This may seem like silly questions at this stage of the game, but I'm getting confused.

I know a true Master Set is basically every card made for the product, including base set, inserts, parallels, promos, incentives, hobby box exclusives, archive box exclusives, all hits, everything.

Then there are people who exclude from the Master Set the more unattainable things like 1/1 hits or parallels or incentive and exclusive cards, but still somehow consider it a Master.

So what is the Mini Master? Is it just the base set and insert sets, but no parallels or hits? Are promos part of a Mini Master?

What about chase cards? Do people interchange the term insert set with chase set, or are they two different things?

What is the autograph checklist really called? They are hits, but might they also be a chase or insert set?

I'm asking because I'm reading forum posts and I think the terminology must have changed because I don't understand what collectors are buying when they request Mini Masters from current new titles.

To me mini-master is base and inserts. Master set is all base, insert, parallels, relics, etc. excluding 1/1 or plates.

There are definitely different ideas on these. For instance most Cryptozoic products will yield one base sets and all of the easy inserts in a box. A lot of people call them mini-master sets since there is usually other inserts that take a few boxes or more to put together.

I use the terms "chase set" and "insert set" interchangeably. I guess if I had to pick one to refer to small sets outside the base set I'd go with "insert set" over "chase set."

I guess a true complete master set would need to include every single card: base set, chase/insert sets, parallel sets, hits (autographs, memorabilia, manufactured relics, etc.), printing plates, promos, incentives, exclusives, etc. All but impossible to put together for most modern sets.

A looser definition of a master set could mean base set, insert/chase sets, and all non-numbered parallel and hit cards.

To me, a mini-master set is the base set and all chase/insert sets. I personally also collect promo cards for my mini-master sets.

I'm slowly putting together a full retail "master" set of Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that includes the base set, insert/chase sets with Target and Walmart exclusives, and the three retail parallels (green, silver, and Target exclusive red). No hits, no numbered cards (no hobby exclusive parallels, for example) but more than a simple mini-master.

My idea of a Master set was Everything associated with that set that the Maker produced or issued for it within the case or box.Plus Advertising material, Promos , Sell Sheets
I asked about this in a post a couple of years ago and got a range of different ideas on what a master set contained.
As far as I am concerned a mini master set is Base and any inserts EG 9 card puzzle, 6 card set,Box set, not including Auto or Costume/Relic cards

They're just words to fit in the titlea letter limit of Ebay What matters is the description. Know what the 'other' guy thinks it is. Cause it's just not set in stone.

The only two sets I have that I think I can truly call master Are Charmed Season 1 (Inkworks) - a real struggle to get all the promos, and Cryptozoic's Women of Legend where I managed to get a sketch card from each of the artists. Others like Marvel Vs. DC and Star Trek: TNG Season's 1-6 were relatively easy as there were no sketch, costume, prop or auto cards.

A master set is getting to the stage where it is master if you are happy to stop where you are and intend to keep the cards.

Yeah, a master was always everything but that was also when there might have been one chase level of 6, one chase level of 3, an autograph, some other kind of card and a promo or two. I think you could get away with saying you have a master set with:

base set
all the chase including autographs and case incentives but not necessarily the archive box exclusives, and the craziest parallel set
an example of a sketch from all the artists
all the promos

I think a mini-master set can miss:
the rarest autograph, and the case incentives and archive box exclusives
but have at least a complete set of the most common parallel level
and have at least one example of most of the sketch artists
and have all but the rarest promo if there's one that is super-rare