One hundred years of legacy, tradition, and unforgettable moments are brought to life as Upper Deck celebrates Rangers hockey with the 2025–2026 Centennial Set. There are two versions of this set: the retail blaster box and the hobby box. I spoke with Ed Spiker, Senior Brand Manager at Upper Deck, about the development of this product and the vision his team had for it.
I want to make one thing clear as you read this article, while I did receive a small something after I had written this article – these are my genuine thoughts on the product. I have not been told what to write whether it be positive or negative about the product. If you knew me in real life, you would know I call things as I see them for good and for bad.
“The primary objective is to keep the product on budget and on time,” said Spiker when asked about some of his daily responsibilities on the New York Rangers 2025–26 Centennial product. “I worked on the promotional materials the promotions team used to sell the product to hobby shops, distributors, and big-box retailers. Ordering the collectible tins, managing the documentation inside – it’s a team approach, for sure. There’s a lot more that goes into trading cards than most people realize.”
Retail Offerings
The retail set released in mid-January and it comes with 105 cards in each box. The base set celebrates some of the great Rangers over the course of a century, from the first ever captain Bill Cook, to Rangers legend Mark Messier, to present-day netminder Igor Shesterkin.
Each box contains the complete 100 card base set along with five additional parallel or insert cards. On average, you receive three Blue parallels, one Red base set parallel, and one Blueshirt Best insert.
“One of the four parallels could be a hard-signed autograph, which is not something you find very often in retail offerings,” said Spiker when asked to talk about the retail version.
One advantage this product has vs other Upper Deck products are strong odds of pulling an autograph from a retail box. Autograph cards are inserted in approximately one in every ten retail boxes.
For collectors, those odds are especially impressive for a retail product. It gives fans a legitimate chance to pull a premium autograph without the higher cost of hobby boxes. And if the odds alone are not enough, many of the autographs in this set are hard-signed. A hard signed card means the player physically signed the card whereas a sticker autograph means they signed a bunch of stickers on a sheet which are later placed on the cards.
Hobby Box Offerings
The hobby box set is scheduled for release on March 18. This product is a collector’s dream for both New York Rangers fans and hockey fans alike. Each tin includes 15 packs with nine cards per pack. The hobby version also features additional inserts, such as Broadway Bruisers and Hey, Hey, Hey.
What truly separates the hobby box from the retail are the guarantees that come in each hobby tin. Collectors are guaranteed two autograph cards per tin. In addition to portions of the base set, each tin also contains 15 inserts and 30 cards from the subset base set. The subset base set is an additional 100-card base set exclusive to the hobby box. Thirteen cards in every tin will be either short-printed or numbered.
“We built the two sets primarily to create better accessibility for Rangers fans and different types of collectors,” Spiker said. “The hobby price may be a little more difficult for younger fans who may also not be regular collectors so that is partly the reason for the retail box set. Also some people buy box sets as a collectable item to leave unopened.”
The chase cards in this set are especially impressive and feature rare memorabilia that many collectors only dream of pulling. Chase cards are limited, high-value cards that are inserted at extremely low odds. Sometimes they can be as rare as one per entire set.
Unique items such as seat cushions from Madison Square Garden or authentic ticket stubs from historic games featuring Wayne Gretzky are just two of the more desirable chases.
“Each Blueseat Memory Seat Relic is filled with legends and each card is numbered to five,” Spiker said. “It features a piece of a sheet cushion from Madison Square Garden. The seats were used from the 70s to early 2000s.”
Other chase cards include game-used jersey cards featuring up to four players on a single card, as well as pieces of a game-used stick or a goalie pad. These premium cards are visually striking and would be a standout addition to any collection.
The Creation Process
When creating a product like this, there are countless small details that must be considered, many of which are often overlooked when collectors rip open a pack. From meetings about logo placement to decisions on numbering and card thickness, every aspect must be carefully planned.
Upper Deck approached this release with great care, aiming to do right by Rangers fans. One of the most important roles in that process belongs to the product developer.
“The product developer for this is a native New Yorker and lifelong Rangers fan,” said Spiker. “He knows the organization very well and what set themes and what names should be based on the history of the franchise.”
The product developer plays a key role from the earliest planning stages through the final release. Their responsibilities include researching players and moments, helping design cards, collaborating with marketing and design teams, collaborating with the Rangers organization, participating in internal meetings throughout the process, and many other vital jobs to making this set a reality.
“We also had team members here who worked on acquiring the memorabilia that we wanted to feature in the hobby product,” said Spiker. You have people that work on getting the autographs. Some of the stuff is hard signed so you have to have time to go meet with the athletes in person or have time to mail cards, have time to get them signed, and then mailed back.”
Another fascinating aspect of the process is how Upper Deck obtains the memorabilia that they used in their products. As mentioned earlier, collectors can find items such as game-used sticks, ticket stubs, and seat cushions embedded in the 2025-2026 Rangers Centennial set.
