I live near Oceanside in southern CA and there is this little pawnshop called Coast Jewelry and More that sells all kinds of coins. Lots of nice Morgans and CC'S. Every now and then they sell some things on ebay but most of it is in store. Lot's of PCGS coins at a bargain. I even saw a 1787 Fugio cent there.
I went the 'quantity' route and although I gathered a decent collection of assorted coins, I'd have to agree with you. Problem is I thought getting quantity meant a better chance of many of the coins going up substantially over the years. That has happened on many of my coins. I still tend to go for quantity but I'm not sure why. I guess I enjoy quantity. Makes it seem like you have a larger collection of possibly more valuable coins in the future. For the 'poorer' person collecting, I think quantity is a natural thing to do. While I don't have any super valuable coins in hand, I do have many lesser priced coins in great quantity. Something to be said for quantity is all I'm saying. Whether a few dozen or a few hundred coins, values being equal initially, I'd might think you'd have a better chance of values increasing (the more you have, the more the increase) line of though,still sticks with me today.