Twentieth Anniversary

[sensei]

While it is very quiet over here, I wanted to put up a little commemoration of my gallery's 20th anniversary. I'd been quietly picking up cels (all from Cardcaptor Sakura, my first anime love) since July of 2000, and pulling them down from the closet to admire, first just in a mailing envelope, then, as the collection grew, in my first Itoya Profolio. When I learned about Rubberslug, probably through chatter on Animanga, I found that committing to a public gallery gave my collecting new focus, and, in time, a much broader range.

In reflecting on this troubled period in my life, I'd have to say that this decision was an important turning point, moving my energy from activities that had become increasingly frustrating into newer ventures in intellectual and imaginative exploration. It's been healthy for me, and I'm glad that I took the two plunges: first, buying that first cel, then, making the hobby a part of my social life.

Anyhow my 20th Anniversary update is now live, and I'm happy to say that after some years when I've avoided collecting CCS art due to the sharply inflated prices,I finally have added two nice pieces, a pan rough genga of Yuki and Touya from Ep. 66 and an original background from Ep. 4 (joining a little collection of other bgs. from this same scene).

Also, a new series: Toei's adaptation of the Shigeru Mizuki manga Akuma-kun. How this quirky series missed me all these time is a wonder: it's based on witch-hunt era legends of conjuring up demons, and Dr. Faust and Mephistopheles are key movers. But like Mizuki's more celebrated creation, Gegege no Kitaro, the mood quickly turns from sinister to facetious, as we watch the usual klutzy Japanese schoolboy adapt to his new role as "Akuma-kun," the messiah destined to bring peace between humans and the demon world. In any case, I found the character design irresistably quirky, and it intrigued me that the series was one of Junichi Sato's first assignments as Series Director (Maple Town came first, the first season of Sailor Moon came next).

And a new batch of images for my [urlhttp://sensei.rubberslug.com/gallery/master_query.asp?SeriesID=43596]Pippi Longstocking[/url] collection. This 1971 project was proposed by Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki but never made, but as part of their efforts to publicize the idea and gain backing, safety photos and slides were made of their art and circulated. I had a set of seven color slides already, and this update adds two dozen color print images, many of them quite interesting. Not holograph art, to be sure, but it's not clear how much of these sketches and test cels actually exist any more.

Otherwise, there are some good additions to my galleries devoted to the classic series Andersen Monogatari (1971) and Gegege no Kitaro (1985), and an especially welcome addition of four sketch sets from the 2000 CGI adaptation of yoshitoshi ABe's manga NieA_7. That series, falling between ABe's two important projects, Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei is light-hearted in tone, often slapstick in execution, but it has a flavor of its own, thanks to animators who took lead roles in all three ABe projects.

Anyhow, my greetings to any of my old friends from the past two decades, and my invitation to newcomers to come over to my gallery and explore. It's taken up a good chunk of my time since that hot summer morning when I uploaded that first scan to Rubberslug, and in retrospect I don't regret any of it. It's been good for me, and good to me.

[tarakatsuki]

I think I'm over 8 years in with my gallery. I can't wait to see what mine will look at by my 20th anniversary. Prices are quite unpleasant these days so half the time I feel like I work so much just to fuel my collection. Currently still in the process of annual inspection and rebagging, and scanning every item again with my new scanner. Only three cel books left to go!

[sensei]

Thanks, Tara. I'm with you on the growing need to curate a collection as it grows, and so like you I've put in a lot of time stabilizing the plastic part of my holdings and put the paper part in "cold storage" where it will not need to be tended so cautiously. Microchamber paper has been a major help in both parts of my hoard. As for the prices, I've learned that developing a broad interest often compensates when one series falls prey to inflation. In the long run I've seen some series sell "high" for years, then dip down within more attractive prices as the series fades in popularity. CCS of course was attractive when you got into the market and now is too competitive for me, but having a broad range of series to collect keeps me alert for when something nice turns up for a nice price, like the NieA_7 sketches.

It's nice to have something that continues to hold one's interest and love over a long period. That's much more beneficial than trying to outguess the market and make a killing off one collects, hoping it will appreciate in value. One remembers the poor guy who invested his kids' college tuition savings in vintage Beanie Babies.

[tarakatsuki]

Yep I remember that huge Beanie Baby fad when I was growing up lol. I had a bunch myself, most of which just got donated when I was downsizing before moving across the country a few years ago.

The high cel pricing does suck but I'm still going for what I can. I pretty much only collect Inuyasha because of the love I have for the character and the show. There are a couple other anime I liked a lot but not enough to justify spending my hard earned money on. I've only watched a handful of anime since watching shows in general isn't something that I'm into anyways.

