What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Topics of anime/other animation art and collectibles.
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cutiebunny
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What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by cutiebunny »

It dawned on me the other day, as I noticed the start date on my Rubberslug gallery, that 2018 will mark my 15th year collecting artwork. That made me think about how collecting, this board and the hobby have all changed in that time. As some of us have been around for several years, I thought that it would make for an interesting topic to touch upon things you miss (and don't miss) from your collecting past.

I'll post my thoughts later...
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by grEenLeaFx »

My 15 year anniversary on Rubberslug was last month. I have also been thinking about how much this hobby has changed since that time and honestly myself too. I started collecting a couple years before that at just 15 years old. I never realized I was in the good ol' days back then! I was present during the peak, and went through the valley as well - when cels gave way to sketches and now sketches to digital. I personally miss all the different people that were active. Sadly most of my favorite collectors sold their collection, moved on, or disappeared. I remember many stopped after cels became obsolete in the early 2000s. After the recession hit around 2007 the rest started falling off. My favorite anime are from the 90s-00s, so I miss a lot of that inventory popping up. I definitely could not afford what I can now which I think is actually a good thing because I would have put myself into a early debt lol. As time would tell most of those series have now decreased in value. Although I look back more with rose tinted glasses, there were plenty of things I did no care for back then. I am definitely not as active and very private now compared to when I started. But I still get excited now as I ever did.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by cutiebunny »

Things I Miss

Supply - When I first started, there was a lot of really nice cel production artwork out there. Every week, a particular YJ seller would post 2 auctions with gorgeous Sailor Moon cels. Yes, there was a lot of competition for these cels, but with there always being 2 new auctions per week, even if you lost one week, chances were that you'd find something else the following week. There were also a couple of cel sellers that would show up at the larger anime conventions with suitcases full of cels (and later douga/genga packets). While those dealer prices were often astronomically high, they often had artwork that was superior to what you would find on Japanese auction sites. Some sellers had connections that you could never make in your wildest dreams, and when studios like Madhouse were financially suffering, they were able to ferry a lot of incredible artwork to America. Even though I cringe at some of the prices I paid for artwork back then, I've never seen nor will I see anything like that on Mandarake or YJ.

Liveliness -This board used to be a lot more active than it was. I miss a lot of the people that frequented this board and how easy it was to talk about auctions and artwork than it is now. I'm sure this is probably a common sentiment among long time users of this board.

"For Fans, By Fans" Anime Conventions -I started attending conventions in 2008, but even in that short span of time, the scene has really changed and for the worse. While some conventions, like Anime Expo, have always had a very corporate feel to them with insistence on providing the best experience to only those who could pay for it, smaller conventions felt like they were still there to give the average fan what they wanted. There was a time where, as long as you didn't block an exit or pose some other hazard, convention staff had no issue with you sitting in line for hours for an autograph. But now, in the name of 'fairness' and getting as many people to attend a convention even if there's no space for all of them, conventions insist upon last minute lining up and, when you do meet the guest, nothing more than a simple autograph. If you want many of the previous services that were offered with just the general price of admission, you now have to pay a premium for it. And should you protest or post your acquisitions on social media, consider yourself perma-banned. Conventions were never this cutthroat, whereas now, social media and your own personal gallery website are being used against you.


Things I Don't Miss

Collector Viciousness -While I did deal with someone (as well as SakuraCon management) this year who were beyond petty, for the most part, I don't see the viciousness that I experienced when I first opened up a gallery on Rubberslug and started posting my YJ wins. When I first started collecting in 2003, there was a particular Rubberslug/Beta member who, on a weekly basis, would claim that the Sailor Moon cels on auction were her wishlist items and demanded that everyone stay away from them. Of course, I never heeded this, and because of that, we were always at odds. She would purposely bid against me to increase the price if she thought I was after that item, which lead to me bidding until I'd hit close to her max just to leave her with a hefty, weekly bill. Back then, some users would also use your wishlist as a tool against you. But, this behavior did leave me with little desire to update shortly after a new acquisition, which probably explains why almost all of the items I've updated with are several years old.

