Tips for Finishing Master Set

Hey everyone, now that I’m jumping into the hobby my starting goal is to work towards collecting a Master Set of Fusion Strike. Was curious what tips people have for pursuing a master set in an efficient manner (pack opening fun vs. buying singles), and how you might approach finding all the reverse holos of common/uncommon cards. Thanks in advance!

Buying singles is much more price efficient. Your best bet is to just build a cart with everything on TCGPlayer and/or Troll & Toad. Everything should be pretty much mint given that the set just came out.

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It’s pretty binary, singles make the final price go down and packs make the final price go up. Just adjust after how much fun you want to have and/or can afford.

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As @zorloth said, financially you are better off just buying the singles. However, I can understand the desire to find a way to have fun opening packs. Personally I like to open 1-2 booster boxes of each set. Then if and when I decide to go for a master set I’ll just buy the rest of the set as singles. I like this approach since I get the experience of opening the set and there’s a chance I’ll get some of the chase cards in the packs I open. Again though, it’s cheaper to just buy the singles, and it’s definitely the option to take if you don’t place much value on the opening experience.

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Depending on your budget, usually buying singles 6+ months out from set release is the most price efficient. Opening packs for chase cards can get pretty aggravating - looking at you Chilling Reign and RR Vivid Pikachu.

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My suggestion is open up a few packs, somewhere between 1 and 36, then buy the rest of the singles you need. Troll and Toad minimum price is $0.20 per card. Opening pack 1 you get 10 unique cards, so that is $2 of master set value right there, plus any extra value in the reverse holo or rare slot.

I agree with the suggestion of loading your Troll and Toad card of every single in the set. Then figure saving 5% off using code TCA5.

Buying singles is the most economical option. I recommend TCGPlayer if cost is your main concern rather than time. Adding several hundred cards to the TCGPlayer cart can be time consuming but worth it when costs can get as low as $0.02 per card. On Troll and Toad its much easier to add large amounts of cards to the cart but the minimum price is $0.20 per card. However, I have had nothing but terrible experiences with Troll and Toad so I do not recommend them. Their cards are stored and shipped improperly and arrive more often than not in undesirable condition.

The best time to buy modern bulk (c/u/r/h/rh) imo is a few weeks after set release. This is when the cards are most mint. The longer you wait from a set release, the less pack-fresh the cards sitting in a seller’s inventory become. Waiting a few weeks from release allows prices to settle from prerelease highs, though you trade missing the entire dip for your best chance at pack-fresh cards and not just “NM” copies.

Depending on how much you are willing to spend, you may want to wait and watch the market to pick up the ultra rares, full arts, rainbows, secrets and alts. These prices can be much more resilient than bulk prices (not surprisingly). I am personally not 100% comfortable buying many of these cards across all SwSh era sets. I feel prices can come down further on most items, and even if they don’t, ultra rares are usually kept in better condition than bulk - I feel confident in finding pack-fresh copies in the future, so I’d rather wait and see where prices stabilize.

If you aren’t concerned about cost, completing modern sets simply comes down to how much you are willing to spend. For Fusion Strike, my advice would be to buy all c/u/r/h/rh and standard v/vmax’s right now (but pass on Mew V/VMAX, Genesect V and Gengar V/VMAX - I think prices are too high relative to supply) and evaluate what full arts, rainbows, secrets and alts you’re comfortable buying at current prices. But take trends into account and realize buying some of these cards now might mean they drop 50% over the coming 6 months/year.

My advice is to always start with the most expensive cards first! If you decide to go in a different direction down the road with your collection, or if you simply get behind/get bored, you’re going to benefit the most from having the expensive/most desirable cards. Even with completed sets, most people buying to resell will give bulk value at most to the non-chase cards in a set.

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I am very happy I did this for my French/German/Italian sets. Having the gold stars before the covid price hike saved me a pretty penny :blush:

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That’s another great point. The cards most likely to go up over time are the most expensive ones. A $0.50 card becoming a dollar won’t keep you from collecting. A $100 card becoming $200 might! Especially multiplied over a set, or several sets, or a whole generation of sets. Buying the good stuff first is a hedge in this hobby where historically, the cards are still increasing over time faster than the purchasing power of a dollar!

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Opening up packs is super fun and exciting, especially if its a new set. That being said, it is quite expensive. Echoing what everyone else has said, singles are the cheapest way to finish a master set, but I would still buy and open some packs on your own. Personally, I like buying ETBs b/c they look cool and have a decent number of packs. They also come with a set list which helps with finishing a set.

