COOL: 3D Baseball cards

Time was the most fun one could get out of a baseball card was trading it with friends or sticking it inside the spokes of a bike wheel.

Not anymore.

The NY Daily News reports Topps has teamed up with Total Immersion to bring a new series of fully-three-demensional baseball cards to consumers throughout America.

All that's needed is a Web camera and an Internet connection and your favorite players spring to life on your computer screen. There's even games a user can play using his keyboard.

The News explains:

Topps - a familiar name to generations of baseball fans - has teamed up with a company called Total Immersion to launch a new series of 3D cards that would have been unimaginable in the days before the Internet.

Now, with a PC and a WebCam, collectors can watch as the players on their cards come alive - popping up in full 3D for interactive "augmented reality" minigames including batting, fielding and pitching drills.

Here's how it works: After you've snagged one of the "Topps 3D Live" cards - they come in both Topps 2009 Baseball Series 1 and Topps Attax packs - you log on to ToppsTown.com and select the player on your card.

Then, simply hold the card up to a standard WebCam and - voila! - Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Johan Santana or one of 30 other stars appear to emerge from the card, in 3D, on your computer screen - for a series of simple games playable using your keyboard.

Check out an embedded video of the cards: