[QUOTE=Steve D;830936]Welcome Luke
I've been collecting baseball cards seriously for around 35 years (since I was 12). I always thought about collecting T206s, but just never quite got the itch. That is, until about seven years ago. Here's how I did it.
First off, I collected the hall of famers. Once I had obtained all of them except for Plank and Wagner, I stopped, thinking I was done. Thing is, every time I looked at the cards, they just kept drawing me in, until I wanted more. So, I moved on to collecting the Chicago Cubs cards. When I had obtained most of them (I now have all of them except Lundgren), I started looking for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. Once I had most of them, I moved to the Yankees. After that, I began to realize that I was reaching the "point of no return" so to speak. At that point, I just said "what the heck" (or something like it
), and decided to collect the entire set. The "Monster" had gotten me!
What I'm trying to say, is to keep a focus at all times. Don't just start by collecting random cards. If you're like me, when you look at them, all you'll see is a hodgepodge of cards, with no real rhyme or reason. Sure, they're all T206s, but beyond that, they aren't really connected. The set just seems so formidable at first, that you could talk yourself out of it. So.....
Start by collecting a team set. When that's done, or near done, go to another team. Keep doing this, but by all means, keep a focus at all times. That way, when you look at the cards, you'll see cards that are connected to each other, and eventually, you'll want to extend that connection by getting more of them.
There are of course other ways to collect T206. You could start by collecting the hall of famers. This way, you're getting nearly all the high demand cards out of the way first. You could also start with the portrait cards, or with all the non-portrait cards. Get the Southern Leaguers and/or the Minor Leaguers first.
The bottom line is, as I've said.....maintain a focus at all times. That way, you break down The Monster into it's sub-parts, and it doesn't seem so formidable. Before you know it, you'll be so far along the process, that the rest will be easy!
Edited to add that I'm now at 311 cards in my set. Only 209 more to go!
Good luck in your collecting!
Steve[/Q
I like you're approach to the set. I could definitely see myself attacking it the same way.