What you collect that no one else collects?

[sensei]

Just a random thread that occurred to me earlier today as I was doing some preparation for my next update. Is there a series (or perhaps a character, or perhaps a specific scene) that you collect that nobody else appears to value?

I was browsing through the my video file of the 1984 anime film Wata no Kuni Hoshi, or "The Star of Cottonland," an adaptation of a very popular manga series by Yumiko Oshima, produced by Mushi Production after its first lapse into bankruptcy. This concerns the adventures of an orphaned kitten who's adopted by a cram-school loser; the kitten, raised entirely by humans, has to come to terms with the fact that she will never transform into a human and become the loser's love interest, and the film shows her education through her contact with other cats.

I'd picked up a nice cel from this film, without competition as usual, and happily tracked it down to its scene (an important one toward the end), and in writing up the description, I was struck once again that I appear to be the only animation art collector who has put up a gallery around it. The film has a certain number of admirers, both in Japan and in English-speaking realms, a decent fansub exists on YouTube, and Anime News Network has published a positive review of it in its "Buried Treasure" series. And cel art does come up, not often and sometimes for prices too high for me to consider.

A shame, as the character design is well done (Katsumi Aoshima, Dragon Ball Z and Urusei Yatsura) and the plot is both charming (for cat lovers like myself) and quirky. So it's a puzzle.

Anyone else find themselves the sole proponent of something that you treasure and others don't?

[FourD]

Almost everything that I collect.

It is sometimes nice to collect artwork that is under-appreciated.

Of the few things I personally collect these days, I suspect the most under-appreciated would be the manga art by Rikako Kugayama. It doesn't come up for sale all that often and, when it does, it isn't cheap due to Japanese bidders, but I like being one of the main North American collectors of her work.

And because it's artwork of the adult variety, which, in my opinion is already less interesting to most collectors due to its nature, it probably won't ever skyrocket in popularity. I kind of like that.

[jiangdc]

I actually collect a little bit Wata no Kuni Hoshi as a manga fan of Yumiko Oshima.
I don't really see something I collect that no one else collect since I always run into people bidding against me
Maybe I am the only person who collects erementar gerad but they are just too rare. I only seen once.

[cutiebunny]

You’re not the only one who collects from Erementar Gerard; I have a shikishi drawn by the mangaka, Mayumi Azusa. I picked that up during the fundraising period on Yahoo Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. There were a couple sketches of hers that were auctioned off around the same time.

But to answer the question, if there’s anything that I collected more avidly than others, it would be artwork from Kobato. I’ve seen one or two backgrounds in a couple other galleries, but no one collected it as extensively as I did. There was one particular seller on Yahoo Japan that put up a lot or two of damaged backgrounds from the series for a couple months back shortly after its production, and I bid stupid amounts just to win them every week. Doubly so if it was from my favorite episode of the series, Episode 19. I think I won all but one background lot on Mandarake, and that was because I wasn’t aware they had an auction of backgrounds up from that series. The person who won the lot is a notorious reseller, so most of them ended up on eBay. I never bought any of the ones he resold because they didn’t interest me. When I went to Japan during the auction run, I bought a couple background lots as well and hauled those back with me. I thought I was a bit off for going to Japan to buy artwork, but I’ve met others who made that a primary reason for their trip, so I don’t feel too bad.

Kobato was not a popular CLAMP series, so I always attributed that to the fact that few, if any, bid against me. Its lack of popularity surprised me as the anime was much better and had a less complicated ending than the manga.

[jiangdc]

You’re not the only one who collects from Erementar Gerard; I have a shikishi drawn by the mangaka, Mayumi Azusa. I picked that up during the fundraising period on Yahoo Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. There were a couple of sketches of hers that were auctioned off around the same time.

But to answer the question, if there’s anything that I collected more avidly than others, it would be artwork from Kobato. I’ve seen one or two backgrounds in a couple other galleries, but no one collected it as extensively as I did. There was one particular seller on Yahoo Japan that put up a lot or two of damaged backgrounds from the series for a couple months back shortly after its production, and I bid stupid amounts just to win them every week. Doubly so if it was from my favorite episode of the series, Episode 19. I think I won all but one background lot on Mandarake, and that was because I wasn’t aware they had an auction of backgrounds up from that series. The person who won the lot is a notorious reseller, so most of them ended up on eBay. I never bought any of the ones he resold because they didn’t interest me. When I went to Japan during the auction run, I bought a couple background lots as well and hauled those back with me. I thought I was a bit off for going to Japan to buy artwork, but I’ve met others who made that a primary reason for their trip, so I don’t feel too bad.

Kobato was not a popular CLAMP series, so I always attributed that to the fact that few, if any, bid against me. Its lack of popularity surprised me as the anime was much better and had a less complicated ending than the manga.

Azuma sensei is my favourite mangaka. I am a big fan of the EG manga but not as much a fan of the anime due to the original ending. But still, any character that shows up in the manga will be a treasure for me if I see them for sale. Unfortunately, by the time that earthquake tsunami took place, I didn't even know the existence of Yahoo Japan . If, only if, one day, you decide to shorten your collection, please let me be the first person to take that Cou shikishi at any price .