Deputy Service Quirkiness -I hated having to get up at 3 and 4 am just to make sure that someone didn't internally outbid me at the last second to win. Thanks to deputy services allowing you to 'snipe' items as well as what I collect not being super popular among deputy users, I haven't had to get up for an auction in a long time. I also don't miss the recession and it's "85 yen to the dollar" exchange rate, all of which made buying anything very painful. It's also nice to have so many deputy service choices as that's really brought down the internal fees I pay when I win items.

Solo-ing Conventions -When I first attended conventions, I didn't know anyone else that went. But thanks to spending hours in those autograph lines as well as posting on this board, I've met a good group of people. I can't tell you how many times just having good friends have really saved me from wanting to burn it all down.

Carrying a Camera -It used to be difficult to go to autograph sessions because you'd have to balance the item along with a camera (to take a pic of the person signing) along with all your other bags. Having a smartphone has really been a godsend.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by sletia »

I used to be hateful about it, but now I really miss the other Slayers collectors updating their galleries. I don't even CARE now if they have stuff I don't, and I'd love to at least see it and admire it. :) I'm dying to know what Xelloss has these days, for example, she hasn't updated in like six years now.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by Keropi »

Yeah, I miss the people the most. It was fun to talk about stuff even when it didn't have anything to do with production artwork. I miss going to Anime Expo when I could go into the panel room easily with my friends. I miss going to the Cel Collectors panel at Anime Expo too.

I miss when anime was adapted when there was more source material available. More anime was able to reach the better part of the story so anime endings tended to be much better and more satisfying.

I don't really miss the some of the snippy people that used to be here though. Some of them would get irritated so easily. Even if I didn't say anything they would take it like "I SHOULD have said something". Sometimes...I just don't know the right words to say. :|
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by jiangdc »

What I miss:

I do miss my "beginner mind"This is a really slow process, my feeling changes gradually over the past years.
People of course. Especially those who have similar tastes.

What I don't miss:
Money. Every dollar I spent changed its form into something I like :P
Autograph focused collection. Collect cel, genga and douga on favorite characters from animes.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by theultimatebrucelee »

Having recently concluded 8th year in this hobby, by the time I extensively researched online sources available to acquire artwork, very few of them were left, still fewer updated. A handful of the major sources that people were constantly reminiscing about, I never saw. So that's one aspect I completely missed. The thing I personally don't miss is the low to mid 70 exchange rate that some proxies used back in 2011, oddly, some of my favor items were from around that time. The activeness of this forum from around back when I first joined, as well as the online display update, I do miss. It was more fun when more members were in this hobby, their energy and the exchange of new information made collecting more enjoyable. Nowadays there are still some nice items to be had depending on the series, but I've switched gear from active to passive, and expanded my horizon toward whats available on the market as suppose to which characters I ought to focus on. Much less remorse on losing out on auctions, less excited about winning also. No more getting up 4 in the morning to check on my pending snipes to make sure no one's out snipped me.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by xiaolungbao »

When I started back in 83 it was a great time to love anime and cel collecting. Cel collecting in the USA was nearly non-existent. Faxing images of full sized b&w cel copies was the norm in order to buy from JP (assumed you even had a JP contact). In the 90s it was a glorious time to collect so many dealers started to appear in the USA and brick-and-mortar anime stores were popping up too. But visiting JP still gave the best opportunities b/c studios would try to get rid of the cels/art through sales gatherings. I really miss going with friends scouring them and the back alleys of JP and HK to find hidden treasures. Sadly no one I know collects anymore or frequents online chat because everyone bought homes, partnered, and had at least one kid or pet! :P And some sadly have even passed on too. :l It seems fitting that at least one fan from our group continues albeit in lurker mode. For those of you who started later imo the early 90s USA cons were some of the best and it was incredibly easy to approach guests. You want a sketch, autograph, pictures? No problems! I believe the lower fan attendance (imagine less than 300 people total) actually made the early disjointed cons much more enjoyable and personal. With the rise of the NET, keep track was my homepage and I bet some of you also had it as hp. ;) My friends and I created cel galleries using netscape, geocities, animanga, it was incredibly fun! Messy, creative but unabashingly a true expression of early anime and cel loves. I also adored the early fan petitions from AnimEigo! Was among the first 10 patrons for Macross, Urusei Yatsura, and Kimagure Orange Road! Man those fan petitions were sheer awesomeness! :bow

