Book It, Buzz: Landing some unique 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? A mystery box buy that yielded CrossFit standout Brooke Wells.

THE RUNDOWN ... 
The Book: Resilient: The Untold Story of CrossFit's Greatest Comeback
The Author: Brooke Wells
The Specs: St. Martin's Publishing Group -- released on Jan. 16, 2024 (224 pages)
The Price: $9.99 via a mystery box ($28 cover price)
The Spot: Premiere Collectibles

Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This athletes was an unknown to me as this one came from a mystery box via Premiere -- I rolled the dice on a pair of the boxes and landed this for less than $10 -- but it's more of your traditional comeback/inspirational story as she dislocated her elbow while attempting a 190-pound lift during the 2021 CrossFit Games. It was a "complete tear of the muscle and ligaments on the inner side of the elbow (UCL), which caused the dislocation. A high-grade tear of the lateral collateral, and the flexer tendon was pulled off the bone," according to a Games statement at the time. She had a total elbow reconstruction and returned to competition in less than a year. (I'd link he clip here ... but I don't want to see it.)

Why this item: A mystery box means I really don't have thoughts in this one as to why ... I just wanted to fill some months here on the super-cheap side of things. She has more than 1.8 million followers on Instagram as a 10-time CrossFit Games competitor.

Chase ink on cards: In this case, I don't think she has any certified autographs on trading cards. This was her first book, so this is pretty much a unique item in terms of a "commodified" kind of piece that can be found. (Signed copies can be found around cover price -- sometimes higher, sometimes lower.)

The Bottom Line: Mystery boxes can be hit and miss -- mine were all sports genre picks so I controlled my risk to a degree -- but this was still a solid find in that it's a unique and she has a solid following.

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

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