I usually buy several boxes on release to open for fun and out of hope to pull a heavy hitter to reduce the coming singles bill. Then I buy singles over time. One perk of opening boxes is you get duplicates you can trade. For reverse holos I buy those online or trade.

Sometimes I do just buy the full set straight away. I did this with the Japanese 25th Anniversary Promo set since opening 1-card, searchable packs to complete a set sounded miserable. And I do love the set very much, but there is something to be said for having a few cards within your master set that you pulled yourself, even if they aren’t rare.

As Charlie mentioned, go for the heavy hitters first (though for modern, maybe wait until newly released prices stabilize depending on your perspective). I “worked my way up” with Base 1st Ed. (non-holo set first, then picked up the cheaper holos over the years, then started looking for the pricier holos) instead of “working my way down” value wise. Big mistake!

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Completely agreed with the above advice (buy the most expensive cards first).

1st Ed Base Charizard is literally the only graded card from 1st Ed Base that I own. I went right for the most expensive one as a hedge against presumed future growth. Eventually I’ll fill out the rest of that set, but it’s nice to know I have the toughest one out of the way already. If I decide not to go for that set in the future, it’ll certainly be easier to sell one high-end card rather than 50 commons/uncommons.

The only difference with modern is the chase cards tend to go down in price after initial release. So you really will want to wait a few months before you start picking them up.

As said already, singles is most efficient, packs is most fun if you’re a degenerate gambler like myself.

Usually I would also agree with buying the expensive cards first. However with this being a very new set, prices are going to continue dropping across the board for awhile, so I wouldn’t sweat the chase cards too much yet.

All the above advice is great, it’s really a matter of finding the right combination (packs v singles) that works for you. With modern sets like Fusion Strike, what I like to do is purchase 2 booster boxes, 4 ETB’s, and 1 of each collection type box related to the set that I can get my hands on. 1 booster box and 2 ETB’s go directly to storage. I crack everything else. Depending on the set, you’re anywhere from 60-80% complete. Sell off all dupes right away to take advantage of new release inflation. And now you patiently wait. But while waiting, pick up whatever Rev Holos and random cards you need to fill in your checklist from TCG Player. I wait until 2 weeks after the next expansion set is released and that’s when I pounce on everything else I need, starting with the most expensive first and working your way down. Of course, if you find a great deal on the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th priciest cards, then it’s a no brainer, snatch those up. You’ll find yourself hunting one thing and finding great deals on other things, be open to adding those other things if they’re a steal. Never sacrifice quality over cost. Try not to say, “I’m going to get this sets #1 chase card for 30% off because it has a little issue”. Trust me, you will eventually hate it and regret it and end up buying the qual anyways down the road. Don’t be afraid to ask sellers to scan potential buys with an online centering tool. and don’t be afraid to be a tough negotiator. Never pay asking price, there’s always wiggle room. Hope this helps and good luck.

I would just slightly counter the general narrative of this thread and say that a combination of pack opening and buying singles will be most efficient.
The first pack you open, every card you pull will be one you need plus you have a shot at pulling a card that would otherwise be an expensive single. The second pack you open will be also mostly cards you need but you might hit duplicate commons. Continuing to open packs will result in diminishing returns. There’s probably a non-zero number of packs to open before you start buying singles to optimize cost. I couldn’t tell you how many though - maybe something like 1 ETB?

Another consideration is that if you want a true Master Set that includes promos, it might be worth it to get the checklane blisters - that way, you get the guaranteed promos you need in addition to the packs

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This only pans out if the cost basis of the packs is low enough to drop below the junk singles. Unless you’re buying commons and uncommons at retail, I can’t imagine how that would be the case.

Getting a C/UC set on a facebook group or something is going to be non-negligibly cheaper than packs at $4. Even on your first pack. Or even at $3.33 with the 3 for 10 that some LGS do.

Heck, FB is probably your best shot for finishing sets even if you bought every single card in the entire set there.

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OP, for what it’s worth: I have this problem right now with a few of the WOTC sets I’m trying to complete. If I had followed churlockers advice (expensive cards first), I’d be much better off. The cards I have left to complete my sets range between 300 -1500 USD. Each.

Just open packs lol

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Packs are gambling, singles are not. Some people like gambling. I like a combination, not to exceed 1 booster box per set. Any more than that and it feels like the pack opening enters degen territory