[sensei]

Thanks, jiangdc, cutiebunny, and FourD. I'm sure with shikishi and manga art, there are treasures galore out there. I only now picked up my first autograph, one of J-ta Yamada, on the inside cover of a volume of the manga for Asatte no Houkou. It was going around without bids, and I liked the thumbnail sketch of Shouko-chan (the woman who morphs into a child version of herself). And, yeah, I searched around long enough to find some authentic (and much nicer) shikashis by the same artist, enough to verify that the autograph looked right.

J-ta Yamada autograph.jpg (37.76 KiB) Viewed 3256 times

CB, I've always been an admirer of your Kobato collection, partly for the art, more partly because you make such a good case for the series, which, as you say, is a neglected title among the CLAMP canon. You entice me (once again) to give it a try.

There are a number of other series that I watch for, though not in as solitary a way or with such patience. The hentai cel-based series Usagi-chan de Cue! is probably the best example. It actually fits into my interests in unexpected ways, and the art is very well done, even beyond the panty shots and the over-inflated bust views. But, alas, the art doesn't come up often, with lots of unexciting side characters, and there is another collector who is rabid about it. (I actually bought some of my collection from this person, who may have done so partially to take the wind out of my collecting sails by letting me have a broad selection.)

The nice thing about animation art is that while there are items everyone wants (Ghibli, e.g.) there is a widespread range of very well done series, some of which are "under the radar" so that even a newbie with limited means can get a collection of artistically strong cels/sketches/shikashi.

[JWR]

Well in my case I could list all of the comic art but I will focus on a couple of series that we collect that seem to be ones most collectors don't.

1st would be Sister Princess. http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/mast ... esID=47579
Story is a little off , Wataru is sent to a school located on an island and there meets his 12 Half Sisters who all share Wataru's father but all have different mothers many from different countries around the world.
The reason we collected from it was the quality of the art and the character designs.

2nd would be The World on Narue http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/mast ... esID=46894
We like the designs but the story told in the anime was very enjoyable with characters that have great development in the story.

[jiangdc]

Well in my case I could list all of the comic art but I will focus on a couple of series that we collect that seem to be ones most collectors don't.

1st would be Sister Princess. http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/mast ... esID=47579
Story is a little off , Wataru is sent to a school located on an island and there meets his 12 Half Sisters who all share Wataru's father but all have different mothers many from different countries around the world.
The reason we collected from it was the quality of the art and the character designs.

2nd would be The World on Narue http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/mast ... esID=46894
We like the designs but the story told in the anime was very enjoyable with characters that have great development in the story.

Just make sure you know this. This season there is one anime which has all the sisters from Sister Princess calling "onii chan" in eposide 1. It is a poorly produced anime but you definitely should go and watch the opening.
The name is Ore ga Suki nano wa Imōto dakedo Imōto ja nai

[jiangdc]

Another one I think not many people collect is this one
Ichigeki Sacchu!! HoiHoi-san

Here is the original model sheet drawn by Kunihiko Tanaka
I am a big fan of Kunihiko Tanaka due to the passion of Xenogears. But since HoiHoi-san he got really addicted to drawing loli. He is pretty much a lolicon I believe.
Kunihiko Tanaka is also the character design of KEY THE METAL IDOL, which I believe some of you guys collect.

[JWR]

Another one I think not many people collect is this one
Ichigeki Sacchu!! HoiHoi-san

Here is the original model sheet drawn by Kunihiko Tanaka
I am a big fan of Kunihiko Tanaka due to the passion of Xenogears. But since HoiHoi-san he got really addicted to drawing loli. He is pretty much a lolicon I believe.
Kunihiko Tanaka is also the character design of KEY THE METAL IDOL, which I believe some of you guys collect.

I managed to get a sheet from HoiHoi-san as well a while back
http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_ ... mID=322659

[jiangdc]

Another one I think not many people collect is this one
Ichigeki Sacchu!! HoiHoi-san

Here is the original model sheet drawn by Kunihiko Tanaka
I am a big fan of Kunihiko Tanaka due to the passion of Xenogears. But since HoiHoi-san he got really addicted to drawing loli. He is pretty much a lolicon I believe.
Kunihiko Tanaka is also the character design of KEY THE METAL IDOL, which I believe some of you guys collect.

I managed to get a sheet from HoiHoi-san as well a while back
http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_ ... mID=322659

Wow, you also have a sheet of her!

[GuyvarIII]

Does anyone here collect...

Sabu to Ichi
Wanpaku Tanteidan
Bride of Deimos
Cosmo Police Justy
Desert Rose
Battle Royal High School
or
Maryu Senki

[FourD]

Does anyone here collect...

Sabu to Ichi
Wanpaku Tanteidan
Bride of Deimos
Cosmo Police Justy
Desert Rose
Battle Royal High School
or
Maryu Senki

Nope. But being unique is a good thing, I think.

[ReiTheJelly]

I'm pretty sure I was the only weirdo buying the solid green backgrounds from Cardcaptor Sakura.
http://stemcels.rubberslug.com/gallery/ ... esID=39005

[jiangdc]

I'm pretty sure I was the only weirdo buying the solid green backgrounds from Cardcaptor Sakura.
http://stemcels.rubberslug.com/gallery/ ... esID=39005

I have one background of the way to school from CCS but no green background