Uff!!! I just passed the 1300... thats why I came here right now.
I Mexico there is a horrible lack of books for people that, like me, wanted to study the Japanese as a self study thing.
It took me 3 years to collect a number of books (grammar, dictionaries, etc.)... and then I had to fill some gaps with material created by myself (I filled 3 binders).
Then I ordered this out, and began to study... the way you would "study" an indoeropean language... but after one more year, I discovered that I was making really no progress. It was that I thought that I could "study" the Kanji as I went through the material... but it proved wrong approach.
Now I giving me time to memorize the 2000 Joyoo Kanji. It is more than I year that I started, and already know 1300, being careful in recognizing each radical and stroke sequence, using the Heisig method.
Only after I reach the 2000 (hopefully before January 2008), I will retake my study of vocabulary and grammar.
Regards.