In the course of a year? During a market boom? Whenever your preferences change? etc, etc.
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I guess it depends on when you started and what you chose to collect.
My first goal was tag team RRs and alts - completed even though it is multiple languages since cards started to take off before I finished.
Then I did SWSH alts, which I also completed. Most of these cards were in the era of the longer it was out, the cheaper it got.
Then I did XY alts/megas - the former which was finished and the latter I couldn’t find them all before I got slightly disillusioned and dipped for a bit in which time the cards from BW/XY etc all skyrocketed. I had predicted it would happen but before I took a break it was month after month of the cards not being available.
I think it’s kinda difficult to collect them all in a consistent environment - or at least there hasn’t really been one since 2020/1. I suppose it also depends on where you live. If I was in the USA I’m sure it would’ve been easier to finish goals rather than have no one selling what you want to get.
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Constantly. No current specific collecting goals outside of getting the cards I have set aside graded, but that time is not now. Not loving PSA right now, not loving new set release prices. Paused buying any new releases for the past year, currently engaging in the market in only one way, really, which is buying slabs and artworks I think are undervalued or that I like. If you value money, you adjust to what the market is doing. Market data indispensable tool, social media can be both helpful and harmful when influencing decisions.
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Never.
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There’s nothing simple and easy about readjusting your goals. It requires a lot of compromise and strong motivation, especially if booms happen when you’re midway through certain collecting goals.
Unfortunately I decided to readjust my goals several times. When I started I wanted to pursue the master set route for my favorite vintage sets, but soon after COVID, gold stars, shinings and crystals cards felt definitely out of reach.
Then, the sheer amount of holos I was missing became to feel very intimidating: maybe feasible when looking at those as a single purchase, but quick to spiral out of control in a booming market, making the start of a new binder feel like a 4-5 figures endeavor.
I thought ex-era could be bring me peace, and it definitely did for a while, but the recent surge in stamped reverse holos prices made me consider scrapping 2 binders and planned sets like FRLG and TRR.
In the end, sure you can compromise but it feels like pulling a string that will inevitably break at some point: it makes you question if it’s truly worth still spending thousands to only achieve what are in fact scraps for the rich dudes.
You can’t adapt to everything: I like cards with a decent eye-appeal (LP-NM), I like sets cards and promos, I’m not a species collector. And that simply can’t change.
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My goals never change, the timeline just shifts.
I’d sooner just sell everything off and refocus on various life goals entirely than suddenly pivot halfway through something and be left with a collection that isn’t cohesive. (I am diagnosed OCD.)
I’m also not the type to collect beat up cards just for the sake of owning a copy. If the option is a beat to hell copy of an expensive card or nothing, I would prefer nothing. It’s why the people dropping thousands on dog-chewed gold stars deeply confuse me. I’d rather just save up my money for a nicer copy than waste it on a crappy one just because it’s “cheaper.”
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I definitely have goals that may never be achieved, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I completely abandon the thought. Maybe I’ll adjust my expectations and be back in the potential buyer pool, or maybe not. Maybe prices will go down. Maybe prices continue to go up and I’ll never be able to justify the price. If I like something usually it doesn’t leave my mind, but my expectation on actually buying it might change. That doesn’t mean I might not reassess at some point though. How often this happens is usually on a card to card basis for me.
A question I most often ask myself is how much I’m willing to pay for XYZ. And especially now, that can be a hard thing to decide.
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I feel like I do about once per year or when the market forces my hand
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Yeah, there are only so many people that are willing to play that game all the way down to DSG/AGS/EatMyAss 1.5. And we’re getting to a point now where an increasing amount of “normal” cards are expensive even if you’re ok with toilet condition. And then you also have to stomach the “this was $10 three years ago and could easily be $10 tomorrow”-aspect.
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In terms of actual goals; I started extremely small, collect every Cradily and Lileep artwork, as well as a 2x2 binder page spread for every Fossil pokemon line.
I’ve diverged lightly into other stuff in the meantime, like making a small rhydon and tyranitar page spread, but I’m already almost done with the cradily collection, and I have a few “finished” pages for the small fossil collections.
So not really, but I think current prices cause me to banish the thought of more ambitious goals entirely. (like mastering a set or collect a more popular species fully)
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may as well do all rock types
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Either complete goals or dont complete goals, there is no adjust 
. Goals are everpresent. I can say that i wont collect that way but its a lie, if something pops up at a price that makes sense Im going to buy it whether i am actively completing or not.
But i collect things i like. If i liked it, chances are that i’ll collect it, and once i collect it i dont stop liking it so itll stay. Forever.
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It’s definitely crossed my mind: they tend to be my favorites
For me, the core goal has always been the same: all Haunter cards (and cameos) in English and Japanese. From the outset, I made a separate list of cards (mainly trophy cards, misprints, and test prints) that I acknowledged I may never have due to price or scarcity, with the intention of adding any I get to the main collection retroactively. This is where the cards like yellow stain Fossil, Art Academy Gourgeist, and Battle Day Acerola live.
With this method, I can only add to the goal and never subtract.
also HELLO, THIS IS SICK
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I strongly disagree with the opening quote that readjusting collecting goals is “simple and easy”.
My main collection I’m 6 years deep into, I have 4 cards to go, which currently cost about $20k 
If I were to adjust down from PSA 9 to PSA 7 I could theoretically complete it. But that would actually mean selling 30+ slabs (and all the issues that can arise from that as a guy who doesn’t sell much). Then I’d have to spend the months/years trawling eBay for them to show up in PSA 7 (from a quick glance it looks like maybe 70% of the cards aren’t currently available anywhere in that grade), not to mention when they do pop up it’s even less likely they’d be in my country and I’d have to deal with imports and all that jazz. It’d be a pain in the ass to adjust my collecting goals.
I currently have a lot of collections that are oh-so close to being finished. What I think it will come to, will be one or two of them will have to be completely sacrificed (rather than just adjusted) in order to get the others over the line.
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In 2026? Daily.
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Those who knew me back some years ago know how much love I had for base set and in particular shadowless. So much so I’ve owned about 6 different copies of a shadowless charizard and built almost two full holo sets in a psa 8 and psa 9.
Since moving on from Pokémon I have built a small sports collection.
Recently I played Soul Silver and watched the second movie. To say a wave of nostalgia didn’t overtake me would be a lie.
I looked at getting back into collecting. Seeing the prices really made me think maybe it wasn’t the best idea. But I saw unlimited Neo sets particularly in CGC were pretty cheap compared to first edition/psa/gen one stuff.
So I bought an unlimited Lugia in a cgc 9. Now I’m going to try to build the Neo genesis set.
All this to say is that it’s okay to change what you collect and how. See what works for you and what makes you happy.
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With how prices have been changing lately I feel like I change my goals every two weeks 
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Well, once I complete a set, I adjust my goals to something else. I adjusted my binder goals to take up less physical space. It was a good move. I adjust goals when my preferences shift too of course. The modern sets and availability forced me to change goals too. Just not worth the headache. I jump around a lot. This is why I set myself in the thread about 2026 goals, to do better and focus on completing sets I have partially finished. This also kept me able to keep cards in binders more than in mass storage.
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I’m in lucky position where i haven’t had to adjust my goals that many times despite booms, i have however made a lot of compromises regarding condition, shifted the timeline where i’ve planned to complete some goals and scrapped a lot of possible future goals that have been in the back of my head. I’m also extremely hesitant about adding any new goals as dedicating myself to any even somewhat long term goals is filled with fomo and stress for price spikes, i do have my current goals that i’m aiming to complete as well as my ongoing goals but atm it feels repulsive to add any big goals after the current ones are done
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