welcome to the board and good luck with your collecting goals!
Some basic stuff:
1. collect what you like, with emphasis on the YOU.
2. once you start off, don't be afraid or hesitant to change directions if that's where it takes you. You might start off liking a subset, but then that morphs into a new subset. Just have fun with it!
3. If you're going the graded route, two sites that can help with pricing are:
http://www.vintagecardprices.com/
http://www.cardtarget.com/