2025–26 Stature Hockey: Demidov in Red, McDavid in Purple

Ivan Demidov's Red Auto Patch /25 makes a convincing argument for matching the border to the jersey. Montreal red runs from the patterned frame into his sweater; the blue helmet, blue autograph and blue-white-red swatch give the design a second rhythm. The patch window is substantial, but Demidov still gets most of the photograph. Nothing about this card requires a magnifying glass to find the player.

That balance is the attraction of 2025–26 Upper Deck Stature Hockey. The new 100-card base set supplies the main design, then color, signatures and memorabilia create different versions of it. Upper Deck describes thick styrene stock with a rainbow foil-like finish, hard-signed autographs and game-worn patches in its manufacturer sales sheet. The photographs below are promotional previews; the foil's movement and the physical patches will have their own presence in hand.

Demidov is rookie No. 66, and the final Upper Deck checklist confirms the red autograph patch at /25. In the preview, a pale band gives the blue signature room above the fabric. The result keeps face, ink and swatch in separate, readable areas. For a Canadiens collection, the red frame does as much visual work as the low serial number.

McDavid's purple autograph keeps the action intact

Connor McDavid's Purple Auto /5, No. 1, takes a different route. There is no patch window to fit into the lower half. His stick cuts diagonally across the photograph, the Oilers crest remains prominent, and the blue autograph sits over a pale area above the Stature nameplate. The dark purple edge gives the white Edmonton uniform a strong outline.

This is an autograph design that still feels like a hockey photograph. McDavid's orange gloves, captain's C and sideways stick keep the pose active; the signing area does not require removing his torso or reducing him to a headshot. Purple also makes a clear departure from Edmonton's colors without swallowing them.

His regular Auto, Blue /25, Gold /10, Purple /5 and Black /3 versions appear on the checklist; Upper Deck marks his regular Auto SSP. McDavid is absent from the Green /199 and Red /99 autograph lists, so the seven-color family does not mean every player has every version. For this particular chase, the player-level checklist matters as much as the color ladder.

Marner's gold patch makes the fabric the feature

Mitch Marner's Gold Patch /5, No. 18, shows how well the unsigned memorabilia layout can work. His Vegas jersey fills the upper photograph; a broad patch window occupies the lower portion. Gold in the border, sweater and preview swatch ties the card together, while black and white give all that gold some contrast.

The checklist identifies this as a patch card without an autograph. That leaves more breathing room around the fabric than Demidov's combined layout, and Marner's turned head and visible gloves keep the image lively above it. The pictured swatch illustrates the design; its exact colors are not a promise for each of the five copies.

Stature's manufacturer description specifies game-worn memorabilia. That supports the appeal of the material itself, without assigning this preview patch to a particular game, jersey section or occasion. The wide opening is the useful design choice here: it gives the fabric enough space to contribute to the card's appearance.

Sennecke and Snuggerud show two sides of the rookie frame

The 35-card rookie run occupies Nos. 66–100, with the regular rookies numbered /999. Beckett Sennecke is No. 93. His bright orange Anaheim uniform almost supplies its own parallel color against the silver-gray frame, and the large rookie heading has room above his helmet. The photograph retains his gloves and stick rather than treating the card as a formal portrait.

Jimmy Snuggerud's Blue /99, No. 70, changes the feel with a bright blue border around his white, blue and yellow St. Louis uniform. The looping edge pattern becomes much more noticeable in color. It is a good example of a parallel adding to the team presentation while leaving the underlying photograph alone.

The same rookie group includes Ryan Leonard at No. 67, Michael Misa at No. 88 and Matthew Schaefer at No. 92. Their regular /999 cards belong to the base set; autograph and memorabilia versions are separate checklist entries. Sennecke's preview shows why the regular rookie can stand on its own: the orange jersey, close action photograph and restrained silver surround already give it a clear identity.

Lemieux, Sakic and Matthews give the frame different jobs

Stature separates 50 unnumbered veterans from 15 legends numbered /999. Mario Lemieux's No. 52 uses a white Pittsburgh uniform, black gloves and a yellow stick across the central image. The muted silver border suits that older hockey photograph, and the curved ornament beneath the nameplate adds a little ceremony without covering the Penguins crest.

Joe Sakic's Black /10, No. 53, uses the same framework more dramatically. Black outside the photograph gives the silver linework a sharper edge, while Colorado burgundy and blue carry the center. His low skating posture fits the vertical opening particularly well: face, chest crest, gloves and stick all remain part of the composition.

Auston Matthews' regular veteran card, No. 42, offers the cleanest version of the design. Toronto blue and white dominate, with another Leafs player visible behind him. Keeping that rink context gives the card a different personality from the isolated player cutouts common to more elaborate premium designs.

The same color carries different numbering

The final checklist gives the three main parallel families different serial-number ladders. A Black card can therefore mean /10, /3 or 1/1, depending on whether it is unsigned, autographed or a memorabilia version.

The uncolored patch and autograph-patch versions are /49. The regular Auto parallel is unnumbered, with an advertised average of one in two packs across that family, not for any particular player. Those family-level figures explain the structure; the exact player's entries determine which versions exist. They also explain why Marner's Gold Patch and McDavid's Purple Auto both reach five copies despite wearing different colors.

Five cards, plus some older Stature surprises

A Hobby box contains one five-card pack, with 16 boxes per case. The advertised box averages are one veteran base card, one numbered legend or rookie, two numbered parallels and one autograph, patch or autograph patch. An unsigned patch is one of the possible hits; an autograph is not promised in every box.

The final checklist also includes updates from 2019–20 through 2024–25. Among them are Patrick Kane's 2019–20 Red Auto /35 and Kirill Kaprizov's 2020–21 Proteges Red Auto /15. The 2024–25 Gold Memorabilia Auto group includes McDavid and Sidney Crosby with glove material, both /5. These retain their earlier product years and designs, adding a different collecting thread beside the new 100-card set.

GTS's October 14 announcement schedules the release for October 28, 2026; Southern Hobby's product page still gives October 21. Both point to an October release, but the exact day remains unsettled between those distributors.

Demidov's red autograph patch is the preview that most neatly brings Stature's ingredients together: team color, a large player image, readable ink and a generous fabric window. McDavid's purple autograph and Sakic's black parallel make equally persuasive cases for leaving that window out. The appeal is in what each version does with the same frame, and this checklist gives player collectors plenty of distinctly different answers.