Product Overview
2025-26 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey marks the 27th release of a product rooted in the late 1990s and again means plenty of gemstones for collectors ripping open packs and boxes of a new season’s first high-end product.
Hobby boxes contain six cards, guaranteeing an autograph or diamond relic, three inserts, memorabilia, or tech cards, one Exquisite Collection card, and one base or base parallel.
2025-26 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey Checklist Overview
As has been the case for many years, the base set has a production run of /349, though the 95-card checklist of veterans, rookies, and legends is the smallest for the product since the 2020-21 edition.
Collectors can find colored base parallels in Green (/10) and Gold (/1).
But the Diamond Relic parallels are where collectors get most excited about the base set.
Parallels include the Clear Diamond (/5) parallel with between one and four diamonds embedded into the card, and Upper Deck repeats the trick with black diamonds on rare 1/1s.
Select base cards will also have Premium Relic and/or Autograph versions.
Gem Cards
As the first high-end hockey release of the new calendar year, the rookie card chase will be on for collectors – especially for cards from the Diamond Relic Rookies collection.
A cornerstone of Black Diamond, these rookie offerings (/99) include between one and four diamonds embedded into the card and also include Emerald (/10) and Pure Black (1/1) parallels.
Other returning gemstone sets include Band of Color (/25 for veterans and /26 for rookies) and Gemography (/25).
In the Band of Color set, collectors experience a rainbow of colored gems and can also find a 1/1 Pure Black parallel.
Gemography cards are autographed and feature an embedded diamond. Parallels include Emerald (/5) and Pure Black (1/1).
The gems continue in Diamond Stars, Diamond Legends, and Diamond Futures, a trio of /10 offerings that all have a 1/1 Pure Black parallel.
Autographs, Memorabilia, and Relic Cards
Collectors will search for autographs from Rookie Gems Signatures, Sparkling Scripts (1:8 packs), Sparkling Rookie Scripts (1:12), and Signature Clarity (1:40).
As for memorabilia offerings, Black Diamond also delivers.
Diamond Mine Relics fall 1:4 packs and have Dual (1:10) and Triple (1:20) Relic versions and Premium parallels of each. Diamond Debut Relics also fall 1:4 packs.
Manufactured Hockey History Patches are back at 1:12 packs, as are Rookie Team Logo Jumbo Patches (1:3) and Team Logo Jumbo Patches (1:15).
Autographed memorabilia cards play a sizable role in Black Diamond, including a pair of sets focused on rookies in Auto Rookie Team Logo Jumbo Patches and Jewels of the Draft.
There is a new memorabilia set – the manufactured Captains Patches (/99), which will also have an autographed version.
Additional Inserts
The insert themes continue to play on the idea of diamonds, though without having the stones embedded into the cards.
Rookie Gems (/399) return with Red (/100) and Green (/10) parallels, and also back are Diamond Facet (1:10), Diamond Gallery (1:10), and Diamond Stars, Legends, and Futures (all /249).
Three other inserts include Diamonation, Diamond Might, and Rookie Diamond Cutters, which are all /99.
2025-26 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Hockey
Though Upper Deck no longer carries the sports licenses that made Exquisite Collection the must-own high-end brand among collectors, it has not gone away. In hockey, Upper Deck’s highest-end product is The Cup, but the company releases Exquisite Collection cards throughout some of its other releases during the year.
Like in years past, that process starts with Black Diamond.
Standard Exquisite Collection inserts begin with Veterans and Rookies (both at /399), and both versions have Gold (/99) and Gold Spectrum (/25) parallels.
Other Exquisite concepts include:
Rookie Day Draft (/349) – Rookies in this set have two parallels, a Gold (/75) and a Gold Spectrum numbered to their draft position.
Stanley Cup Heroes (/299) – This is a new set, which has Gold (/99), Silver Spectrum (/25), and Gold Spectrum (/5) parallels.
Moments (/99) – Memorable moments stand out here, as do the Gold (/49) and Gold Spectrum (/25) parallels.
Memorabilia also finds its way onto Exquisite cards in sets like these, which all have a variety of parallels:
Extra Exquisite Jersey Rookies (/349)
Rookie Patches (/99)
Dual Swatch Rookies (/75)
Rookie Jumbo Materials (/10)
Extra Exquisite Jersey Vets/Legends (various numbering)
Veteran Materials (various numbering)
Jumbo patches, NHL Shields, and rare Gold Spectrum 1/1s all weave their way throughout sets in the Exquisite memorabilia collection.
2025-26 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey cards at a glance:
Cards per pack: Hobby – 6Packs per box: Hobby – 1Boxes per case: Hobby – 10 (two 5-box inner cases)Set size: 95 cardsRelease date: TBA
Can’t wait for the new set? Shop for 2024-25 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey boxes on eBay while you wait:
Hobby Boxes
What to expect in a hobby box:
Autographs or Diamond Relics – 1 Total
Memorabilia Cards or Inserts – 3 Total
Exquisite Collection – 1
Base Cards or Parallels – 1 Total
