[TokuChris]

First and foremost with your smaller budget ... don't ever use eBay! That's a last resort option if you can't find what you want at a decent price anywhere else, you might find a "diamond in the rough", but eBay now is just like Amazon ... a bunch of smaller "stores" throwing up their stuff and eBay works simply as a portal for them. Sucks.

I'd say for starters, prioritize! Realize that a lot of the older stuff is going to probably be more expensive. So figure out what you want to get first and go forward from there with saving, etc.

Second, don't "trigger shop", meaning don't pull the trigger on the first item you find (unless it's an INSANELY good deal, like $20 cheap kind of deal).

Third, research and familiarize yourself with the online store Mandarake. You will find many things for incredibly cheap there as long as you don't need or want super duper minty fresh perfect box toys.

Example: I bought SH Figuarts DekaBlue there for $45. If I were to buy from any of the actual online toy stores, I'd be dropping $90 to $120.

Mandarake will help you build your collection from the ground up. Just watch out for big shipments and EMS shipping