Master Set Question

[jwlawrence06]

What is the hobby definition of 'Master Set'? Is this 1 copy of every card (base, insert, parallel, auto, mem)? Does this include 1-of-1's? Anyone out there working on master sets? I'm just curious about this because I have collected a few 'base' sets (as I term them) that includes just base and non-numbered inserts but I wouldn't mind taking a crack at a master set if I really liked a release.

[jplcom]

My take on it is having an example of every card from the base set, insert sets, and parallel (serial numbered or not) sets. Until parallels that included 1/1 came out, these were possible to attain.

With the advent of 1/1 cards, my view is having the above then one 1/1 card as an example. I'd probably leave off parallels that are /5 or /10 and just keep one example of them.


I'm going for a master set now of 1999 Finest. It includes all sorts of fun stuff and no card serial numbered lower than /22 which I think is reasonable. Now I go beyond that by trying to collect promos from the set as well as oddballs like printing errors and miscut cards. Maybe someday I'll be in the supercollector HoF :)

Good luck on your master set building and hope to see it posted here!

[jwlawrence06]

Thanks for the response. I am a little curious about when you say 'one example of every card'. If an insert set had 20 cards (let's call it TEST insert, cards #1-20), and 4 parallels (so base, red #/50, white #/25, blue #/10, gold/ #1), would the master set mean I need:

For cards 1-20, the base version (one of each, cards 1-20), one of the reds (so 20 reds total, 1 for each of the cards 1-20), one of the whites (so 20 whites total, 1 for each of the cards 1-20), one of the blues (so 20 blues total, 1 for each of the cards 1-20), and one of the golds (so all of the golds total)? Or am I imagining it to be way more advanced than it really is (because particularly with recent releases that would be darn near close to impossible!)?

Also, are you jplarson on beckett? You have the 'the finest mail days' thread? I've been reading that regularly, solid thread if it is you!

My take on it is having an example of every card from the base set, insert sets, and parallel (serial numbered or not) sets. Until parallels that included 1/1 came out, these were possible to attain.

With the advent of 1/1 cards, my view is having the above then one 1/1 card as an example. I'd probably leave off parallels that are /5 or /10 and just keep one example of them.


I'm going for a master set now of 1999 Finest. It includes all sorts of fun stuff and no card serial numbered lower than /22 which I think is reasonable. Now I go beyond that by trying to collect promos from the set as well as oddballs like printing errors and miscut cards. Maybe someday I'll be in the supercollector HoF :)

Good luck on your master set building and hope to see it posted here!

[jplcom]

Thanks for the response. I am a little curious about when you say 'one example of every card'. If an insert set had 20 cards (let's call it TEST insert, cards #1-20), and 4 parallels (so base, red #/50, white #/25, blue #/10, gold/ #1), would the master set mean I need:

For cards 1-20, the base version (one of each, cards 1-20), one of the reds (so 20 reds total, 1 for each of the cards 1-20), one of the whites (so 20 whites total, 1 for each of the cards 1-20), one of the blues (so 20 blues total, 1 for each of the cards 1-20), and one of the golds (so all of the golds total)? Or am I imagining it to be way more advanced than it really is (because particularly with recent releases that would be darn near close to impossible!)?

Also, are you jplarson on beckett? You have the 'the finest mail days' thread? I've been reading that regularly, solid thread if it is you!

Yeah to clarify, so let's use 2010 Finest as an example. The base set is 125 cards. There's also Refractor, Xfractor /399, Black Refractor /99, Gold Refractor /50, Red Refractor /25, Mosaic Refractor /10, and Superfractors /1.... as well as the associated printing plates. I would complete the entire 125 card sets for base and Refractors #/25 and above. Then I would get 1 of a Mosaic Refractor and 1 Superfractor as an example of the whole set that would be nearly impossible to complete. Ditto with printing plates, I'd get one of a cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (doesn't have to be the same player) as examples for the whole set.

On SFC the criteria is the following:

#1- Completed Master Set
If you have completed an entire master set, (this means having the entire set, and 1 level of inserts and parallels). We will not accept master sets that have under 200 cards in quantity, or that do not have various insert/parallel sets. In addition, a complete checklist must be submitted, as well as pictures featuring more prominent cards.

I take that to mean completing the base set plus refractor set, on top of the requisite inserts and such. For my example, I think it would mean:

Base set (125)
Refractor set (125)
Finest Atomic Rookies (25)
Finest Moments (25)
Finest Moments Autographs (25)
Rookie Autograph Patch (25)
Dual Jersey Autograph (50)

It's possible they also want 1 level of parallels for the inserts, which would mean Finest Atomic Rookies Gold /25 (25), Rookie Autograph Patch Refractors /99 (25), and Dual Jersey Autograph Refractors /99 (25). But I haven't gone down that road yet. I hope I was able to articulate my thoughts better, I was a bit rushed yesterday and probably had a more complete thought in my head as opposed to what I posted.

And I'm glad you are liking the Finest maildays thread :)!! I am the same guy over there on Beckett. If you were curious, please feel free to visit my other Finest set collections: http://jplarson.com/cards.html