph collection isn't a bad thing at all ... especially for less than $10.

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