Right off the bat, I will acknowledge there have been previous threads asking about the types of sculpting materials and who uses what. Those seem to be for those already familiar with sculpting.

I will also mention I have not sculpted anything using any materials to this point. It's a skill I'd like to develop.

I watched my Dad use PC7 on some of his custom projects.

As someone with no experience or skill set in sculpting, what would be a fairly inexpensive product for a newbie to use to get their feet wet, like a starter set?

I have a few ideas for some projects, but would like something with a decent learning curve so I can get some practice and learn the various tricks of the trade.

Any advice appreciated.

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For just practicing? Sculpey. You can get a small block from Michael's for a few bucks and it comes in lots of different colors. You have to either bake it to get it to harden so I wouldn't recommend using it on anything plastic. You can try boiling it in boiling water and that works somewhat but I've had mixed results doing that. But for an inexpensive beginner material Sculpey is your best bet.

For sculpting on to something you'll want an air hardening material like Green Stuff or Fixit Sculpt.

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I agree with all of this. However, i will say compared to sculpting with Sculpey, using Greenstuff is like using chewed bubble gum. Just very different. Keep your tools wet. Amazon is the cheapest way to go if you decide you want to give Greenstuff a try.
https://www.amazon.com/Kneadatite-Yello ... kneadatite

Some other tips,
Only use your tools for sculpting, but luckily anything from a toothpick to plastic spoon can be a sculpting tool.

Start with less than you think you'll need. Once you start removing the excess, you'll realize you have too much. Not a big deal with the $8 block of Sculpey, but the $30 jars of Fixit you tend to be more conservative.

Oh, and Bill Merklein, the freelance sculptor Hasbro used for the RAH era, has a series of videos on sculpting on youtube. Some of it may apply, some of it may not because of scale, and it won't all of sudden make you an artist, but it does offer some pretty good incite from a pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NLBd3RtvZ0

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I do have a box of Super Sculpty I picked up some years ago. I've kept it in a cool place.

I'm hesitant to use anything that needs oven cured, since I never use my oven.

Part of this is I picked up the recent movie Bebop and Rocksteady and have been thinking on how to do them JOE scale. When I thought of parts, I realized I had a few ARAH Gnawgahyde and Zangief torsos in my fodder box.

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I started with milliput yellow and got good results. I sculpted thumbs and crotches that were broken, lots of afro's because they are easy, and a lot of the body on my mad max interceptor. I also had a set of milliput black that was a bit harder to work with.

the #1 best advise is to mix up half of what you first think you need for a project! I have finished several times with a 1" ball left over.

the #2 best advise was to use baby oil gel. it made the whole process so much better. no more sticky fingers pulling my sculpt off the figure. I have used this stuff with the last bit of my yellow milliput and my new fixit with superb results.

I might experiment with one of the no-name ebay 2 part products when I buy my next supply. the fixit is nice, but expensive. I am not sure if at my skill level there is much difference with the products as my finished sculpts have been about equal. I even used milliput and fixit on the same project with my medusa.

just dive in! the best way to learn what you like is to try it!

like $10 for this 4 oz set of 2 part apoxie. Aves Fix-It sculpt. available on Amazon. One of the premium sculpting mediums, self curing (hence the two part), and pretty forgiving to work with. Cures hard. I used to buy bigger tubs of it, but it doesn't age super well. So these smaller containers are actually perfect.

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dude. do you just eat cereal for every meal?

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You can boil sculpey.

Or... in a pinch... cook it with a lighter. I used to have to do that in college when access to a kitchen was not easy.

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