Welcome brother! I’ve got the bat collecting bug, bad, myself.
. Don’t have the biggest collecting budget and I have tried to keep my focus on my fav team’s players (Toronto); but at that I have approx 75 bats.
I would love to check out the LVS museum myself one day. I did order a custom branded bat for a gift for a buddy at work and had the whole team sign it. We all worked at one of the outfield restaurants at a MLB stadium - had them brand his name and “World’s Oldest Rookie”’on it.
Not sure that I know exactly what your are after re advice, but I have narrowed my search; now looking for Cooper brand bats of Jays players that I watched in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, and grabbing LVS’s and other brands for the earlier and later era players.
My advice - Like anything, collect what you love and research the best you can. With bats if you can buy those that are not cracked and have good game use and tar/tape etc that is inline with player preferences it will help you target quality bats. If your collecting goals take you further back in years than mine, well, save your $ as it can get pricey for the big names.