What I do not miss included the flamewars, con lottery lines, insane charity auctions (1k used signed water bottle WTF), early cel deputy services (celga), and the YJA early hours and never ending auto extension bidding wars from hell! :puzzled :kaioken Not sure about others but I've stopped attending all cons after 2011 b/c well the fandom has exploded (100k+) and as much I enjoy cosplay, I feel a lot of what makes anime popular nowadays somewhat detracts from appreciating the anime, animation itself. For all of the wonders available now in our modern period, I feel some people are becoming more entitled, expecting instant gratification (downloading/streaming), and more people focus a lot more on the "individual" instead of acknowledging and appreciating the creators, animation process, or the artwork itself. Also, I find it somewhat sad that we've lost patience, the anticipation, and excitement that involved waiting for the SASE to arrive, shipment from JP, or group viewing w/a anime club or couple friends (that bonding is often lost now)... I might be alone in my opinions which is fine by me, I feel fortunate to have lived and loved anime from a time when it could only be viewed on VHS or SASEs.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by cutiebunny »

Keropi wrote: I miss going to the Cel Collectors panel at Anime Expo too.
I remember those in that restaurant in the official AX block hotel. I always felt mixed about it. While most people were chill, there were some that would get a bit too tipsy and talk about how much they spent on artwork at the convention. Someone mentioned that he spent $15K on cels and it made me feel like I really didn't belong at the dinner.

xiaolungbao wrote:What I do not miss included the flamewars, con lottery lines, insane charity auctions (1k used signed water bottle WTF), early cel deputy services (celga), and the YJA early hours and never ending auto extension bidding wars from hell!
I have friends that have told me horror stories about the autograph lotteries at Anime Expo. One of them constantly brings up an Ah My Goddess sketch that he feels he would have won instead of his friend had he not let her cut in front of him in line (she won the sketch). I often enjoy the reminiscing that happened before I started attending conventions. The CLAMP autograph horror story has been enough to keep me away from buying their manga.

Charity auctions are still insane, though. Sketches still go for stupid money, especially if they feature a character that happens to be multiple people's waifu/husbando.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by Animechaos »

One day, time allowed, I'll get back to some conventions. I've only been to Anime Central in Chicago twice. Just no time to travel sadly. Maybe I'll get there this year.

The thing I miss the most about the old days is that with a little time, effort, and funds of course, you could generally get something from any series you wanted of some quality. But now getting any sketch art can be really difficult to come across. I've been trying to hunt down Watamote sketches forever and have yet to see a single one. There are a lot of other series I try to get as well, just can't fill the voids anymore like I used to.

Insane auctions, bid wars, trade deals, hyped updates, the flurry of orders coming into Animechaos back in the day seconds after an update.....I miss all that.....but I have to say I don't miss scanning 500 cels for an update....guh.

At least I got Fate/Grand Order gatcha rolls to get mad about now. :bawl
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by jcaliff »

Collecting for over 20 years now, I mostly miss the people. I miss hanging out on IRC, Animanga forums (even though they got crazy sometimes), beta being more active, and livejournal. Facebook helps make up some of that, but it's not quite the same. I also miss the supply. Massive updates to websites, trying to catch those updates to get those great cels back before everything decent was either an auction or private. I miss going to conventions and having a half dozen dealers with random cels in various states (sometimes just piles in a cardboard box) instead of just Curt at certain conventions and no one else unless I go to California or something.

I don't miss when people tried to create a market for series that weren't popular by marketing crap in forums, coming to a forum and telling everyone how much they LOVE a series or something, showing off all the cels they have, then turning around and trying to sell them a month later. I certainly don't miss the ridiculous skyrocketing prices of Fushigi Yuugi or Dragon Ball when even crappy cels were being sold for ungodly amounts. I don't miss all the constant sniping and whining and arguing that always happens when things become popular. I absolutely don't miss all the irresponsible people who bid up and spent every penny they had on a cel, who then had no money and had to turn around and sell it a week later even though it was their "dream cel" a week earlier. Stupid people ended up increasing prices in the market that they couldn't even afford.

