How do you get your friends interested/excited for cel?

[AerynAerie]

So I ran a search for something like this but everything was really really old...

Do your Real-Life friends/BF/GF/Parents/Children enjoy your hobby with you?
If so...did you meet through cels? Did you get them interested or vice-versa?
If no, do you keep them hidden or do you take an online interest only?
Do you have other hobbies? Are they more social?

Just curious!
I find myself forcing my brother to look at my newest cels when they come in hoping he'll be excited as I am. He thinks I'm a bit crazy...but that's okay because I didn't stand in line for 3 hours in the cold to get a pre-ordered video game (*cough* Skyrim *cough*).

[sensei]

Do your Real-Life friends/BF/GF/Parents/Children enjoy your hobby with you?
If so...did you meet through cels? Did you get them interested or vice-versa?
If no, do you keep them hidden or do you take an online interest only?
Do you have other hobbies? Are they more social?

It is a pretty solitary hobby. My wife thinks it's a peculiarity, an obsession, or an addiction depending on the mood. On the other hand, she concedes that they are beautiful, but she is not drawn to anime or to art collecting. So we inhabit different worlds it seems. My daughter is a strong anime fan, though ironically she likes different genres. She's a Cowboy Bebop type fan, while I'm a Princess Tutu fan. But she does have a few cels, mostly from Escaflowne. I'd say we developed our interest in parallel, though we do exchange enthusiasms.

Our church organist has a high-school daughter who is a CCS fan and loves to have me bring over one of my cel books for her to look through. And I take a few when I do panels at AnimeNext. But it's true that my cels and sketches get out most often online rather than in person.

I also am involved in gardening and like to grow heirloom vegetables, some of which I located myself from other pass-along gardeners. That too tends to be solitary -- if you talk to other gardeners too long, the weeds get past you. But it is a more reliable topic of conversation. Others include genealogy and sipping craft beers, which happily is a rapidly growing sport in Cephiro.

Thanks for asking!

[Drac of the Sharp Smiles]

Basically, I don't. I really don't discuss it much with anyone in my family. I showed some to my mom once but never did again since all her comments consisted of "ooo! what's that worth?" "nice! what's that worth?" Yeah.... what's that worth, what's that worth, what's that worth.... Irritated the crap out of me because she had no interest further than "what's that worth". Which, sadly, isn't a change from how she views most things in her life. She has crap piled up all over the house that's always "worth a lot!" but oddly isn't anything I've noticed anyone caring about in any collecting circles I can find. (I'm sorry, but if you can buy it at a yard sale for a dollar, chances are it really isn't "worth" a lot. Yeah, there are freak exceptions, but not a houseful of them...) It irritated me because I don't think of my collection in terms of "worth". I am capable of remembering approximately what I spent on most of it if I try, but I don't try. Once something enters my possession, in my head it's wiped clean of it's financial value until I go to sell it.

My husband definitely appreciates the art that has gone into some of the more complex pieces. He's mildly interested in things he's seen on the screen. He likes *complete* images. The few things I have that he's shown admiration of have been either full cel setups or very complete and detailed layouts. He's in the interesting position of understanding a bit about my collection and the necessary conditions to store it, but only as far as he needs to help me. He was amazing help in damage prevention and reorganization when my closet bar--that held all my cel books on hangers--collapsed in the middle of the night and dumped them all on top of the uneven stacks of things/boxes/etc that were in the closet under the bar. After he was unable to create a closet bar that could support the weight of the books (and you should have seen the amazing things he tried!!), he was the one who crafted my "cel shelf", which is a three-level bookcase designed to fit in the darkest corner of my closet and measured to EXACTLY fit my Itoyas. However, his usual comment is that if you buy the DVD, you have ALL the cels.

Now one of my nieces IS interested, though unknowledgeable and needs to be watched while looking at any of my collection, because she's not careful with things..... and her interest is pretty much limited to the series she likes, as opposed to viewing them as pieces of art. There are very few places our anime interests overlap... at least not series I collect. For example, we both love Full Metal Alchemist, but I don't collect from it due to cost/availability. For her birthday, I gave her an Itoya with a low-end genga set from Bleach of Ichigo. (And written notes on how to store/preserve it.) She loves it and told her friends all about how it was actually used to make the show and ooo! she recognizes the scene it's from.... and she uses the rest of the book for her own drawings. ^_^ Works for me. LOL

Other than that, my dad doesn't care in the slightest, my brother only appreciates that *I* care (and can recognize that they're interesting, but not amazingly so to him), my sister might be mildly interested from a technical standpoint, her husband would be more interested to ask what influences my spending habits on them and how I justify it, and my husband's family wouldn't recognize real art if it chomped on their butts. Wherever they have wallspace, whatever mildly-attractive, mass-produced thing they happen to run across which matches the sofa gets put up.

