2025-26 Upper Deck Skybox Metal Universe Hockey Checklist

Connor McDavid #7 is a base card in 2025-26 Skybox Metal Universe Hockey, but #7 also appears in Purple Spectrum FX and four Precious Metal Gems colors with different serial limits. Ivan Demidov #150 has a rookie entry, a one-of-one Precious Metal Gems Gold rookie parallel and a separate one-of-one Gold Auto Parallel rookie entry. A player and card number alone will not identify the card you want. Upper Deck's official checklist supplies the set names, numbers and stated distribution details that make a precise want list possible.

The useful first decision is what kind of collection you are building: the numbered base and rookie run, a favorite player's parallel ladder, an autograph, or the 2013 Retro insert design. Those paths overlap in players but differ in card identity. Write down the full set name, card number and parallel before comparing copies or asking prices.

Base cards and rookies: start with the number

The standard Base Set entries shown in Upper Deck's list run from #1 Valeri Nichushkin through #100 Cole Perfetti. The separately labeled Base Set - Rookies entries begin at #101 Luca Cagnoni and reach #150 Ivan Demidov. That division matters when a familiar young player appears in the standard base portion: Connor Bedard is #88, and Cutter Gauthier is #85. Neither entry is labeled a rookie in this checklist. By contrast, Beckett Sennecke #110, Artyom Levshunov #149 and Demidov #150 are in the rookie portion. Upper Deck's checklist identifies those cards by set, player, team and number.

Upper Deck's standard base rows say "Four Base Cards per Pack," while the rookie rows carry 1:1 notation for each of the checklist's h, e and b formats. Those are distribution statements, not a promise of a particular player. If Demidov is the target, #150 narrows the search; the set name and any parallel name finish the identification. The same approach works for a team page. Logan Cooley #93 is a Utah Mammoth standard base entry, while Dmitri Simashev #107 is listed as a Utah Mammoth rookie. Sorting only by team would miss that difference.

Precious Metal Gems: color, serial limit and format

Precious Metal Gems give a player-focused collector a clear progression, but the color names are only part of the story. For McDavid #7, the supplied checklist shows Red numbered to 100, Blue to 50, Green to 10 and Gold to one. It also shows Purple Spectrum FX #7 numbered to 199. Purple Spectrum FX belongs to a separately named parallel family; it is not a Purple Precious Metal Gems card.

The denominator is the card's listed serial limit, not its pack odds or a market valuation. Blue has a particularly important format note: Upper Deck places it in hobby and e-Pack hot boxes in the checklist, rather than in the general hobby and e-Pack wording used for Red, Green and Gold. A collector choosing one McDavid parallel can decide which color and scarcity level matter personally, then verify that the offered card matches the full parallel name. A lower serial limit does not by itself establish a good asking price or an investment case.

The rookie side needs the same care. Demidov #150 is listed as a Precious Metal Gems Gold Parallel - Rookies card numbered to one. The checklist also has a Gold Auto Parallel - Rookies #150 numbered to one. Both use his name and number, but one is a PMG parallel and the other is an autograph parallel. The exact set label is the difference a listing title or photograph needs to settle.

Autographs: read the parallel name before the odds

Upper Deck lists Auto Parallel #7 Connor McDavid with an SSP marker and stated 1:80 h and 1:80 e odds. The rookie autograph rows use a separate Auto Parallel - Rookies name; Ben Kindel #104 is marked SSP there, with stated 1:60 h and 1:60 e odds. These are the checklist's odds for the named parallel groups, not the odds of pulling that exact player. The SSP marker does not give either card a serial number. The official checklist keeps the standard and rookie autograph categories distinct.

For an autograph collection, first choose between a standard player's Auto Parallel, a rookie Auto Parallel and a numbered Gold Auto Parallel rookie. Demidov #150 in the last category is numbered to one in the supplied listing. The checklist excerpt does not establish the signature medium, so the actual card and its full listing details matter before judging an autograph's appeal. Do not treat a base rookie, a PMG Gold rookie and a Gold Auto rookie as interchangeable merely because each can be described with the same player and #150.

2013 Retro: another card number system

The 2013 Retro cards use RT-prefixed numbers, putting them outside the #1-150 base and rookie numbering. The shown entries include Connor Bedard RT-6, Cale Makar RT-7 and Leon Draisaitl RT-10. Their rows state 1:240 in each of the h, e and b formats. That stated rate helps identify the insert's place in the product, but it does not guarantee any particular player in a pack.

Bedard makes the distinction easy to see. His standard Base Set card is #88; his 2013 Retro entry is RT-6. The retro name describes an insert in this 2025-26 product, not a card issued in 2013. A collector who wants one Bedard from each design has two clear checklist targets. Someone who wants only the base run needs #88 and can leave RT-6 off the list. That is the practical value of this checklist: it turns a broad player search into exact cards, without confusing pack distribution, serial numbering and asking price.