Flair is the latest brand of hockey cards from the 1990s to make a comeback. Flair was a brand of premium hockey cards made by Fleer, first during the 1994-95 season and then again in 1996-97. The 1994-95 Flair set perhaps best known for its use of thick, glossy cardstock and the abundance of photos – two on the front and one on the back. Now made by Upper Deck, the 2025-26 Flair set uses a design evocative of its 1994-95 predecessor. The set also reprises a few 1994-95 Flair insert sets such as “Hot Numbers,” “Center Spotlight,” and “Scoring Power.”
A box of 2025-26 Flair Hockey cards costs around $230 and contains 10 packs. Each pack has 4 cards. I recently opened a box of 2025-26 Flair Hockey. Let’s see what was inside.
30 Base Cards
Each pack of Flair contained three base cards – either base veteran cards (numbered 1-150) or base rookie cards (numbered 151-200). Cards have two photos of the player on the front – one action photo and one closeup photo. The player’s name and Flair logo are embossed in gold foil.
Card backs have a third photo of the player, along with stats from the 2024-25 season, career totals, and vitals like height and weight.
Rookie cards are not short printed. At first, I thought they were one per pack. But I ended up getting 8 rookie cards and 22 veteran cards. Figuring that the rookies account for the last 25% of the set, you should expect that roughly 25% of the base cards (7 or 8) in a box would be rookies.
If the rookie player didn’t have any NHL games last season, the stats and totals are from the last team and league they played for. For example, on Michael Misa’s card, it shows his 2024-25 stats with the Saginaw Spirt, as well as his totals in the OHL.
In addition to three base cards, each pack also had one additional card – either a parallel, insert, or hit.
3 Parallel Cards
Flair has numerous parallels sets, including 1993 Retro (numbered to 93), Backcheck (numbered to 199), Forecheck (numbered to 349), Blue Ice (numbered to 49), Spectrum (numbered to 5), and Backcheck Spectrum (numbered to 1). I got three parallels in my box.
2 Backcheck Parallel Cards /199
I got two Backcheck Parallels, which use purple (magenta?) foil instead of gold foil and are numbered out of 199. The two Backcheck Parallels in my box are Red Wings winger Lucas Raymond and Sharks rookie center Cam Lund.
1 Forecheck Parallel Card /349
The third parallel in my box is a Forecheck Parallel, which uses green foil instead of gold foil and is numbered out of 349. The Forecheck Parallel I got was center Aliaksei Protas of the Capitals.
Insert Cards
I got 6 insert cards in my box.
3 Hot Hues Insert Cards
Hot Hues cards superimpose a player against a color from that player’s team, along with logos, mascots, or other elements from that team. The three Hot Hues cards I got were of Seth Jarvis (Hurricanes), Timo Meier (Devils), and Chandler Stephenson (Kraken). Supposedly, you get one of these in every 8 packs, but somehow, I got three of them in my 10-pack box.
1 Scoring Power Insert Card
Scoring Power was a 1994-95 Flair insert set that was reprised for 2025-26. The one Scoring Power card I got was of Robert Thomas of the Blues. You find Scoring Power cards about one per box.
1 Artistic Flair Insert Card
Artistic Flair cards feature an etched-foil rendition of a popular NHL player, bordered by a gold frame. Yes, these are kind of gaudy, but they are totally 1990s, so we’ll allow it. Artistic Flair cards are found one in every 125 packs – or about one in every 13 boxes.
1 Flash and Flair (Flash) Insert Card
There are two types of Flash and Flair insert cards: Flash and Flair (Flair), which are found one in 250 packs, and Flash and Flair (Flash), which are found one in 40 packs. These cards are die-cut and printed on clear PETG plastic, much like a Clear Cut card is. The (Flash) and (Flair) cards of the same player fit into each other, kind of like puzzle pieces. These cards also feature rainbow holofoil ink on the front. I got Kirill Kaprizov Flash and Flair (Flash) in my box. This is really a cool insert set – and if the (Flair) half of these diptychs weren’t found one in every 25 boxes, I’d want to track down all of them.
And Finally – the “Hit”
I did not get any autographs, but my box did have a 1/1 “hit.”
1/1 Black Printing Plate
For the most part, Printing Plates are nice when I get them, but I never really hope for one in my box. Unless it is of a player I collect – and it usually isn’t – Printing Plates just get tossed aside in my collection until I eventually can trade them for something I like better. I’m glad that I at least got a Black Printing Plate, as those tend to look much nicer than the other colors.
If you like premium hockey cards – especially those that feel 1990s but use modern technology – then 2025-26 Flair Hockey is definitely worth a look. The price is steep, but the cards are awesome. Autographs are found about one in every 25 packs (one in three boxes), so as long as every box does have an alternative hit, such as a printing plate or a really low-numbered insert, then it might be worth the risk. You also get 7 or 8 rookie cards per box, which is more than a hobby box of Upper Deck Series Two. Still, paying about $23 for four cards – about $5.75 per card – is a tough pill to swallow. Then again, you do get what you pay for, and 2025-26 Flair cards look great.
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