Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee explained: the 600-card set
How 2025-26 O-Pee-Chee hockey is built: 500 base cards, a high series with 59 Marquee Rookies, the border and Retro parallels, and the pack formats.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 7 min read
O-Pee-Chee is Upper Deck’s big hockey set: 600 cards in one product. The 2025-26 edition splits into cards 1 to 500 and a high series from 501, which holds the season’s Marquee Rookies. Hobby packs hold one high series card each, on average. Around that sit colored border parallels, a second Retro version of the whole set, photo variants and inserts, but by Upper Deck’s checklist no patch or signed cards in packs.
How is the 2025-26 base set numbered?
In two parts, and the numbers tell you which one you have:
| Block | Card numbers | Cards | Listed rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main set | 1 to 500 | 500 | 7:1 in hobby and retail packs, 6:1 in blasters, 22:1 in fat packs |
| High series, star cards | 501 to 540 | 40 | 1:1 in hobby, 1:2 in retail and blasters, 3:1 in fat packs |
| High series, Marquee Rookies | 541 to 599 | 59 | Same as above |
| Checklist card | 600 | 1 | Same as above |
Rates are written in that notation. Upper Deck gives the high series rate two ways: one card per pack, on average, for every pack, and 1:1 only for hobby, with 1:2 for retail and blasters and 3:1 for fat packs. O-Pee-Chee is a classic-style set, the largest on the hobby market, pitched at collectors who are just starting. Cards 1 to 500 and the Marquee Rookies carry each player’s NHL team.
What is in the high series?
The high series is a 100-card subset of stars and Marquee Rookies. That 100 includes the checklist card, so the high series holds 99 player cards: 40 star cards and 59 rookies.
The Marquee Rookies are where the rookie cards are. On the 2025-26 checklist, the rookie flag sits on all 59 cards from 541 to 599 and on none of cards 1 to 500. So a base-set O-Pee-Chee card sold as a rookie should carry a number from 541 to 599. Our guide to what counts as a rookie card covers the wider question.
The 2024-25 checklist follows the same shape: 500 main-set cards, 40 star cards at 501 to 540, 59 Marquee Rookies at 541 to 599 and a checklist card at 600.
Which parallels does O-Pee-Chee have?
Mostly colored borders. There are three named parallels of the complete base set, and there are more versions than that across the 600 cards. The main border versions in 2025-26:
| Parallel | Cards covered | Numbered | Upper Deck’s listed rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Border | All 600 | No | 1:1 in blasters only |
| Blue Border | All 600 | No | 1:3 in hobby, 1:6 in retail and blasters, 1:3 in fat packs |
| Red Border | All 600 | No | 1:18 in hobby, 1:36 in retail and blasters, 1:18 in fat packs |
| Purple Border | All 600 | 49 | Hobby packs only, no rate listed |
| Red Border Blank Backs | All 600 | One of one | Hobby packs only, no rate listed |
Purple Border is hobby-exclusive. In 2024-25, the numbered border color was Orange, numbered to 25, so the colors change from year to year. Our guide to sports card parallels explains serial-numbered colors in general.
Which parallels exist only for the high series?
Four Rainbow Foil versions, all hobby-exclusive:
- Rainbow Foil: numbered to 350.
- Black Rainbow Foil: numbered to 100.
- Green Rainbow Foil: numbered to 33.
- Gold Rainbow Foil: one of one.
They cover all 100 high series cards: the 40 star cards, the 59 Marquee Rookies and the checklist card. So a Rainbow Foil card is always from the high series.
What is O-Pee-Chee Retro?
A second version of the set. Retro cards exist for every number from 1 to 600, at 1:1 in hobby, 1:2 in retail and blasters and 3:1 in fat packs. Retro has parallels of its own: Retro Black Border, numbered to 100, and unnumbered Retro Blank Backs, both in hobby packs. So the same player can turn up as a base card, a Retro card and several colors of each. Check which version a listing names, not just the number.
What else is in the packs?
