2023 Topps Chrome Lids pack break with $50 hat

During a stop at an outlet mall, maybe I wanted to see if I can look for a blaster box of cards - I was gifted some cash money [$40] and maybe I go to one the specialty places that sells sports stuff like hats or jerseys, where I've seen they usually have a card display.

I ended up at a Lids and seeing their promotion with Topps, where you can get a bonus pack of special Topps Chrome cards with a purchase of themed Mitchell and Ness hat - figured I had the money that partially covered a purchase of a fitted cap without feeling as self-conscious because I don't wear hats, especially ones that cost $50.

The designs vary by MLB team and also by different Topps themed graphics - I got a California Angels version and while it's not a traditional looking cap, it ends up being kind of funky looking sort of in a stylish way.

The side of the cap features a stylized 1993 Topps patch

Topps Major League Baseball button of sorts affixed on top of the cap

I like the big old-school 'CA' logo

I was looking forward to at least a five-card pack, but Topps ends up being a little stingy with only a three-card bonus pack - it's hard to strike gold with one lousy pack, where I only ended up with Gabriel Moreno, some kind of rookie for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bryce Harper and another rookie in Jordan Walker.

A pair of Angels rookie buyback purchases

I don’t think stamped buybacks are remotely collectible as ‘stand alone’ cards unless they are part of some autograph insert - but even if they are low-end gimmicks, with the original copies being worthless otherwise, I actually picked these cards up for a couple of bucks and change [each].

I had my eye on these cards because they are actually rookie cards unlike many buybacks I've seen - featuring a couple of retired Angels stars who made their MLB debuts in the 1990s.

1993 Topps Gold Derek Jeter #98

In addition to the Bowman rookie card I picked up a few weeks ago, I also grabbed this rookie-year parallel card - maybe I find myself a priced out of the modern card collecting game [with the focus on guys like Mike Trout and Kris Bryant], so maybe I'm 'going back' to looking for cards I've overlooked over the past 25 years.

The 1993 Topps Jeter rookie card is kind of boring with an image of a young Jeter superimposed into a generic outline of a baseball field - the card is sort of a post junk wax era 'junk wax card,' but the foil stamping makes the card looks just a little bit more attractive.