Master Set Collectors on E4

General
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Hey Everyone!!
I am really curious to know how many of you on the forum that are Master Set Binder Collectors.
I feel like I only know a few people and would like to hear from the rest of you! :blush:

  1. Sets completed?
  2. What conditions do you go for?
  3. Do you open product or meh just buy the singles?
  4. What do you use to catalog?
  5. Favorite binders or sleeves?
  6. Do you collect both English and Japanese or just one?

Iā€™ll start :grin:

  1. Completed: EX Deoxys, Stormfront, Rising Rivals, Supreme Victors, Roaring Skies, Generations, Fate Collide, Evolutions, Sun & Moon,
    Guardians Rising, Burning Shadows, Shining Legends, and Crimson Invasion.
  2. I do my best to go for NM
  3. Meh just buy the singles
  4. I have my own spreadsheet
  5. Dex binders and clear Ultra Pro sleeves
  6. I collect both! 0 completed in Japanese sets :slightly_frowning_face:
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I collect high psa grades for only my favorite species! Besides that Iā€™m working on a complete pokedex raw NM and misc cards that I think are cool. I wouldnā€™t consider myself to be too ā€œtop tierā€ but I like the cards I have and for me only getting psa graded cards for the species I like the most allows me to get actual high grades of them

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Binder master sets are the best!

  1. Sets completed?

None yet if including all variants.
Approximately this in terms of progress:

  1. What conditions do you go for?

NM-M generally and more picky when it comes to the really inexpensive stuff.

  1. Do you open product or meh just buy the singles?

Opening product is fun but better off buying collections, bulk and singles. Trading duplicates with other master set collectors is extremely helpful and fun.

  1. What do you use to catalog?

Pokellector but will be switching over to @saber 's spreadsheets since a lot of the reverses are missing from the older sets.

  1. Favorite binders or sleeves?

Binders: Dex 9 but wish I had gone with something from Ultra Pro instead. The white Dex 9s that I started with are often out of stock.

Sleeves: KMC perfect fit inside black KMC mattes

I am currently using small FedEx boxes as binder sleeves since I was unable to find a nice plastic option:

My temporary solution until I get enough Dex binders:

  1. Do you collect both English and Japanese or just one?

English only. All sets including promos.

When organizing:
Old sets: 1st edition in order on front of pages and unlimited directly behind them
New Sets: Regular versions on the front and reverses behind the corresponding card
Any alternate versions just go at the end of the set.

Edit for non-set items:

I toss all my spare mawiles into a binder:

I also have a small binder where I stick all the signed cards from e4 people that I have traded or purchased from.

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This is something Ive always wanted to do but I keep putting it off with new graded wants. I do plan on master set collecting sooner rather than later. This could be a really interesting thread looking forward to seeing all of the responses.

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Very cool my friend. Keep it up!

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  1. Sets completed?

1st Edition Neo Genesis, Unlimited Neo Genesis, Japanese Gold, Silver, to a New Worldā€¦, Miscellaneous Neo Genesis Promos

  1. What conditions do you go for?

Near Mint+/Mint

  1. Do you open product or meh just buy the singles?

Singles

  1. What do you use to catalog?

Bulbapedia/Excel

  1. Favorite binders or sleeves?

Ultra Pro Poke Ball 2" 3-Ring Binder
Ultra Pro 9-Pocket Platinum Pages
Pokemon Organized Play EX Unseen Forces Lugia/Ho-Oh Sleeves
KMC Perfect Fit Sleeves

  1. Do you collect both English and Japanese or just one?

Both

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  1. Sets completed?
    (Iā€™m stretching this a bit just so I have more to say lol)
    Base Set 1st & unlimited, Jungle 1st & unlimited, Fossil unlimited, Team Rocket unlimited, Neo Genesis unlimited, Neo Discovery unlimited, Neo Destiny unlimited, ex Dragon reverse, ex Deoxys reverse, ex Dragon Frontiers, and then most Diamond & Peal-onward sets.

  2. What conditions do you go for?
    Near mint, but Iā€™ll include LP and make a note so I can replace them as I find better conditions.

  3. Do you open product or just buy the singles?
    I buy singles for old sets, but Iā€™ll open packs of sets as they come out.

  4. What do you use to catalog?
    I have a google docs sheet of what I need.

  5. Favorite binders or sleeves?
    Ultra pro perfect fits, and small 3-ring binders with black ultra pro pages. Theyā€™re a little more rigid and wide enough that the cards wonā€™t slip on top of the rings.

  6. Do you collect both English and Japanese or just one?
    Just English sets right now, but eventually Iā€™d like to finish the Japanese sets, at least in 1st Edition as they seem more available as a whole than unlimited sets.

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lol! You got some good sets taken care of already! When did you complete those Wotc sets?

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@saber Thank you! I finished most of them a few years back, and Iā€™m very close on most other sets.

