Cards per pack: Hobby – 7
Packs per box: Hobby – 15
Boxes per case: Hobby – 16
Set size: 200 cards
Box Break:
1998-99 Metal Universe Retro – 3
All-Starring, Jarring or Metal One – 1 Total
Aspects, Bottle Rockets, Flash the Glove or Rookie Aspects – 5 Total
SkyBox Premium Prospects – 3
The House, Palladium or Hardware – 1 Total
2022-23 SkyBox Metal Universe Hockey takes to the solar system for a release that has its typical punches of nostalgia. However, the brand is increasing carving out some fresh angles with new insert sets and updated designs for familiar ones.
While collectors will find plenty of variety in every hobby box, autographs and memorabilia cards aren’t guaranteed. There are several places to find signatures, however most are on the tough side.
2022-23 SkyBox Metal Universe Hockey Checklist Overview
The main set is 200 total cards, the first half of which are standard base cards. The remaining 100 are split evenly between Stars and Rookies subsets. Technically, these subsets are short prints but with one of each per hobby pack, they shouldn’t be tough to track down.
Precious Metal Gems are back representing the base set parallels. Green PMGs have ten copies each while Red have 90. Mimicking the original 1997-98 Metal Universe Basketball set, both are numbered to 100 with Green taking up the first 10 spots and Red getting copies 11-100. The ultimate PMG chase comes with one-of-one Gold versions.
Printing Plates are also available for the base set.
Select base cards also have three levels of autographs: Silver FX Auto (base – 1:100 hobby packs, Stars – 1:600 hobby packs, Rookies – /399 or /199), Green FX Auto (/10) and Gold FX Auto (1/1).
Inserts
One of the cornerstones of modern Metal Universe sets is Jambalaya. The iconic insert set is back, keeping with its extremely scarce nature at 1:960 packs. The layout remains similar with its round, die-cut shape. However, the interior design has been updated to add some freshness and continuity.
Other tough inserts on the 2022-23 SkyBox Metal Universe Hockey checklist include Hardware (1:150 hobby packs), Hot Numbers (1:240 hobby packs), Hot Shots (1:600 hobby packs), Linchpins (1:300 hobby packs), Metal Ore (1:75 hobby packs), Metal-X (1:240 hobby packs) and Tetrad (1:300 hobby packs).
All-Staring (1:32 hobby packs) draw their inspiration from movie posters. Gold versions are numbered to 99 while autographs have 25 copies.
Palladium (1:50 hobby packs) returns with an acetate-style design.
Cache is one of several new insert sets in the product. The theme for these is connected to precious metals. Base versions are 1:24 hobby packs with additional Gold (/100) and Platinum (/15) versions also available.
Other debuting inserts include Aspects (1:15 hobby packs), Rookie Aspects (1:30 hobby packs), Bottle Rockets (1:10 hobby packs), Flash the Glove (1:7.5 hobby packs) and The House (1:25 hobby packs).
Rookies are featured in both SkyBox Premium Prospects (1:5 hobby packs) and 1998-99 SkyBox Premium Prospects Retro (1:5 hobby packs). Star Rubies (/50) and Star Diamonds (1/1) are among the parallels. Non-Retro cards also have Star Emeralds (/10) and Star Emeralds Autograph (/25) versions.
Retro Inserts
While much of the 2022-23 SkyBox Metal Universe Hockey checklist uses new designs, there are a couple throwback places as well.
These start with 1998-99 Metal Universe Retros. Base versions are 1:5 hobby packs or approximate three per box. Parallels include Purple Spectrum (/199), Precious Metal Gems Red (90 copies, #011-100/100), Precious Metal Gems Green (10 copies, #001-010/100) and Gold Precious Metal Gems (1/1).
2013 Metal Universe cards use a familiar design, but these use illustrations instead of photos. This can be seen as a nod to 2013 Fleer Retro Marvel. These are extremely tough at 1:240 packs. Parallels follow the same PMG patch as the base set and 1998-99 Retro inserts.
