CARDS GO BOY CRAZY! MODELS SET TO APPEAR TODAY IN NORTHRIDGE DURING FASHION SHOW.

Byline: Steve Carney Staff Writer

The boys of Boy Crazy! are driving girls nuts. But not like they hoped.

The new trading-card game that features photos and vital statistics of 363 hunky guys from next door and around the country is supposed to have teen girls giggling, gushing and trading for their favorites.

As if.

``I think it's ridiculous,'' said Paige Miceli, an eighth-grader at Jordan Middle School in Burbank. ``It's just a card that you're daydreaming about. What's the chance you'll ever meet these guys?''

Well - not bad, actually.

Today from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., a few local boys appearing in the Boy Crazy! set are scheduled to be at the Northridge Fashion Center during a 'Teen magazine fashion show, giving out cards and autographs.

Rachel Shapiro, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Jordan Middle School, probably won't be there. The game seems like a ``waste of time,'' and a ``distraction'' from studies, sports and other pursuits, she said.

Besides, Paige added, ``this is all about looks, and I hate that.''

Tough crowd.

The game has plenty of advocates, though. Its Web site (www.boycrazy.com) is getting about 1.4 million hits per day, and so far 60,000 girls have registered to use its chat room, according to the manufacturer, Decipher Inc., of Norfolk, Va.

``We're finding this is a really good way for girls to just start to learn about boys,'' said Leslie Hellerman, Decipher spokeswoman. ``The girls are deciding what's really important to them. It really empowers them.''

Decipher, which also manufactures trading-card games related to the Star Wars, Star Trek and Austin Powers movies, introduced Boy Crazy! in February. The company hopes it is the next Pokemon.

According to the game's stated philosophy, the boys on the cards ``had to be real, like you. Not some celebrity you may never get to meet.''

Among that group is David, Boy Crazy! card No. 306, a 20-year-old community college student from the Santa Clarita area who likes ``Titanic,'' little dogs and ``Chicken Soup for the Soul.'' To protect the boys' privacy, Decipher has strict rules about not revealing their last names or addresses.

``Who would think a normal Joe Schmoe kid like me would be on a card? It's still blowing my mind,'' said David, who auditioned for Decipher on a lark, while attending a skateboard competition in Ventura in December 1998.

Decipher will audition for next year's Boy Crazy! boys, Sunday at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Though there's no pay involved, David hopes the exposure will help his acting aspirations.

``It's kind of like a dream come true,'' said David, who collected baseball cards as a kid, and always imagined having his own.

The Boy Crazy! cards come in packs of nine, with photos of boys and men 12 to 22 from around the United States and five foreign countries. They list their birthdays, state of residence, favorite foods, movies, colors, music and other trivia. They also list what they think are their most appealing traits, and what attracts them in girls.

``He says his favorite color is blue,'' Paige said, pausing while flipping through a stack of cards. ``Oh, I'm going to like him because my favorite color is blue?''

Reading another: ``Blond, beauty, style. He doesn't know anything about girls. I'd be like, `Go away.' ''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Boy Crazy! cards feature photos and information on guys ages 12 to 22.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(2 -- 3) Above, Rachel Shapiro, 12, left, and Paige Miceli, 13, think that Boy Crazy! cards are a distraction from schoolwork. At left, David, featured on a Boy Crazy! trading card hopes the exposure will help his acting aspirations.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer