Reflections - Six Months as A Collector

[Pixel]

Six months ago, I signed up for Anime-Beta, mainly wanting to know if certain sketches for sale were legitimate. Little did I know in the process
I'd discover a new hobby, one that seemed well tuned to my other interests. I also found some very helpful people along the way.

I know a half-year anniversary doesn't seem to be that big a deal, but I tend not to hang around forums for very long, so I regard it as something of a milestone. I thought it might be nice to reflect on how I got started.

I've always been interested in animation, ever since I was a child. I knew what I was seeing on the screen wasn't real, yet in some ways it looked and sounded like it was. Characters and objects moved, though sometimes not fully consistent with real movement.

While obviously the hobby of collecting production art had been around for a long time, the first I recall of it personally was a cel of Meiko from Marmalade Boy for sale on eBay in the mid 2000's, with a background. The seller had either a starting bid or BIN price of $400-$450. IIRC.

I expected at the time most studios stored their artifacts in a secure archive. That's how little I knew of what really went on in animation studios during the pre-digital era.

Assuming that most cels would probably cost this much, I wrote the hobby off as simply too expensive.

Fast foward to late 2017. I had seen a few episodes of Hayate the Combat Butler, and by that time all of Azumanga Daioh. Also, bits and pieces (and occasionally whole episodes) of other anime series. I had managed in the years before to piece together the entirety of Marmalade Boy (as far as I knew), so I had all of two full series watched (yeah I know, right), and bits and pieces of others. This was back when DVD releases of anime were still fairly uncommon in the US, except for maybe a few worldwide smash hits.

Christmas was coming, and I was trying to decide what I wanted. I had a particular Azumanga Daioh wallscroll in mind, but as soon as I settled on it for a Christmas present *blip*, Amazon quit selling it, along with every other retailer apparently. I suspect Great Eastern's merchandising license to the series expired at the end of either August, September, or October of that year, taking sales of the wallscrolls with it. I decided I would try for the one I wanted on eBay.

So I typed in "Azumanga Daioh wallscroll" (without quotes, wallscroll may have been two words). I want to say it was the very first listing to appear, but I think it may have been second. It was close to the top anyway.

Anime Genga not Cel Azumanga Daioh #49

Which, as you might have guessed is the Episode 6 layout correction now in my gallery as "My First Piece - What's Different about an Osakan Spots [sic] Fest?" ("Spots Fest"? I'll have to go fix that on the page. Okay, fixed. )

If you're new to the forum and never seen the sketch before, or if you'd just like to see it again, here's a quick link.

http://pixel.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv ... mID=416839

I actually did not settle on this drawing at first. For one thing, I couldn't place it in the series. That was part of the reason I initally questioned it's authenticity.

I also was considering other Azumanga Daioh sketches, such as this one-



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An Animation Director's sketch from fairly late in Episode 25 - that drawing was eventually purchased by someone else. I'm glad it gave somebody enough pleasure to want it. I particularly like how completely Kagura (our far right side) is drawn there.

As far as what eventually made me settle on the layout correction-to this day I still don't completely understand. Even when I wasn't fully settled on it, for some reason it just wouldn't let go.

I rather think Osaka's huge eyes must have struck a chord with me. Not too long after though, Osaka and Yomi began to fight for my initial attention each time I looked at it, as if the latter were fighting with Tomo. Both are beautifully rendered in pencil, with Kaorin balancing out the space neatly on the right.

To my alarm, I eventually discovered it was in desperate need of repair. Thankfully with the instruction of the appropriately nicknamed Sensei, I was able to give the piece the help it badly needed.

As for cels, I originally didn't intend to collect them-they require a lot of work to maintain, and frankly I'm not that good at it. When I opened that first manilla folder up and saw the troubled young couple sitting there just staring at each other, I knew I was looking at the real deal. Moments of that sort seem to be rather rare. If I could actually hold a cel like this in my hand, then surely I could find other moments I remember. I was hooked.

