Starting a Vintage Collection

[CamaroDMD]

I have been a football card collector for a long time...mostly interested in sets and more recently interested in vintage sets. However, a little part of me has always wanted to do a baseball vintage collection. Not sets, but of individual specific cards.

For example, a while back I picked up a couple vintage baseball cards that I had wanted for a long time. I picked up a 1972 Topps Nolan Ryan PSA 6 and more recently the 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan RC PSA 5. Long story short, I am starting to feel hooked.

I am interested in adding to this small collection and I want to mainly pick up graded cards. Since I do most of my buying online I feel that it is a little safer. Obviously, I will still make sure that I carefully inspect the cards photo...but graded makes me feel a little better when buying online.

I think I want to focus on major stars with a special emphasis on Mickey Mantle. When I was a kid...I collected the 1996 Topps Mantle's and got very interested in him. I would like to find some of those originals.

Any advice that you guys could give me would be very appreciated. I was referred here from another site because I was told there are many vintage experts here. I would prefer to learn from your past mistakes rather than make my own...lol.

Thanks.