old brown shoe

Nothing new today so I figured I would go retro (or super-retro, really). When I came back into collecting earlier this year, I thought it would be cool to collect Topps vintage stuff and the current 2010 set. Then I ran across some of the T206 cards on eBay and I noticed they were going for great prices (ie; cheap). So I bid on some, and to my surprise, won (those are the Owens and Dooin). From then on, I was hooked even further on vintage cards. The next card I bought was the Merritt from my local card shop. He bought a collection from a guy and this was the lone tobacco card in that lot. I asked him what he wanted for it, went home and thought about it. Went back the next day to buy it at the quoted price ($20). I only questioned it because I knew once I bought it I would want more and being expensive to get sometimes, it seemed like I would be spending much more money soon. The final two, O'Leary and Anderson were bought on eBay also for good prices as well. The Anderson invoked a small bidding war, pushing the bids to almost $35. I was willing to go to $40. These prices may seem insignificant to some collectors who drop hundreds on a single card, but to someone who rarely buys singles, and singles for more than a couple of bucks, its a large amount. Especially on a budget. I have my five now, I may go for more later on but I think five is a good mark to stop at for just a little while (or until some cheap ones pop up on eBay). Condition is a slight factor too, as I didn't want anything frayed or torn in half or just demolished, but what can I expect for a little piece of cardboard thats lasted the past 100 years?