A question about a Pokemon cel on eBay

[Blindsightjs]

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking around on the forums for a while now but this is my first post so firstly, thanks to all for giving some direction to this cel noob thus far. Now, my question. I found this Pokemon cel on eBay the other day and I was wondering about its origin. I'm thinking at best, it's a reproduction cel but I'm wondering if it's even that. I asked the seller and he didn't really have an answer so here I am, wondering what you guys think. Here's the link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... NA:US:1123

Thanks,
~Blindsight~

[90sKid]

Honestly, that's one of the sketchiest looking sellers I've ever seen (product wise). Although I can't prove it, I'm almost certain those are fakes. The neutral/neg feedback is scary enough to stay away.

[teggacat]

Firstly, Welcome to AB!!

We can always use some new faces...er..voices around here, it's been just
too plain quiet lately! So dont be shy, post often! And welcome to the crazy world of
cel collectors!
Next, your question about the ebay Pokemon cel, I tend to agree
completely with 90skid, the seller is very careful to say its "hand painted"
and not production, from his feedback, seems the hand painting "fancel" work
is not very good either.

[Blindsightjs]

Hah jeez, I didn't even read the negative feedback until just now. Well, forget that then. It did look way sketchy off the bat, especially after this reply:
"Dear blindsightjs90,

Hello I am not sure item is hand painted and has markings But for arguments sake I will say No it is Not

- elegantwholesale2010"
but for a second, I had hope that the marking might have something to do with the studio releasing repros. Buuuut that aside, thanks for the replies and welcoming. I'll be sure to throw my questions and random thoughts this way from now on instead of just lurking around

[cutiebunny]

Yays! A new member! Welcome to Beta!


I have not heard of a studio authorized repro cel of Metapod.

Now, there are some studio authorized cels, but they usually coincide with movies and look really nice. But the cel in the link is not one of those cels.

If you're looking for Pokemon cels, might I recommend Mandarake? Every so often they have a few for sale on their Everyday Auctions, and there usually are a couple in the Big Web Auctions that occur 4x a year. Though these can sometimes sell for several hundred dollars, they're usually primo cels, and they're authentic. IMO, it's better to spend a bit more and know that the item you have is legit, than to get a 'deal' only to find that it's fake.

Here are a few links from some closed Everyday auctions on Mandarake -

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/item ... 6390100006

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/item ... 3810100001

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/item ... 3520100001

[sensei]

Welcome to Beta! I agree that Mandarake is a good place to watch, at least to get a sense of what the real thing looks like. The series is a very competitive one to collect from, but I'm sure that in time "your" cel will surely come along. Meantime, please feel free to ask questions. Beta has been quiet lately, but I've always found it a friendly, supportive spot for new collectors.

[Blindsightjs]

Yeah, I only even considered it because it was so cheap, if it had any legitimacy I woulda been all over it. But I definitely have to keep an eye on Mandarake... And maybe buy a lotto ticket in a sad attempt to afford anything on the site . As far as Pokemon goes, I do really want at least one good first season cel. But at the same time, there's an absurd amount of cels I really want so we'll see how things go. Anyways, thanks again for the welcomes and I'm looking forward to ranting about stuff I want to be real but isn't soon

[Strictly-Dragonball]

Hello and welcome to the very best cel collecting community around.

I don't collect Pokemon but I have to agree with everyone else, Mandarake seems by far and away the best place to find cels from it. For such a MASSIVE and still ongoing series the primo cels seem very hard to come by, maybe they were never officially released like Toei did with Sailor Moon and Dragonball.

Mandarake does seem to have a decent stock though and if you check regularly you'll find something I'm sure.

Some of their most recent BWA have had some great ones as well, I remember seeing a cel of Mewtwo and Ash together that went for only around $250 I think it was. I say only as that really doesn't seem bad for one of the most popular classic Pokemon and when you take into account how much BWA items usually go way over what you think is the normal market price.

Good luck!

[moonrabitt]

The cels they have are very SHADY!!! None has line faiding, sketches, production numbers, just looks like they just draw stuff and claim it as real! I like how they say:

This is a Hand Painted Animation Cartoon Cel of ____ This Item was purchased from a Animation Store which went out of Business The Store was located in the Chicago Illinois Area..

or the other line they use

This Item was purchased from a Private Collector at a Comic Con in NYC

Sketchy right off the bat.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snow-White-and- ... 500wt_1288 <- too good to be true?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Popeye-Bluto-Ha ... 500wt_1288 - Hmmm
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Homer-Simpson-H ... 500wt_1288 -is that even his signature?

