The card I drew was from Upper Deck's 1999-2000 Black Diamond series. The card has that piece of a game-used basketball attached to the card of Orlando Magic's Corey Maggette. There are bigger treasures waiting to be pulled from packs. That same series of cards also features cards autographed by Michael Jordan and cards with a slice of wood from a court that MJ played on. Still one more special MJ card has the piece of the floor plus it's autographed.
Cards are so complicated now.
If you or your kids collect today's trading cards, you need a calculator, pen and paper and a computer program to keep track of what you've got and figure your odds of getting a great card. Upper Deck is now selling a series of auto racing cards that includes slices of race-used tires, firesuits and victory caps. A new series of Upper Deck hockey cards will have random autographed cards and cards with pieces of jerseys, patches and pads. No bubble gum, though. Counterfeits are a problem with some trading cards now going from packs at corner stores to the auction block where they are fetching thousands of dollars.