[KingFisk]

I picked up four T206s this week, all with HOF subjects and my first EPDG back. These four cards put me at 260 - squarely in the middle of what I hope to achieve will be a 520 card set.

I started collecting the T206s last year, when I picked up a Walter Johnson (Hands at Chest) to complete my 3,000 strikeout club collection. Owning that very old piece of cardboard caused a sea change in what I wanted to focus on.

I went on a tear of buying, centered around buying about 200 PSA 3 cards, mostly commons, off of a guy on eBay. This was where the bulk of my acquisitions came from. By all VCP accounts, this was a good deal and gave me an instant collection.

In a lot of ways I regret how I've approached the Monster so far. I wish I had spent the money from the lot on Ty Cobbs, and other expensive cards instead. I don't own any of the Cobbs and the prices on the portraits as we all know have gone insane recently. I am now afraid I am priced out of getting nice low grade ones, especially the green. I also regret not looking at a few of the cards I bought on eBay more closely. In my newness and eagerness to acquire, I did not put a careful eye on cards that look to be trimmed in their slabs. I am somewhat certain that a couple of my moderately pricy HOF cards may have had a little haircut along the way.

So almost one year later I am much farther along than I expected to be at this point thanks to that lot. But I am recalibrating my approach - slowing down and going for the HOF and SL cards first, banking on the hope that most of the VG commons will stay relatively stable in price.

This has been such a joy to collect so far - connecting with the game's past, and America's past, really. I have loved following the the threads on here and am constantly referring back to the work that guys like Scot Reader and Ted Z have done. And I am really loving Luke's blog. It's an amazing quilt of research and detective work, and my hats off to all of you.

I am a small time, JV player in the Monster game but the thrills are immeasurable whenever I acquire a new little piece of 108 year-old cardboard. Thanks to Net 54 for the inspiration and the knowledge.