[Blindsightjs]

Holy crap, $250 for a cel like that... that actually hurts my soul a little... I need to find me a deal like that But I guess what I really need to do is look into figuring out how bidding on Mandarake stuff even works. I know you need someone in Japan to do it in your place right?
As far as that eBay guy goes, they really do all look way fake. For curiosity's sake, I did look at a few Groening autographs to see if I could notice a difference and call me crazy but there are quite a few. Is that the kind of thing you can report? That dude is very sketchy. But for 20 bucks, he will totally frame your prospective questionable "animation art"!

[moonrabitt]

I did look at a few Groening autographs to see if I could notice a difference and call me crazy but there are quite a few. Is that the kind of thing you can report? That dude is very sketchy. But for 20 bucks, he will totally frame your prospective questionable "animation art"!

The thing is the words they use to trick people....they do say "Animation Cartoon Cel Art" (it technically is a cel or an animation cartoon) and that they bought if from someone else, so if someone questions them, they would say "i bought it from someone else, he said it was a cel used for an episode, or for commercial or some bs since they are being VERY VAGUE...A newbie collector would fall under that trap....

[cutiebunny]

But I guess what I really need to do is look into figuring out how bidding on Mandarake stuff even works. I know you need someone in Japan to do it in your place right?

No, you can bid on Mandarake from anywhere and they'll send the item to you. You just go on their site, http://www.mandarake.co.jp , sign up and fill in the registration information.

Everyday auctions are commission free, but the Big Web Auctions charge a fee of 10% of the item's final price. So, if a BWA ends at 10,000 yen, your total will be 11,000 yen. You also need to pay a $5 fee in order to participate in the BWA, and this fee is non-refundable. Or, you could buy their catalog, and in that case, the participation fee is already included. Mandarake is currently selling several of these on E-bay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANDARAKE-ZENBU ... RTM1084481

As far as that eBay guy goes, they really do all look way fake. For curiosity's sake, I did look at a few Groening autographs to see if I could notice a difference and call me crazy but there are quite a few. Is that the kind of thing you can report? That dude is very sketchy. But for 20 bucks, he will totally frame your prospective questionable "animation art"!

I don't know about Matt Groening, but, since I collect a lot of original sketches, I can tell you that there's lots of counterfeits out there, especially on Yahoo Japan. My advice is that, if you are going to bid on original sketches on YJ, that you make sure you do your research carefully. My rule of thumb is that I never buy anything on YJ unless there's some supporting documentation to prove that the item is original. However, even then, there is one particular YJ seller that has manufactured a "Certificate of Authenticity" that they pair with their sketches.

Also, check the feedback of the YJ seller. Are they relatively new? Did the make most of their positive feedback buying 100 yen items?

Case in point (all fake sketches...please don't bid on any of them!) -

http://smjsearch.com/cgi-bin/b.cgi?r92789126

http://smjsearch.com/cgi-bin/b.cgi?u42445511 (Really now...two Oda shikishi up for grabs in the same auction? Could you not make it any more obvious?)

http://smjsearch.com/cgi-bin/b.cgi?r93087535

http://smjsearch.com/cgi-bin/b.cgi?n115195698 (Notice the shakiness of the kanjii, not to mention the character looks like crap )

I'm not saying you can't find authentic autograph and sketches on YJ. They exist. But I would recommend staying away from any "original sketch" on YJ that's from very famous artists like Oda, Miyazaki, etc. If you really want something by these artists, buy it off Mandarake. At least then, you have some guarantee that what you bought is authentic. Mandarake's website claims that they only sell authentic items (though I have seen some cases where they don't..like some Sailor Moon cards that were on a BWA a couple years ago) so you can hold them to that should you not receive a genuine item. Still, proving that, and trying to get your money back from an international company should they claim otherwise could be difficult.

Oh wells...caveat emptor.

Edit - SD, was this the Mewtwo/Ash cel you mentioned in your post? It resides in another RS gallery (though the scan is the one that Mandarake posted on their BWA).

[Strictly-Dragonball]

Yeah that was def' the one, thanks for sharing

[Strictly-Dragonball]

Just seen this Pokemon Hanken cel on Mandarake, thought you might be interested if you haven't seen it yet. Not expensive.

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/auc_e/item ... 8320100001