What makes a given CCS cel/sketch collectable?

[sensei]

Nice update Sensei. I also really like the CCS cels,
however, I am still unsure what makes one CCS cel more exciteable
or collective worthy then others. I always see so many up for
auction, but never was sure what makes collectors fight for some,
while others go on for months without bids. I must say, you
have great taste in CCS cels, they are all really quite lovely. I know
you said one other time when I asked, but do you mind refreshing my
memory on what it is that draws you to certain CCS cels?

I figured this was worth moving to a new thread as I'd guess other power CCS collectors would want to chime in and correct/differ with what I have to say.

First, the dual pleasure/pain of collecting CCS is that there is so darn much inventory on the market all the time. Some studios and jobbers have been cautious about moving inventory to market and so tend to put up just a few nice items at a time, keeping interest (and prices) high. Inuyasha is a good example: there are more IY cels out there than for CCS, but while there are as many as 500+ CCS cels up at any given time on YJ, there are rarely more than 30 for IY. And as they are always at least middle-quality and often high-end, they get bid on and disappear, to be replaced by other nice items.

By contrast, there's too much CCS available all over the place for even a committed collector to work through! It's not unusual for me to stop in after a protracted break from auction-browsing and find something nice that's already gone around without a bid once, twice, or more.

So collectors can be really picky and (like me) still nab outrageously nice cels for the opening bid, as I did for all 3 of my new CCS cels.

My rough'n'ready criteria: artistically compelling image, major scene, key/end cel, with background if possible, no major damage. Price used to be an issue, though lately I've been more willing to spend a premium price for a primo cel and update less often. And I keep an eye out for sharks, as I like to avoid bidwars when I can, sometimes counting down an item to the last second and then putting in the opening bid just before the hammer.

What makes others go up steeply in price? CCS has many unique costumes that are pretty in themselves (a reflection of CLAMP mangaka Mokona Apapa's contribution to the series). Nice cels of unusual costumes, such as Sakura "pink kitty" outfit or the first "Alice in Wonderland" (the blue-and-white one in Ep. 24, not the "heart" one in 55), will nearly always go high. There are also lots of unique and well-designed Card Spirits. Some of these appear only briefly, and so a nice cel of, say, The Dark (who appears only once), or The Time (ditto) will always attract bidders.

Some collectors even do a kind of "Cardcaptor" quest for one cel/sketch of every costume or every Card. Others "specialize" in a given costume or scene, making it hard-as-heck to get these. For a time, one collector virtually sewed up all the "Dragonslayer" (Sakura and the Mysterious Book) items due to a personal obsession with this story.

The androgynous Yue draws lots of collectors (mainly female) out of the shadows, and the Yue/Touya "power transfer" scene is so well-known that nearly any nice image from around this moment will go high. On the other hand, many male collectors develop a fascination with Tomoyo, and so nice cels of her will often go surprisingly high.

Other than that, there's not much mystery: pan cels (particularly from the Okase feature), episode-beginning and episode-ending images, OP cels, and movie cels will, as in any series, command higher prices. The single highest CCS price I've seen paid was for the last front-on portrait of Sakura shown at the very end of the last episode of the TV series, which showed up on YJ in November 2007. (It went to a still-unidentified SMJ bidder for the opening bid of 500,000 yen -- not to me alas!)

That said, it remains a very good time to start a CCS collection. I'm happy with what I've managed to put together in the 8 years I've been in the field, but if I were to start again, I could probably have nearly as much fun starting up and developing the core of an equally nice collection with just what's available now plus the occasional "gallery offers" opportunity. (Thank you again, Carly!!!)

[pixie_princess]

I'm not a power collector CCS wise by any means. Personally, I tend to gravitate towards cels with intense contrast. This is due to two reasons.

1- I've always liked photographs with a high amount of contrast/tonal ranges, more specifically Black and White photography... which is why is why Cels sort of attracted me in the first place.

2- The intensity of the scene comes blarring through the use of intense light/dark combinations. There is an innate 'sharpness' that comes from it.

As with any series, the cels from key moments tend to draw the most people out of the wood work... I still can't believe I had seen something from the waltz seen for an absurdly cheap amount and didn't know it at the time since I was unfamiliar with it.

Also, since some of the cels on auction seem to stick around forever, there is less of a feeling of hastiness involved... Which is why sometimes you can get a really nice cel for the opening bid... People hope/expect it to stick around while they go after their first priority cel(s).

The last bidding war I saw was on the dual image Sakura from the 3rd opening. I babysat the auction since roughly the time it was listed, and thought I'd get a good deal... Come auction end however, there was a rather massive bidding war and it ended up shooting over $200+ last I had checked in on it.

Due to all the costume changes that CCS has, I think people tend to gravitate towards the 1time use costumes she wears in people's favorite episodes. Thats probably why there is stiff competition.... The specific outfits are typically only worn once, unlike Sailor Moon's henshin outfits which can be seen for at least one season without any changes.

