CYBER : INTERACTIVE HOOP DREAMS COME TRUE.Byline: Tom Hoffarth Card collecting has just jumped into the 21st Century with a technological achievement from Upper Deck. Now let's hope those in charge of selling them don't abuse the privilege. UD has created the PowerDeck 32-megabyte CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). card, an interactive collectible that for now is limited to seven current NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= players - including Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. and Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). - plus retired stars Michael Jordan This article is about the former basketball player. For other uses, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. and Julius Erving Noun 1. Julius Erving - United States basketball forward (born in 1950) Dr. J, Erving, Julius Winfield Erving . Put simply, these are upper-deck shots. Start with the shape. Some first tried CD-ROM cards, using the 5-by-5-1/2 inch large plastic cases that hold, well, a standard CD-ROM. Then others like Donruss tried to put out a standard-sized 2-1/2-by-3-1/4-inch version that fit into the CD tray See tray drive. but made so much whizzing noise it wasn't worth the trouble. PowerDecks maintain the standard card shape but eliminate the substandard substandard, adj below an acceptable level of performance. annoyances. They pop up quickly, even if you need to install Quicktime software (supplied on the card) for either Windows or Mac and adjust the screen setting. On each card are six areas to click on, but the highlight is the 30-second video stream that makes the card come alive. Player bios and stats are updated only through games of March 29 from the just-completed abbreviated season, plus there's the player's Upper Deck catalog to look at and a hyperlink to the Upper Deck Web site and to NBA.com. Instead of selling these gems separately, PowerDeck cards are randomly inserted into Upper Deck's '98-99 Encore Basketball series, which hit the stores soon and will run about $3 for 10-card pack. ``I think that's a positive for the industry,'' Rob Veres, owner of the nationally respected Burbank Sportscards, said of the card insertion vs. individual sale. ``The thing that really floors me about these cards is the fact they fit right into a regular pack of trading cards and can't be noticed.'' One out of every 47 packs will have a PowerDeck card, which means in theory it could cost about $150 before you strike paydirt. Even then, there's no guarantee of the player. You've also got to keep in mind some less-than-reputable dealers will pull out the postal scale and try to figure out how much a regular pack weighs vs. one with the CD-ROM card and possibly pull them from the sales racks for themselves. At a time when something so neat rejuvenates the hobby, let's keep some faith it won't be ruined by greed. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO no caption (PowerDeck CD-ROM card featuring Kobe Bryant) |
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