Acquiring massive single year lots for "fun" collecting

[Matthew80]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_1864wt_1325

75,000 cards... I don't even know where I'd put FIFTEEN 5k card boxes!

I've been thinking about buying a post-1970 (post-1974 to mid 80's, really) lot to just dig through and enjoy while assembling a set (or seven ) buying up stars separate to match the condition of the set. Now, this listing is obviously a bit much and overpriced, but I'd like to buy a lot with, say, 3-10k cards in it to assemble sets and become intimately familiar with a certain year. I think it'd be a fun side project handling cards like I did as a kiddo while continuing working on higher end, pricier stuff on the side.

Has anyone done this type of thing before? Any advice, pointers, warnings, etc would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance. Oh, I'd also be curious to hear whether you think a seller might find a buyer for a lot like the ebay one above. Granted I've just started browsing large lots like this, but this does seem quite rare.