[Gonzai]

Thanks for the info Sensei. I am always blown away by
how many (what seem really nice to me) CCS cels there
are available at any given time. I keep thinking that as
a new collector, starting up a CCS collection, you would
be totally overwelmed with so many nice things out there
available.

I always think of both Hunter x Hunter as well as DBZ in
their hay day in the same sense. I remember when I first
started collecting, there were so many DBZ cels to choose
from. Unfortunately, I always wanted the same ones as
everyone else it seemed like. So, those auctions would go
for a pretty penny, while others would sit and not get bids.
Same with HxH, only these cels were so much cheaper, so
you could stock pile them, and still not spend much money.

Maybe its because I am not familiar with the series, other
then the cels I see in people's galleries, that make me wonder
why there are so many nice cels out there that never seem to
attract anyone's attention. I keep thinking, everytime I look
at CCS cels on auction, that I can't believe no one is bidding on
this cel - its so cheap, yet so pretty.

Then it seems that once one cel gets a bid, there are lots of
bids on that one cel. That is why I always wondered what it
is about those cels. Funny, no other series has ever had me
baffled by the artwork as much as this one does. Guess only
a true CCS collector knows the rest of the story.

Thanks again!

[Belldandy16]

id agree since there are so many out there, collectors can be choosey.
with IY since there's not that much (compared to CCS) out there to choose from, based on your budget you might have to be content with a mildly nice piece (since the better pieces are few and far between that makes them more expensive) as opposed to CCS which the extremely nice pieces are more plentiful (if you miss out on an auction for one you dont have to worry about another amazing piece like it never coming around the corner again.. you know since there's so much it most likely will).

(sorry im probably repeating what Sensei said)

also its probably due to a person's certain tastes... whats good for the one might not be for the other.

[sensei]

Some of it could be that some CCS collectors consider YJ as being sorta like a dealer's sale site, with the auction dates really being irrelevant as the stuff keeps cycling and recycling. The most dominant seller (fogiataka) even has BIN prices for nearly all his items. So perhaps some people keep watch lists that they check every so often, and when they see a bid, they say, "Oh, crack! Someone else wants it now!" and rushes in with a matching bid.

Just a guess: I don't do this, as I pretty much have the CCS collection I wanted when I started out (or maybe I'll buy just one more .... )

[moonrabitt]

My CCS collection is very small >_<
Working on it though....

But I'll go with:

1). No heavy damage....

2). Cute....

I saw an Opening cel of Sakura (side shot) for almost 1k, and while it's cute, I'd rather wait and find a front shot and pay more for that than the side.
Then probably the reason why some are not bought is the price. I saw some at Aniyco for INSANE prices.....Like $500 for a shot that could go for 1 third of that on yahoo japan....

And sometimes you just look at a cel, and you don't even have to think....you WANT it that second, like with a madison I bought since it's so pretty.......

[ReiTheJelly]

I buy my CCS cels based on
(1) character
(2) outfit
(3) scene
(4) condition/quality

I'm mostly a Card collector, so that is a big giveaway when it comes to what I'll collect...

[Jadeduo]

Sensei makes a great point YJ CCS cels really act like a dealer site. Things rotate for months, and then disappear and come back. Fogiataka the main dealer always has 100+ images rotating at any given time. However lately Twin_angels another great dealer posts only a few really nice items at a time, which will not rotate as much.

When I'm choosing CCS cels I have to be REALLY specific I have actually gone through my favorite episodes and taken screenshots of specific cels that I want. With it's high cel count per minute it is very likely that one day I will find that shot that I have been so desperately seeking.

Another factor I hate to say is price, we are all feeling the crunch right now so if I see something go up I might let it rotate until the next month when I can afford to pick it up.

And finally I will sometimes (rarely) pick something up because it looks familiar, I have been pleasantly surprised on many occasions when I bought a CCS cel for a decent price on a whim.

CCS collectors I have noticed tend to make very personal decisions when picking up pieces for their collection. They have a favorite character, outfit, episode, scene, sequence --> *pokes Sensei* I personally ask myself these questions, Is it from a Scene I like? Does it have Toya or Yukito in it? Is it visually appealing? Can I afford it? And finally the big one, Will I sell it at a later date?


Most of these questions apply to all the other series I collect from, the only problem is the need to continue to sift through 9+ pages on YJ! @_@

I hope this helps, cause my fingers hurt! ^_^

Jade

[cutiebunny]

One thing I particular like about CCS cels is that their line quality does not degrade as much as anything produced by Toei studios. With CCS, it's rare to find anything with serious line degeneration, whereas, with Dragonball, Sailormoon and other Toei works, line fading is the norm.

Of course, there are advantages to that as well. If you see a cel from any of these characters without line fading, it's almost a marker in itself that the cel might not be authentic.

When it comes to CCS, I look for several things. The first and foremost is the image quality. What is the emotion being shown and how well was it executed?

Money is not a concern to me as I'd rather purchase what I enjoy, even if that means making less purchases overall. I also find that I gravitate towards the boys of the series more than Sakura herself.