could be a lifetime quest to become adept

I have always loved the Early Half Dollars and have a few nice coins that are mostly for "type" purposes.I have considered collecting die varieties for the excitement of possibly finding a rare die variety/marriage that may be unrecognized by the seller and selling for $100 or so.Well, I had no idea...I just received a copy of the fourth edition of "United States Early Half Dollar Die Varieties 1794-1836" {the Overton book} and it is a TOME!!Almost 800 pages,there is no way I can memorize this and I don't picture myself lugging this around to flea markets and yard sales. I have already been studying the halves for sale on ebay and other sites that have good photos and I find this alot of fun..even most slabbed coins don't have the die varieties attributed. This may be biting off more than I can chew...oh well, it may take alot of studying before I actually start buying any more of these but it will be a labor of love..