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Originally Posted by Dr. Atomic  I don't collect anime cells, but I still found this post pretty fascinating. It's interesting to hear you discuss the qualities you look for in a piece. I don't collect any art that has such a strong narrative component to it, so the idea of the image being from a particularly important moment in the story never comes into play. However, it's really a compelling reason for purchasing a particular cell, and I can see how it adds a whole different layer toy the piece.
So you've got the aesthetic appeal, the appeal of the series, the appeal of a particular character/characters/giant freakin' robot/whatever, and then the narrative appeal.
Which peace in your collection accomplishes all of those the best? Or do they all, to one degree or another?
Are you only into the fantasy-style series? Or do you have any of the aforementioned big freakin' robots?
How big are the cells? Were they all used in production, or are any of them redrawn? (I know a lot of the old Warner Bros. cells were redrawn by Chuck Jones due to a fire on the Warner lot.)
Have you ever met any of the artists/creators? Would you ever get a cell signed? Or is that not really done in the anime cell world?
Sorry for all the questions -- I love when someone ELSE collects something I find cool... it means I can live vicariously!  |
Oh, such wonderful questions!
The following are my opinions on the matter, but be forewarned, I am still quite new to the hobby, so vet collectors like found at rubberslug.com may be better sources.
1.) Of my small collection, I would venture that the Tasuki cel is the best purchase I have made within the guidelines for buying which were posted earlier. I hope that all of the cels appeal to those requirements to different degrees, but the Tasuki one seems the best placed for appeal, series significance, and character importance. The best deal was, hands down, the last Abel cel posted in which I only had to pay a mere ten bucks.
2.) It does appear that I have been only interested in fantasy related anime, but I haven't consciously excluded mecha. The first anime I ever watched all its episodes was Escaflowne, to which my girlfriend introduced me. Heh, I have been told that my anime favors are "girly" by some, but I would love to be introduced to a good robot series. At this time, unfortunately, I have no mecha related cels.
3.) The common size of an anime production cel is 10.5 inches in length and 9.5 inches in height. Japanese animation tends to use a lot of pan and oversized cels, which the capturing camera literally scrolls across or up and down the cel, to save on frame count. The only oversized cel I own is the Dragonquest group shot. All the cels I collect are original and not reprints used in sales. I would recommend steering clear away from any cel labelled with a "collector item cel" sticker since this usually means it is a reproduction or a cel made just for promotions. The value of these cels are greatly less than key original cels for a series because a limited amount of copies are produced. The only exception to this is a production cel or dooga made for poster work or book/cd/dvd covers since there is one original copy in existence.
4.) I attended my first Anime Expo last year, and I did have the chance to meet several anime related people, such as voice actors for Dragonball Z, Bleach, Naruto, and Hellsing. I was tempted to get one of my Dragonquest cels autographed by the Japanese voice actor for Abel, but changed my mind. From what I understand, autograph copies of cels can be a bit of a crapshoot in regards to future possible value. I have heard horror tales of an artist signing their name of the faces of the characters in the cel, which would bring the value down greatly. If someone is wondering whether or not they should get their favorite cel autographed, just make sure to do it for the right reason: for his/her own fandom and not for market value possibilities. Cel signing does happen on a regular basis at Anime Expos.
Jeez, don't apologize for asking questions...I have been more than thirsty to share this interest of mine on this site. I am part of the rubberslug.com society, which is dedicated to cel collecting, under the
same username as here, but I really enjoy the conversations at Chronicles far more.