So....... (*shrug*) I come here if I really want to talk cels. ^_^

[animeobsessed]

Other than my two daughters, who no longer live with me (in college), I only have online contacts for cels and anime. I do have my office at work decorated with an anime theme

my old design-need new pics

and have tried to get a couple people interested but have quit even trying, since they don't understand the difference between anime and American cartoons or Disney films. Occasionally, I have one co-worker who is nice enough to listen if I have an interested story that involves anime, but I try to keep it to a minimum. I've also had people ask about the items in my office and again I try to explain quickly. I hate getting those "deer in the headlights" looks. My hubby doesn't say anything about my collection, anime watching or attending conventions, but has no interest in it. As for other hobbies, I like to read a lot of fantasy novels.

[theultimatebrucelee]

I pretty much store away my collection and don't mention them in front friends or family. got a few pieces displayed out in the open but never heard anyone commenting on them...guess they really do think it'd be something poster related lol my primary collecting right now is still resin kit/anime figurines and my friends tend to comment on those much more and inquire about prices sometimes. its quite a special hobby I think and it draws in unique individuals.

[KuroiTsubasa4]

However, his usual comment is that if you buy the DVD, you have ALL the cels.

Hahaha, that's exactly what my mother said when she learned of this new hobby. She's kind enough to help me receive and store the cels though, which I consider to be a level or two above simply tolerating my hobby (Living across the globe at the moment) As for friends, some are interested in them because they've seen the show, or just think the creation process is interesting. Others bluntly say they can't understand the hobby at all, which is fine and dandy. They have hobbies I would never be interested in as well None have really expressed interest in getting any cels, except one friend who is already on this forum and started collecting a long time before me.

As for the other parts of the question: I don't keep my cels hidden, but I don't really talk about them either (except with aforementioned friend). They usually only come up if it's Sunday night and I mention I wanna head back to bid on something..to which they normally ask what, and I tell them XD The cels are quite literally hidden away in a closet, but that's for their own good.

Other "odd" hobbies: Figure collecting (less expensive but takes up waaaaaay more space and they are lately even harder to procure than cels, at least for One Piece figures), cosplay (which is a lot harder to explain an interest in than cels XD), and the more average drawing, tennis, video games etc. I'm quite social but most of my hobbies are "me time" activities. I actually do have a surprisingly large amount of "real-life" friends that cosplay, collect figures, or both, but only one who collects cels. It may be a money issue or they simply aren't interested in owning any.

So...I suppose it would be nice to have more people around who like cel collecting, but at least we have the forum ^_^

[cutiebunny]

Among the younger generation, two of my cousins are the only ones who are slightly interested in what I do. One of them translates Liar Game for a scanlation group, and the other one really likes Sailor Moon, so, she likes my cels and thinks they're cool. But because both of them don't earn a lot of money (one is in college and the other has been hit hard with the economic downturn), it's not a hobby that they're ready or able to get into. The other cousin fashions herself to be an actress and thus views what I like as being unsophisticated and 'uncool'.

My father has never been particularly involved in my life due to his work, so, my hobbies are lost upon him. My mother has always viewed anime as a hobby that I will one day outgrow and then, the next day, magically become a mature woman who takes interest in 'adult hobbies' like knitting and buying jewelry. She wonders why I spent a small fortune on plastic, however, she seems more understanding of the sketches I buy and/or receive at conventions. But still, I hate having to hear the "How much did you spend/How much is it worth?" lecture. It's art. It's hard to put a value on it. I can keep meticulous records of what similar things sold for and how much I spent on an item, but ultimately, artwork is worth as much as another is willing to pay for it. When her protests get annoying, I remind her that I could have turned out like her friends' children. That generally works.

I've casually mentioned what I collect to my coworkers, but they see all the anime chotchkes on my desk and think that that's what it's all about. But, most of them have gravitated towards toys, and a lot of them have all sorts of random items littered on their desks. So while they don't quite understand what I like or collect, a lot of them have a healthy appreciation for toys.

...I just wish they wouldn't play with my desk toys so much. Sometimes I come in and find a heated battle between my Eva figurine of Asuka versus my Light Nendoroid...at least pit her against L!!

[Drac of the Sharp Smiles]

My mother has always viewed anime as a hobby that I will one day outgrow and then, the next day, magically become a mature woman who takes interest in 'adult hobbies'

I just want to say I'm glad I'm not the only one in this position.... My family has ALSO been waiting for me to "outgrow" the things I like that they don't like. (Because, obviously, if THEY don't like it, it can't be a mature interest. *rolls eyes*) All I can say is that I'm 38 years old and they're still waiting. Good thing they didn't hold their breath. ^_^

[Yupa]

I find myself forcing my brother to look at my newest cels when they come in hoping he'll be excited as I am. He thinks I'm a bit crazy...but that's okay because I didn't stand in line for 3 hours in the cold to get a pre-ordered video game (*cough* Skyrim *cough*).