Again, whether you are new here, or just would like another look, you can find that cel here-

Marmalade Boy Episode 68 - "Ginta lays it on the line." (my title)

So, that's how I got started in the hobby. In short, animation art collection became one of my hobbies almost entirely by accident.

Animation cels aren't just bits of production art, they're like crystallized memories. Sketches are valuable tools for learning the process, though much, much more so are the people who teach about the process. I'm under the impression that formally speaking, animation is taught mainly as a vocation, rather than for appreciation.

I came here looking for informal authentication. In the process, I've found something I could've never dreamed of as a kid-an education in animation particularly as an art form. Slowly but steadily I'm beginning to understand how animation works. I'm also learning how to take care of the left over artifacts.

I'm grateful to everyone here who has provided advice and support, and look forward to more such interaction.

One thing that still gets me to this day, are the surprises. The occasional extra pieces you didn't know came with an item or set. Very faint shading a seller's scanner did not pick up, and even more surprises of other sorts. Not all of the surprises are pleasant, but the ones that are tend to make up for those that aren't.

It's been a wild ride for only six months. I have ideas for presenting some pieces in a sort of series sometime in the hopefully not-to-distant future. When I say "series", that does not necessarily mean a particular anime series, though that could happen. I'm not really sure if all of that will work out though.

In the meantime, perhaps this has provided some insight into my early experiences in the hobby.

[Angelic-Lair]

Welcome to the madness! As the old collectors liked to say, "Crack would be cheaper!" It's definitely an interesting and exciting hobby!

Ironically, as long-time collectors (we got started around the turn of the century) we've found that cel-based shows to be easier for us to maintain than sketch-based shows. Reams of paper, while less volatile, are a bit more difficult to keep sorted, especially when you start getting into the show a lot. As a result, we tend to stay away from the newer shows just due to the associated difficulties.

While there is a lot of talk about vinegar syndrome and micro chamber paper and the like, cel collecting isn't all that scary. Just remember that dark storage is your friend and the occassional bag/book changes for artwork that off-gasses. Best of luck as you progress as a collector!

[Pixel]

I wanted to add something about my reflections. The seller told me the Azumanga Daioh layout correction had the problem, I just didn't really understand what he meant at the time. At least it was possible to fix it-sometimes problems can't be fixed, I'm afraid.

Welcome to the madness! As the old collectors liked to say, "Crack would be cheaper!" It's definitely an interesting and exciting hobby!

Thank you, I'm glad to hear some perspective. At times, it sure seems like madness. You never know what might happen when you acquire an artifact or a set of them.

Ironically, as long-time collectors (we got started around the turn of the century) we've found that cel-based shows to be easier for us to maintain than sketch-based shows. Reams of paper, while less volatile, are a bit more difficult to keep sorted, especially when you start getting into the show a lot. As a result, we tend to stay away from the newer shows just due to the associated difficulties.

I appear to have gotten hooked on a show that is almost all paper. I can see that getting into "cuts" would result in a lot of paper quickly. Some people will sell off individual dougas from a cut, which is their perogative if that's what they want to do. I'm not sure I could easily do that though.

While there is a lot of talk about vinegar syndrome and micro chamber paper and the like, cel collecting isn't all that scary. Just remember that dark storage is your friend and the occassional bag/book changes for artwork that off-gasses. Best of luck as you progress as a collector!

What particularly troubles me is when cels come stuck to something. This is of course bad for the cel and can be very difficult to rectify-it's almost impossible to separate the two without problems for one or both. The best you can do is work to try and minimize the impact.

Sometimes though, that's the only way you can find something.

I forgot to mention the Marmalade Boy Movie souvenir script in my reflections. While you might say that was a "fluke", it doesn't seem like quite the disaster I thought it was at first. I don't think there are too many of them left floating around, and the script contains a reference I might never be able to get anywhere else.

Even the bad stuff isn't always so terrible.

I once said this of Arimi and Ginta from Marmalade Boy-

...sometimes you don't get what you want. Instead, you get what you need.

I feel like that sort of holds true in animation art collecting.

[ReiTheJelly]

Congrats on making it to six months!