The 2024-25 Credentials hockey card set was released in mid-July 2025, a good month after the ’24-25 season ended. A hobby box of 2024-25 Credentials has eight packs, with each pack containing six cards, for a total of 48 cards. When the set originally debuted, it was around $125 per box. The price dropped by the end of 2025 to about $110 per box, but as of this writing has climbed back up to about $120 per box.
Anyway, I recently opened a hobby box of 2024-25 Credentials Hockey. Let’s see what was inside.
28 Base Cards
While the previous year’s Credentials set had a 1990s aesthetic, the 2024-25 Credentials design looks modern and high-tech. The design features a player photo cut out and superimposed over a white, black, and light blue background with a team logo that blends into…well, I’m not sure what that is supposed to be, but it looks technical and computer-y. The player’s name, team name, and Credentials logo are foil-embossed in the lower right corner. It’s a clean, eye-catching design.
Card backs are about what you’d expect: the same photo but smaller, vitals like height and weight, up to four years of stats, and career totals. It’s not too busy and is actually quite legible.
The first 100 cards comprise the base set. Each pack had three or four base cards, for a total of 28 base cards. None were doubles of each other.
1 Blue Parallel
Blue Parallels are numbered out of 299. I got Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres.
Forutnately, all parallel cards now have the name of the parallel somewhere on the back. As you can see, this one is labeled “Blue” at the bottom.
2 Debut Ticket Access /999
Cards 101-150 are “Debut Ticket Access” and feature rookies from the 2024-25 season. DTA cards are serial numbered out of 999. My box had two DTA RCs: Zachary L’Heureux (Predators) and Jesper Wallstedt (Wild).
1 Debut Ticket Access Horizontal Parallel
The same 50 Debut Ticket Access cards have Horizontal Parallels, which are found 1:9 packs. The Horizontal DTA Parallel I got was Gavin Brindley of the Blue Jackets.
Insert Cards
1 Acetate Debut Ticket Access /199
Considered inserts as they are not a part of the set, Acetate Debut Ticket Access cards are printed on clear PTG plastic and are serial numbered out of 199. The Acetate DTA card in my box is of Nolan Allan of the Blackhawks. He was recently traded to the Sharks.
2 That’s a Hatty
“That’s a Hatty” inserts picture players who scored hat tricks. These are found two per box, on average. The two I got were Zach Hyman (Oilers) and Jason Robertson (Stars).
2 Jumping on the Ice
Found one in every three packs. “Jumping on the Ice” cards feature some of the NHL’s most-exciting young players. I got two “Jumping on the Ice” inserts in my box: Will Smith (Sharks) and Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets).
4 Front Row Talent
“Front Row Talent” cards are found 1:2 packs. If I had to guess, I’d say these cards focus on “top six” forwards; that is, players who are on a team’s top two lines.
What makes “Front Row Talent” unique is that this insert set is a mix of vertical and horizontal cards. Have fun putting THAT SET into pages. In addition to Kent Johnson (Bue Jackets) and Alex DeBrincat (Red Wings), I also got “Front Row Talent” cards of Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche) and Travis Konecny (Flyers).
2 Cheered to the Rafters
I’m not quite sure what the point of “Cheered to the Rafters” cards are all about, as usually it is jersey numbers or championships that get put on banners that get raised to the rafters. These cards appear to talk about a standout game or such that the player had the previous season. Found 1:4 packs, the two “Cheered to the Rafters” cards I got were Wyatt Johnston (Stars) and Jared Spurgeon (Wild).
1 Bobbleheads
Now this is cool! It shows a player depicted as a bobblehead and standing on a bubble hockey game. OK – the optics don’t quite work. Is the player leaning against the dome? How is he balancing on skates along the edge of the rink? And why are the control rods on the sides of the game? This is another fine example of a great insert that Upper Deck almost gets right. “Bobbleheads” are not serial numbered but are limited to between 100 and 750 copies each. This Evgeni Malkin “Bobbleheads” insert is limited to 750. These appear to be one of the tougher pulls, as it is not stated how frequently these are found in packs of Credentials.
1 Milestone Pucks
“Milestone Pucks,” on the other hand, are found 1:7 packs. I got Connor Bedard (Blackhawks), who is showing off the puck from his first career NHL goal.
1 Frozen Fights
Also found 1:7 packs, “Frozen Fight” show two players facing off on the front. The back gives a recap of how those players did in a game against each other.
1 Speed of the Game
I can only assume that “Speed of the Game” is an insert set of fast skaters. The insert I got was Jason Robertson (Stars). “Speed of the Game Rookies” are found 1:11 packs, while “Speed of the Game Stars” – as in star NHL players, and not necessarily Dallas Stars – are found 1:32 packs. That’s about one in every four boxes.
And the Hit…
1 2023-24 Debut Ticket Access Auto Yellow /49
2024-25 Credentials has “update” Debut Ticket Access autographed cards from 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 – and in all different color variations. The one in my box is a 2023-24 Debut Ticket Access Auto Yellow of Ottawa Senators goalie Leevi Merilainen, serial numbered 15/49. Merilainen has split this season between Ottawa and the Belleville Senators of the AHL. He has also played for Finland’s junior team at the U-20 World Junior Championship in 2022. It’s not the most exciting autograph to get, but it is nicely signed on card in blue Sharpie marker.
I like that you get one autograph and two serial-numbered Debut Ticket Access rookie cards in a box of 2024-25 Credential Hockey. Plus, you get one rare serial-numbered card, such as the nice-looking Acetate Debut Ticket Access card that was in my box, as well as 12 inserts. While most of the inserts don’t really raise my pulse, I really like the base card design. In fact, the Credentials base set designs from the past few seasons have been pretty good. What tempers my enthusiasm is that there are a lot of “update cards” from prior years in 2024-25 Credentials. Thus, you may hope to get a signed rookie card of a player from the 2024-25 season but end up getting a signed card from a prior season. That means the autograph that you get might be a guy who is already playing in Europe or is buried in the minors.
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