“We have deals to get jerseys through the league,” said Spiker. “We may pick up something in auction if it is from a reputable source and if we do that, it has to have a certificate of authenticity.”
Spiker would further elaborate how Upper Deck maintains a warehouse that is filled with memorabilia, some of which may have been owned for decades. In the warehouse, items are carefully sealed, and preserved until they are ready to be used in upcoming products.
Identifying The Checklist
One of the most important aspects of creating the 2025-2026 Centennial set is determining which 100 players will make up the checklist. One name I was hoping to see was former Ranger Petr Prucha. Prucha played parts of four seasons in New York from 2005 to 2009 and quickly became a fan favorite. During his rookie season, he scored 30 goals and finished in the top ten in voting for the Calder Trophy.
While I did not ask directly about why certain players were included or excluded, it is reasonable to assume that Upper Deck may not have held the legal rights to use Prucha’s likeness. Spiker did, however, explain what is required for a player to be featured in a product and how the checklist is determined.
“The primary goal for us is to create a checklist to help celebrate the entire history and capture the essence of the Rangers organization,” said Spiker when asked about how they choose what players go into a set. “The checklist is created first by determining the top 100 players plus in franchise history. This is done through research and the knowledge of the content team that is charged with building checklists. And of course we have the knowledge of the product developer in this case.”
Unfortunately, including any player also involves legal requirements that must be met.
“Once the players are identified, we have to figure out who we have name, image, and likeness rights for – whether it is through the NHL alumni association and NHL Players Association or via direct deals that we already have in place,” Spiker explained. “For those that we don’t have, our talent relations team has to work to acquire those rights. So in the end we secured as many players as we could.”
Creating a centennial set also means attempting to include players from the earliest days of the franchise, which presents its own challenges.
“We have Bill Cook who was there at the very beginning,” said Spiker. “It is a little tougher in the early years as a lot of people have passed on. We do have some people from those early years, but it really picks up in the 50s and 60s where we start to see names like Andy Bathgate, Harry Howell, Jean Ratelle, and those guys.”
As a lifelong Rangers fan and collector, the one person I truly wish had been included in this product is Sam Rosen. While he was not a player, and his inclusion may not be possible for legal or licensing reasons, Rosen remains one of the most important figures in Rangers history.
He is beloved by Rangers fans worldwide and there is a reason he is enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. As a collector of other sports such as soccer, I have seen coaches have signed cards in some products. While Rosen isn’t even a coach, a card of his is something I would have absolutely love to have seen in this product.
Educational
One of the main reasons I highly recommend this product is the educational value I believe it contains. The set offers fans, especially younger ones, a meaningful way to learn about the history of the New York Rangers and the players who helped make the franchise what it is today.
Spiker also touched on this subject when I asked for his opinion about the educational aspect.
“It gives young Rangers fans a great way to immerse themselves in the history of the organization to get to know so many Rangers greats,” Spiker stated.
One of the images that comes to mind is a parent or grandparent opening a box alongside their child or grandchild. I can picture them going through the complete base set together, with a grandparent reliving and sharing memories of favorite players and unforgettable moments, whether it be a favorite goal from Andy Bathgate or what it was like on the streets of New York City during the 1994 Stanley Cup parade.
Growing up, one of my favorite things was listening to my dad share stories about his own memories, ranging from sports to his Hess truck collection. He often talked about watching great players when he was younger, including Pelé and Mickey Mantle. He would also excitedly show me his Hess trucks, sharing with me how long he waited in line and how he always bought extra to give to my cousin as gifts.
These are core memories I value today, especially since he recently passed away on February 24th, 2024. While I may not remember every player he mentioned or what all of those Hess trucks looked like, I will always remember sitting beside him on our living room couch, listening to his stories which he was always so happy to share.
I see this product giving the next generation the same kind of meaningful memories that I carry with me today.
Where to Find
The best place to buy the retail version is directly on Upper Deck’s website. The retail version can also be found at select big box retailers where you commonly find Upper Deck products including Target and Walmart. They can also be found at hobby shops. The hobby box will be best found at hobby shops once they have been released. Upper Deck has a store locator directly on their website to find a hobby shop near you.
My Opinion
From my interview with Spiker, I was instantly impressed by his passion behind the product. Going into the interview, one of my fears was that I was going to hear a lot of “corporate answers,” and that I was going to be told things that I wanted to hear. I was quickly reminded not to judge a book by its cover as the conversation was fun, informative, and I could tell that Upper Deck took great care in making this product. Spiker was so eager to talk about the release and he really knew the ins-and-outs of this product, despite not being a fan of the team.
Overall, I believe this is going to be an extremely fun set to open at affordable pricing depending on the type of collector you are. If you have an older family member who is a Rangers fan, or a hockey fan in general, do yourself a favor and create a memory with them. I promise it is something you will learn to appreciate as the years go on.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