[teggacat]

Hey Sensei! Congrats on your milestone! You should be very proud. I always enjoy immensely visiting your gallery, such a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the medium. Id even go as far as saying an inspiration. Im still around, still collecting, tho new pieces tend to lean heavy on the paper now over celluloid, simply because of preservation and, well, quality availability and those crazy insane prices...but thats not why I collect, its simply the love is still there for many animes and their art lol Which brings me full circle to your 20th, the respect for this art as is showcased in your gallery.
Thank you.

[sensei]

Thank you, Tegga. I've always said that a collector ought to love what you have more than what you don't have. The alternative can lead to the kind of continuous running after "wishlist" or "give-kidney-for" items, that burns one out before long. But if you have even a few cels or sketches that you really love, then your collection will always be a rich one, a source of joy for yourself and for people with whom you share it. I do continue to add to my gallery, but more out of curiosity (e.g., the new batch from Akuma-kun, which, silly me, I didn't know was out there). But if prices and scarcity finally bring my additions to an end, I'll still be happy. I appreciate your kind words about my gallery.

[cutiebunny]

Congrats on making it to the big 2-0!

Next year will mark 20 years for me in this hobby as well and honestly, I'm surprised I stuck around with something originally intended to just add a couple of scenes that never made it into the Japanese Sailor Moon trading card sets. I still find it to be a rewarding hobby despite buying the occasional sketch. I'm glad I bought what I did when I did. Even if scarcity wasn't an issue, the prices for everything that I collect have skyrocketed to a level I no longer feel like paying.

I've latched on to a few series thanks to your gallery and I apologize for probably being a competitive thorn in your side for CCS artwork. I never got as bad as some of the collectors back in the early 2000s who would swear revenge if you bid on any SM cel that they would weekly declare was their wishlist item, so I guess I have that still going for me.

I appreciate the time and patience you've logged into your RS gallery. I wish I could say the same for myself. I really wish RS had kept up with the times and would have gladly financially contributed to have made the necessary upgrades had that been an option. It seems most have moved to Instagram, a platform I greatly detest as I feel that it's more of a D measuring contest than collectors sharing their collection. I miss being able to log onto Rubberslug and seeing all the updated galleries and sometimes updating with friends who went to the same events. I miss Cloud and the camaraderie of days past. While the Facebook page is ok, it too feels like a measuring contest and one where some people get highly offended when you call them out on what are (quite obviously) fake mangaka sketches. So many sensitive snowflakes.

[sensei]

Thanks for your compliments, CB. I really designed the gallery to be a place where people could really think about animation and about the distinctive form of storytelling that it generates. I had the immediate sense that manga/anime was a fully matured art form when I contacted it, and that people (not just anime junkies) ought to be looking at it and seeing how it generated stories. I do think that is an argument that no longer needs to be made, thanks to many fairy-tale scholars and critics of animation in the global sense. But it was fun making that case, and it came at the right time for me, when I was getting increasinly frustrated with academics that always waited a generation to take some social movement seriously. (Footnote: I did a lot of work on Satanic Scares of the 80s and 90s, and it is bemusing now to find that this work, which inspired whole choruses of "WTF" from even my home discipline, is now a generation later suddenly being found essential to understanding QAnon and similar movements.)

I hear you about the bristly nature of collectors: that's always the case. If someone owns it, no one else can so much as view it except by the owner's permission. But I certainly never saw you as a threat; rather as a colleague with similar interests. And yes, it was the right time to be in the market, with a lot of material appearing for the very first time and in pristine condition. Rubberslug and Anime-Beta had a key role in turning what could have been a predatory activity into something that generated a community where the worst instincts were countered and modified by other, more beneficial ways of interacting. (I still am proud of the academic essay that I did on this interesting phenomenon, one of the first real ethnographic studies of an online community.)

And Rubberslug is still unmatched for its ability to combine images of animation art with commentary on it. I wish that something of equal capacity could be generated using 2020 software. Alas, a lot of the corporate money goes into platforms that are image-heavy and text-light, probably a factor of the large portion of the US population that does not read past a sixth-grade level and relies instead on media designed for people with short-term attention spans and memories. So, yeah, see the multitude of photos of my collection, ye rabble, and bow in awe.

Maybe some sections of my collection have a similar "shock and awe" quality. Dang, I'm still surprised that I own some of these cels. But I hope that more people come just to learn and appreciate the series, and that my rather chatty approach makes people want to watch some of these series. And I hope that RS can in some way be conserved for the sake of the information that it contains, even if many of the galleries are now ghost craft gliding through cyberspace with no one at their helm any more. (And the cels are ... where?)

[jiangdc]

　
Congratulations Sensei.
3 more years I will hit my 10th anniversry. I am still trying to add more series into my collection but its getting harder since the market is dramatically different from before. School is also getting busier and more life challenges are coming. However, I am still within the collecting hobby and still watch some animes during free time.

Here is my collctin from Akuma-kun
DC