Heh, I see I'm not the only one. Every time I get a new package in I'm very excited and after I looked at the new sketches I go find some matching screenshots. Then I go to my brother and ask him if he wants to see them and he's like "meh, maybe tomorrow?". In the end he is interested, but he doesn't think it's worth paying for.

[teggacat]

jeez, another tough question! !
I guess cel collecting for me a very private thing, it took me years to actually join this forum and RS,
there are a total of 4, yes FOUR "real people" who have actually seen my cels, two were politely interested for my
sake, one respects my obsession to a point I guess, the other is my son, who for several years collected [with my help]
a small amount of cels, he has since grown up a bit and asked me to sell most of them for him, well, video games are
expensive! I guess cel collecting is my private personal escape from RL, tho I am happy to have this community and the
RS community to share with, at least everyone around here understands the somewhat crazy drive behind finding THE CEL.
As for my other hobbies/interests, my time is very limited, working all the time, but I do love and spoil rotten my
three dogs: Panzer, Ruby and Brom and my three cats: Tegga, Jet and Fugly.

[sensei]

I do remember that when I was still at my university office, and I'd get my cels there (or risk having them left outside propped up next to the mailbox at my rural route address), the receptionist would always come around to the other side and watch me open the flat box and look at what I'd gotten. She had no idea what they were, except that she knew they were beautiful and that I was very happy to get them. So it was a bit of excitement for her in what was otherwise a very routine job of taking messages and sorting mail.

[star-phoenix]

Pretty much all my friends are generally not interested in cels or animation artwork. I was able to get my husband interested enough to let me do investments here and there on vintage pieces. But, I usually do not have other friends (besides the ones I met on Beta) that collect cels or are interested in it.

When I went on my interviews for my medical residency as a physician, I actually was asked A LOT during my interviews on my cel collecting and what I know about animation art history, etc. The program directors were extremely interested, especially regarding the early American animation, mostly because they were able to relate to it since they grew up with these shows. The interesting thing I have noticed lately, is I get approached about my cel collecting more by PhD and medical doctors regarding my hobby than any other population type.

Other collecting hobbies . . . I used to collect vintage and mod era Barbie dolls from the 60's and robot toys (mainly Transformers), and comic books. Still have my collections, but do not actively collect from any of them since my animation cel hobby takes up all of my spare cash.

[sugarcels]

I am the only one in my circle that has anything to do with cels. When I try to ask for a cel as a gift for a birthday or holiday, I am met with great resistance. Their arguments are either "Cels are too hard to find!" (really? I show you the sites I go to!) or "Cels are too expensive!" and they move on. It can be frustrating, as saving up on your own can be hard. You don't have anybody to share the excitement with, and you can't talk somebody else into buying the cel for themselves so you can still enjoy it. I almost got a friend into collecting several years ago. She expressed interest, so I presented her with a cel to get her started. Nothing happened after that. I don't know if she even still has the cel

Most of my hobbies are pretty obscure/uncommon, such as collecting shoujo manga from the 1950s-1980s, and ball-jointed dolls, and the only way I can talk to other fans is online. Really, it's my only option.

[Yupa]

Yes, I can imagine it would be fantastic to have a friend who's also into cel collecting to share your new acquisitions with.
Unfortunately, chances that I find such a friend are close to zero. I'm also a member of one of the biggest anime related online forums in my country. It is shared with members from the neighbouring country Belgium who speak the same language (not all of them, but not going into detail here).
We have a cel collecting thread there, which was the reason I got into this hobby in the first place. Number of people occasionally posting in that thread (including me): 3.
Belgian and Dutch anime fans seem to be rather spending all their money on figurines and cosplay.

[Shampoo]

I guess I'm extremely lucky in the fact I have a handful of r/l friends/acquaintances
that are also cel collectors. Two of my co-workers are huge anime fans and collectors, so
they 'oo'ed and 'aah'ed the 1 or 2 books I've brought in to show them. One of
husband's friends who we hang out w/ regularly is a long time anime cel collector
(I think he started in '95?) so we drool over his stuff and vice versa.
Curt/Asylum Anime is just a few hrs drive away, so a bunch of us car pool
to say howdy and visit him. Unfortunately w/ the craptastic economy, all of us
are putting in 50-60 hr work weeks w/ reduced wages, (not to mention the
increasing yen=dollar exchange) so cels have been placed on the back-burner
and so have our nerdfests.
But at least I have my husband to talk cels with! We always geek each other
out over Mandy auctions and yhj gems-- even if it is window shopping at this point.