Variants and inserts, from the 2025-26 checklist:
| Card type | Cards | Upper Deck’s listed rate |
|---|---|---|
| Black and White Variant | 25 | 1:288 in hobby |
| Helmet Off Photo Variant | 25 | 1:288 in hobby |
| Milestone Goals Photo Variant | 10 | 1:720 in hobby |
| Marquee Rookies Draft Photo Variant | 5 | 1:1440 in hobby |
| O-Pee-Chee Premier | 100, 15 of them flagged as rookies | 1:6 in hobby and retail, 1:12 in blasters and fat packs |
| Premier Diamond Rainbow Foilboard | 100, numbered to 75 | Hobby packs only, no rate listed |
| Premier Jumbos | 25, 10 of them rookies | 1:18 in Costco blasters |
| Frozen Digits | 20 | 1:360 in hobby |
| 3-D Marquee Rookies | 12 lenticular cards | 1:1728 in hobby |
| O-Pee-Chee Platinum Previews | 8 | Hobby packs only, no rate listed |
The photo variants carry base-set card numbers, so compare the photo with the regular card when a listing says “variant”. The Platinum Previews are named for O-Pee-Chee Platinum, a separate product whose 2025-26 checklist is dated May 6, 2026.
Are there autographs or patch cards?
Not in 2025-26 packs. The 2025-26 edition has no patch cards at all, and none of its pack inserts carries the autograph flag. That differs from how Upper Deck describes the brand, with big autographs and unique team patches. The 2024-25 edition did have two 25-card patch sets: First Round Draft Patches at 1:192 in hobby and Team Logo Patches at 1:576. So the content changes by year, and the checklist for the edition you are buying is the place to look. Our guide to patch cards and RPAs explains swatch cards.
Which formats is O-Pee-Chee sold in?
The checklist’s rate columns name five: hobby, retail, blaster, fat pack and a Costco blaster for the Premier Jumbos. The format decides what can turn up:
- Yellow Border parallels are listed only in blasters.
- Purple Border, Rainbow Foil, Blank Backs, Retro Black Border and the photo variants are listed only in hobby.
- Base cards and the Retro set are listed in hobby, retail, blaster and fat packs, at different rates.
For how many packs a box holds, read the box or ask the seller before you turn a pack rate into a box figure. Rates are averages across many packs, so any one box can differ. Our guide to hobby and retail boxes explains why formats carry different cards.
When does O-Pee-Chee come out?
Each edition carries a date in Upper Deck’s checklist archive:
| Edition | Checklist dated |
|---|---|
| 2025-26 | January 14, 2026 |
| 2024-25 | February 5, 2025 |
| 2023-24 | February 7, 2024 |
| 2022-23 | March 1, 2023 |
| 2021-22 | February 24, 2022 |
| 2020-21 | September 10, 2020 |
From 2016-17 to 2020-21, the archive dates each checklist in September. Since 2021-22, the dates fall between mid-January and early March. Our guide to Upper Deck hockey sets places O-Pee-Chee in the yearly lineup.
How to check an O-Pee-Chee card before you buy
- Read the card number. 1 to 500 is the main set; 501 to 540 is a star card in the high series; 541 to 599 is a Marquee Rookie.
- Read the set name. Base, Retro and Premier cards can show the same player.
- Match the border color and any serial number to the parallel table above. A number out of 49 on a purple border fits Purple Border.
- For a “variant”, find its exact name on the checklist and compare the photo with the regular card.
- Measure the borders with our centering checker, which shows the CGC and SGC grades a centering split allows.
- Price the exact version from recent sales, as our guide to finding what a card sold for explains.
Rip.fan’s card price lookup covers English Pokémon cards only, so sold listings are where to price O-Pee-Chee. If you sell on Whatnot, the seller fee calculator shows what you keep after its fees. Our guide to reading a sports card checklist covers the marks and layouts checklists use, and our guides to Young Guns, SP Authentic and Upper Deck Artifacts cover more Upper Deck hockey. The sports cards hub lists the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the star cards in the 2025-26 O-Pee-Chee high series?
4 Nations Face-Off stars. Upper Deck built that subset from those players and the season's Marquee Rookies only.
Which rookies are in 2025-26 O-Pee-Chee 3-D Marquee Rookies?
Ivan Demidov, Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, Easton Cowan and Zeev Buium are among them, on lenticular cards with numbers from 3D-AL to 3D-ZB.
Who is in 2025-26 O-Pee-Chee Frozen Digits?
Stars numbered FD-1 to FD-20, starting with Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Kirill Kaprizov and Connor McDavid, and ending with Artemi Panarin.