Oh, and I miss cloud.
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And all the silly sightless people came and looked...and called it junk.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by kamidake »

JCALIFF!!! You basically summed up everything I wanted to say, everything I miss and don't miss. And Cloud, how could I have forgotten Cloud.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by cscratch »

I just saw this topic! I haven't been on AB that much these past few years, so I'm a bit late to the party. This year marks my 13th year at it & my activity has slowed waaaay down for most of the reasons that others here have already described.

Availability - I had no idea at the time that I was stepping into cel collecting at such a great time; there was a pretty good selection out there on dealer sites who were actively updating & auctions popping up on a monthly basis that would blow me away. And dealers in general. I miss that a lot.

Like pretty much everyone here has said, I miss the amount of folks in the hobby & getting to share in everybody's bubbly enthusiasm about their latest acquisitions. People's lives change though, so seeing a bunch of folks exit the hobby & liquidating their collections is understandable.

I miss getting excited about seeing items pop up and doing the whole auction thing; it was always a rollercoaster though, tinged with disappointment at times when I wasn't able to win something that I really wanted. However, I always deeply enjoyed seeing someone on the forums win an item that I didn't get & get to share their excitement about it. So even though I might not have won the item, it was no harm, no foul, & super cool to see someone else get hype about this thing I also loved.

And yeah, like a few folks have pointed out, I don't miss the territorial attitude some collectors had about certain auctions or pieces. I didn't have to deal with it too much, but it always made me feel a bit weird to try to navigate those situations.

I really don't miss the debt; I ended up putting a bunch of my purchases on credit cards since I didn't have the cash (SUPER SMART MOVE PAST SELF ARGH), letting my FOMO take front & center. I got this knocked out long ago thankfully. Honestly though, I can't get too bent out of shape about it since, little did I know, the whole thing would start to taper off just a few years into my entry into the hobby. There's no way I would have the collection I have now without it, even if I did it in a not so smart way from a financial perspective. It was a very good lesson in financial responsibility either way.
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by ReiTheJelly »

This year will mark my gallery's 15th anniversary on Rubberslug!

I miss how active the community used to be. It can't really be helped, though, since there is very little for sale nowadays. People just can't get as excited as they used to, when the number of cels for auction has shrunk to like 1/10 of what it used to be. ((although, I did notice some awesome higher-end Sailor Moon cels on Y!J last week...for like $1k each!)

I miss the hunt. It was exciting to constantly watch auctions and dealer updates for sought-after cels. Now, I'm lucky if I even *see* cels from my primary collecting categories, much less nice ones that I'd like to own.

I miss Rubberslug, before it got all updated and glitchy. The search function doesn't work, which makes it hard to browse.

I also miss going to anime conventions and hanging out with other collectors. Now that I live in Alaska, it's basically impossible for me. Although, I am headed to Sakura-Con later this month, which will be fun!
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Re: What Do You Miss (And Not Miss) from The Good Ol' Days

Post by Captain Haddock »

I've also been collecting for 15 years now and can identify with many of the themes others have mentioned here.

One thing I still like is both mine and others collections, they've been growing or as in my case increasing in quality over the years so some people have built up some awesome troves! I also like the art I am still occasionally finding to buy, there isn't much from the shows I collect, but it's out there every now and again. You just have to spread your net as wide as it will go!

One thing I miss is a lot of the old dealers like Original Anime Arts, Anime Chaos (now morphed into SMJ), Anime Taro and many others who have now dissapeared from view. It's also sad that many of them like Anime-Cel.com and Animanga who have stopped updating. I get why, see restriction of supply, but it's kind of sad seeing all these ghostly shopfronts of what used to be a wider more vibrant network.

I think it will get to the point (I'd argue it already has) where you'll be left with maybe a handful of specialist dealers who can maybe carve a living out of it. With people selling up old collections or old studio hands selling up their stashes there might remain enough cels in circulation to keep a few in business, but it will get increasingly niche and a smaller part of conventions.
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