One piece of advice for a vintage collector starting out

[Yoda]

One of the wonders of our hobby and love of old baseball cards is the baseball knowledge we acquire and the more of it we want. If you love the game then cards are a natural extension, and if we bought, say, a N172 Tip O'Neil, we want to more about the man, the player.
Cards can be addictive, just watch the wide-eyed wolves at the Nat'l this year, if you are going, foaming at the mouth. Please never extend yourself financially buying cards. I believe such gimmicks as fractional ownership, leveraged loans are inherently dangerous for the prudent man and are an ugly side of our capitalist system.

[BioCRN]

Originally Posted by Yoda

One of the wonders of our hobby and love of old baseball cards is the baseball knowledge we acquire and the more of it we want.

When I started my more streamlined and focused Cubs collection in the 90s after spending the 80s chasing rookies and other "hot" cards as a kid, it was easy to include the Ron Santo, Billy Williams, and Rick Reuschel level cards.

Diving deep and expanding what I want for my personal collection led to learn a lot about minor role players with interesting careers with the Cubs like hitter-turned-pitcher Hal Jeffcoat from the late-40s into the 50s. Looking for guys like that led to even deeper dives and adding 1800s pitcher-turned-hitter George Van Haltren.

The cards brought me to the history. The hunt for history brought me more cards to add to my collection.

I enjoy that part as much as the cards, themselves.

[Exhibitman]

Collect what you are passionate about. If you admire Jackie Robinson and want to collect his cards and memorabilia, do it and don't worry about the rest. If Ty Cobb leaves you cold, skip him. It's YOUR collection. if you are in this to make money, you are not a collector, you are an investor, and what you like/want is irrelevant.

Most important of all: we are all just a bunch of idiots pontificating on a chat board