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Fantastic thread @saber, not enough talk about set collecting here on E4 so great to hear everyone elseā€™s stories and progress :blush:

Hereā€™s mine:

  1. Sets completed?

**12 regular sets - Base Set (Unl), Jungle (Unl), Fossil (Unl), Base Set 2, Team Rocket (Unl), Gym Heroes (Unl), Gym Challenge (Unl), Neo Genesis (Unl), Neo Discovery (Unl), Neo Revelations (Unl), Neo Destiny (Unl).

10 promo sets - WOTC Black Star Promos, Southern Islands, Best of Game, POP Series 9, Detective Pikachu, McDonalds (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019)

I do have the majority of most of the Sun & Moon and XY sets, none completed though. Iā€™ve got a couple of bundles of about 5,500-6,000 cards to go through, but Iā€™m expecting to be at about 55% of all 23,534 English cards (all the cards in my Spreadsheet at the moment).**

  1. What conditions do you go for?

I try to go for at least VG-EX, but better where possible. Similar to others if I have any that fall shorter than that, Iā€™m going to list them for replacement.

  1. Do you open product or meh just buy the singles?

Iā€™ve been buying a lot of bulk, then buying singles. I do buy packs when I go to the supermarket, but not often. I bought my first booster box (Sword & Shield) the other day and that was quite fun! Financially though once you have over 50% of the set it makes the most sense to buy singles/small bulk of what you need.

  1. What do you use to catalog?

I use my custom made Spreadsheet that I basically scraped all the set information from Bulbapedia including the additional cards, then added the reverse holos.

  1. Favorite binders or sleeves?

I use Ultra Pro Pro Binder Eclipse and at the moment I just use Ultra Pro Penny Sleeves. I do want to swap with Dragon Shield Black Matte though eventually, but thatā€™s an expensive jump (but the black sleeves in the black backed binder look really smart).

  1. Do you collect both English and Japanese or just one?

I collect only English cards.

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Time to rattle the cage:

What is a Master Set? Going back to this thread. Do all of you follow the same path for Master Set or all have their own idea about what a master set is?

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Haha my thread :blush:

I think @credit sums it up nicely in that thread:

Master set = every card & variant with the symbol from that set

Full (or complete) set = every card obtainable from booster packs

Just no error cards :blush:

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I would consider a master set to be everything normally pulled from the pack including reverses and secrets. Maybe the next level with errors, alternates from theme decks, play promos, etcā€¦ should be called a master set +.

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I still have my complete unlimited Base Set, Jungle, Fossil and Base Set 2 from my childhood. I recently decided to go for the complete Unbroken Bonds set, and upon completing the 415 card set Iā€™ve made the decision to never go after a complete set ever again. There are just far too many cards in each set for it to be enjoyable, especially as most of the cards feel like they were only added to bulk out the booster packs.

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Thatā€™s where bulk buys and trading helps a ton. :wink:

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Oh definitely. The main problem I had with Unbroken Bonds is that there were no cards that really stood out as anything special. I feel like thatā€™s an issue I have with modern sets in general. I miss the days where it felt good to pull a holofoil card.

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Iā€™m not doing Master Sets, but I want to try for complete sets for as many as I can finish (i.e. unlimited sets for WotC/complete without reverse holos for Nintendo).

So far I have completed:

Base
Shadowless Base
Jungle
Fossil
Base 2
Gym Heroes
Gym Challenge
Team Rocket
Legendary Collection
Neo Genesis
Neo Discovery
Neo Revelations
Neo Destiny
Expedition
Aquapolis
Skyridge

Working on: all EX era sets slowly

I try for NM or better but have some leeway for higher end cards, just want it to look nice in my binders.

Always open 1 box of new sets when they come out but obviously buy singles for old sets.

I catalog on paper with hand written lists of what I need.

Donā€™t have a binder/sleeve preference currently. Probably Ultra Pro pages in whatever 1" D-ring white binder I can find.

I collect English sets + Japanese exclusive Pikachu promos

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I collect a mix of full and masters. Full when the masters cards are a nuisance to get lol. But Iā€™ll probably aim for more masters eventually.

  1. Sets completed?
    WOTC mix of full and masters. Missing too many e-series reverses and some Base 1st holos.

  2. What conditions do you go for?
    Minimum PSA 8 quality.

  3. Do you open product or meh just buy the singles?
    Just buy the singles, often graded at this point.

  4. What do you use to catalog?
    Note app in my phone so I can cross something off if I buy it online on my phone

  5. Favorite binders or sleeves?
    Similar to you I use KMC perfect fit inside KMC ultra black, Ultra Pro different color binders. They are often big enough for multiple sets or else Iā€™d use your awesome idea of set logos on the side!

  6. Do you collect both English and Japanese or just one?
    Just English

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Do you collect sets post WOTC?