Greeting from new member. Happy new year everyone!

[jiangdc]

Hi everyone,
Happy new year.
I am a anime and manga fan from China. You can call me DC if you want.
I do collection mostly on Japanese published manga (I like signed copies). I collect several figures on my favorite characters (only a few). I also collect anime cels and other stuffs. Some days ago I wrote an article about anime cels and genga collecting. During that process, I realized that there are even more complicated and excited things to know before starting to look for cels. Then I feel like I need to join somewhere and meet people with similar hobby.
I took me a while to finally find this place.
I looked for "anime cel collection" on google and found Rubberslug. Then I view several personal pages of other collectors and found this one.
Before that I mainly look for informations and discussions at Chinese manga collection websites and some animation rating and communicating forums. (Namely Douban and Bangumi in case someone know these two sites)
One Sad thing is that, until now, I can only recognize few names of animes and manga if the title is not in Chinese eventhough I watched them
So most of the time I just copy paste and go for wiki to transfer between language. (This is even more intersting when sometimes I have to go from Chinese to Japanese and to English. )
However, Good thing is that, I am always willing to learn it all
By the way, my favorite anime director is Satou Junichi. (this is one of the few names I can spell without going to goole so far. )
His aria series, Princess tutu and kaleido star are three of my favorite series of all times .
Hope to get replie from you, let's chat!

[Jadeduo]

Welcome DC!

I saw your updates on RS last night and you have a great start up! I look forward to seeing what you've been collecting! I collect lately mostly Saiyuki, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Loveless. However I still do pick up the occasional piece from, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, and a whole bunch of others. If you feel up to making use of Google Translate a lot, join us in the Cel Chat. The link is below in my signature!

Welcome!
Jadeduo

[cutiebunny]

Welcome to Beta

I, too, collect signed artwork and sketches from various mangaka, character designers and other anime staff. I feel very lucky to have been able to have met several of my favorite artists. You should definitely consider going to an anime convention in the future. It is a great way to meet the people who worked on your favorite series.

[jiangdc]

Welcome DC!

I saw your updates on RS last night and you have a great start up! I look forward to seeing what you've been collecting! I collect lately mostly Saiyuki, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Loveless. However I still do pick up the occasional piece from, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, and a whole bunch of others. If you feel up to making use of Google Translate a lot, join us in the Cel Chat. The link is below in my signature!

Welcome!
Jadeduo

Jadeduo,
Thanks for your invitation. I really appreciate your help on the Sakura scece!

[Jadeduo]

You're welcome! It felt good to ID them both so quickly, and the pointing out of what card it was, made me realize I should check the episode the Snow Card was turned into a Sakura Card and low and behold it was there ^_^;;

Had fun in chat hope you join us again!

JD

[jiangdc]

Welcome to Beta

I, too, collect signed artwork and sketches from various mangaka, character designers and other anime staff. I feel very lucky to have been able to have met several of my favorite artists. You should definitely consider going to an anime convention in the future. It is a great way to meet the people who worked on your favorite series.

Cutiebunny,
I looked at your collections. You really have a lot of them! It is pretty good to meet someone with this hobby I still need long time to post my collections on RS by far...
For me, a really embarrassing thing is that most of my favorite artists (especially those I still haven't collected any of the autograph) are either passed away or protected super well by the companies (Even seldom have autograph events in Japan). But you are definitely right, cons are perfect places for original artwork, and it is always possible to meet some active artists I follow. I think I will definitely give it a try in the future. Do you have any suggestions on where can I get informations about when and where there is a con and who will come?

[cutiebunny]

The best part about meeting artists in person is that you get to see how talented (or not) they are, but their personality. This can sometimes backfire on you; I was really excited to meet Hiromi Kato, only to find out that he's super grumpy in real life. This is just the risk you take meeting them. But every so often, you meet someone who is really kind or just loves being with fans who enjoy their work, and those are the moments you make you really enjoy going to conventions. I've become fans of several artists after meeting them, and, even though I wasn't a fan of the franchises they worked on or their artwork, I became a fan after meeting them. I've bought their artwork because I feel it's important to support those artists who value their fanbase.

I would suggest attending smaller conventions (less than 30,000 attendees). You'll have a better experience at the smaller cons. I don't know if traveling to the US is something you would consider doing, but with US cons, they often do not announce guests until a month or so before the con begins. If you do decide to go to the US for a convention, you may have to just pick one convention and book everything ahead of time to get the best price.

[jiangdc]

The best part about meeting artists in person is that you get to see how talented (or not) they are, but their personality. This can sometimes backfire on you; I was really excited to meet Hiromi Kato, only to find out that he's super grumpy in real life. This is just the risk you take meeting them. But every so often, you meet someone who is really kind or just loves being with fans who enjoy their work, and those are the moments you make you really enjoy going to conventions. I've become fans of several artists after meeting them, and, even though I wasn't a fan of the franchises they worked on or their artwork, I became a fan after meeting them. I've bought their artwork because I feel it's important to support those artists who value their fanbase.

I would suggest attending smaller conventions (less than 30,000 attendees). You'll have a better experience at the smaller cons. I don't know if traveling to the US is something you would consider doing, but with US cons, they often do not announce guests until a month or so before the con begins. If you do decide to go to the US for a convention, you may have to just pick one convention and book everything ahead of time to get the best price.

I remember once having a chat with one of the anime fans in China. He really loves many Japanese animators and read lots of interviews, study their drawing style and buy lots of artbooks. However, when there is a con and some of his favorite guys came, he refused to go. He said that he doesn't want to take any risk to see his dream person's reality to be something worse than expected. He only wants to see them far away. I told him to at least have a try, the reality might not be bad for most of the time.
I am actually on your side, I really like your idea of meeting them in person and get to know their personalities and passions. To find out they are actually human being and love anime just as we do is always a good experience.
Because I am still a college student with lots to do at this point. I don't have much flexibility for traveling. But I will keep in mind on your suggestion about small cons. Hopefully I can be an active-con-attending guy some years later...