Posted By:
ScottLeons post is right on the money...
I am a collector who, like yourself, started in the mid 70s working on T201, T205 and T206 sets (among others) with my father after coming into a "find" and getting into the hobby before it took off.
I've been similarly dormant in collecting for the past 20 years due to life events such as college, marriage, kids, etc... and I now find myself just starting to get back into the hobby.
As Leon stated, the advent of the internet and eBay has certainly changed the hobby from what I remember of it 20 years ago. There are definately a lot of different channels to search for material that you are looking for.
Definately read up on this board before plunging into eBay as you will find there are a lot of counterfeit and/or doctored items on the market. Theres a lot of knowledgeable people on the board who point these out from time to time.
The other huge change in collecting which I'm still getting used to is the advent of card grading services. Stick around the board and you'll hear plenty about the pros and cons in this area. 
I'm pretty much just a lurker here but have learned quite a bit since I've found the board in the last three months.
Welcome and feel free to email me if you'd like to compare notes as it sounds like we have similar collecting backgrounds...
Scott