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T206Collector"Bat ears" are what corners often look like on trimmed cards. The application of the scissors to the edge creates a sort of curve -- that is, most trimmed edges are not perfectly straight. As a result, you end up with corners that are pointier than they should be -- they look like bat ears.
With respect to purchasing to get the monster, there were two or three large lots that really got me going. I bought a lot of 100 cards on ebay for $500 a few years ago. The cards were in terrible shape, but it got me well on the way. After that, I would buy smaller lots of 10-20 cards whenever possible, and if I had a double, I would sell the lower condition double immediately. I often found that you could get a discount in bulk, so when I sold the lower condition double individually, it was like the lot I had just purchased was cheaper or even free (or even like someone paid me to buy the lot!). That doesn't happen so much anymore, I don't think, unless you buy a mega-ton of cards at a time.
Most of the cards I got on ebay, though to finish off a few holes here and there I found the local card show to be helpful. And, of course, this Board is quite a resource.