What is a master set?

[quuador]

In general, a ‘master set’ is usually one of two main categories:

1. Every single card in the set, including Reverse Holos. (With some select exceptions, all those cards can be pulled from the booster packs of the set.)
2. Every single cards of the set, including variants (e.g. alternative holos from blisters/tins; stamped cards; (Prerelease) promos; Championship Deck reprints; etc. etc.)

(Keep in mind that with option 2, a new related card may release years after the initial set. The most extreme example I’ve seen of this is the Build-a-Bear Snorlax of the XY Flashfire set. The set itself was released on May 7, 2014, yet this Snorlax was released in August/September 2019, more than five years later.

But even though those are the main two categories, almost everything in between (or even beyond - e.g. unreleased prototype cards, repeated misprints, different languages) would be considered some kind of master set as well. The fact that you had to ask this question (and it has been asked loads of times in the past - or minor variants of that question: June 2015; Nov. 2017; Nov. 2019; Jan. 2020; Oct. 2020; June 2024), says enough imho. There simply isn’t a clear definition for what a master set should consist of. It also depends a lot on the set itself (e.g. EX era codes or the a vs b cards of Aquapolis to give some random examples of weird shenanigans in sets).

I personally think @genosha worded it pretty good, for master set collectors, it all comes down to budget:

@genosha

I always feel that the discussion about Master Sets is all about budget. And that has directly something to do with the printing behaviour of WotC in the past and Nintendo these days. What would be considered a complete Master Set 20 years ago, was already considered incorrect when Expedition was released and it got changed again and again with every new block by Nintendo. With the release of Expedition and the reverse holo cards the size of a Master Set doubled. Nintedo been stretching that even further with having 3-30 Secret Rares per set.

And this brings me back to my first sentence; it’s about budget. Not everybody can gather those Championship Exclusive cards to complete their sets. Limit release, scooped up by people many different type of collectors. The pond is to small for all the fishermen, which end up no Master Set for those sets being completed.

For me it always been like this:

• Full Set: Every card released in booster packs in their normal print variation.
• Master Set: Every card released in booster packs in every print variation.
• Master Set Plus: Every card released in booster packs in their normal print variation with addition of every special print and release (e.g. alternative holo pattern of other sealed product, stamped cards (pre-release and alike)).

Also, error cards are not a variation. That’s like putting tomato sauce into your carbonara and calling it a carbonara variation.
Have fun collecting FRLG master sets with all the different print codes xD

As for your question:

Did collectors just made up a ‘master list’ or its an official thing?

I’m pretty sure someone once came up with the term, and it just stuck. It happens with a lot of Pokémon-related terms, like Shadowless, No Rarity, etc. A lot of terms come from the community and were just repeated enough to became a semi-official term.

Greetz,
Quuador