PowerDeck a Chip Off the Old Trading Cards

For the nostalgia buffs out there who are still pining for the wax pack with unchewable gum to go with their sports trading cards, this may not be the balm. But for the futurists among us, Upper Deck’s PowerDeck will certainly expand the definition (and up the ante) of what a trading card can do.

But you need more than a shoe box for this one. The PowerDeck is next-step technology come to full bloom: a trading-card-sized disc that slips into your computer’s CD-ROM drive. Each interactive card contains 32 megabytes of information--game action video, career highlights, and Internet hyperlinks to the Upper Deck and NBA Web sites.

The premiere lineup--Charles Barkley, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Jason Williams, Michael Jordan and Julius Erving. Available in most hobby stores across the country, Upper Deck’s Encore Trading Cards come six to a pack, with the PowerDeck randomly inserted. (Collectors: Odds say you have a 1-in-47 chance.)

And best of all--for all those nostalgia buffs--it slips neatly into a plastic protective sleeve just like your trading cards of yore.