Quality or Quantity?

EternityOfPain · Post by **EternityOfPain** » Mon May 07, 2007 7:22 pm

I am mainly a Juuni Kokki collector.. (I wonder if my gallery gave that way....) But if you look at other series I collect they only have 1-4 cels. The reason for this is simply that i choose quality over quantity.. One look on YJ you can see a ton of YUA cels (You're Under Arrest) however the reason i have not gone for them is simply that the quality isn't there. I dont collect so i can say i have "X" number of cels or sketches. I collect because I like the cel/sketch. (Note: The only series that this type of thinking doesn't apply to is Berserk due to them being very hard to come by.. still looking for that amazing caska... One of these days...)

However, this type of thinking only applies to series outside of Juuni Kokki. When it comes to sketches from Juuni Kokki I am selective, I can't call myself a "horder" so to speak.. But If there is a nice Yoko sketch on YJ or mandy you can bet ill be there.. I think the main problem is that there must be a balance between quality and price.

Back to the topic..... I believe that what some eye as "high quality" is different then others... I have seen some cels on RS that i wouldn't accept for free... But this is my personal oppinon and there must have been something that the person really liked or they wouldn't have bought it.. The question i think all collectors should be asking themselves is "Who am I collecting for?" If the answer isn't "myself" then you need to reevalute your situation.. I know some who try and collect alot of mediocre cels to try and make themselves like "big collectors".... Trying to impress others.... For some reason having 30-40 cels of half a person on a cel is something that is amazing.. Who knows..

.... Yea.. I went off topic... So final verdict? Quality for me all the way. As long as the price is right..

star-phoenix · Post by **star-phoenix** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:56 pm

Quality quality and more quality!

I have also started liquidating a huge chunk of my collection. Now being in medical school, the bills are piling at a much faster rate. So, I have to get a lot pickier when it comes to buying things. However, the only problem is, I tend to spend three more now buying one cel than before when I bought many.

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:56 pm

There might be others.

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Mon May 07, 2007 9:09 pm

I buy what I like. Period.

I know that I own some cels that other folks look questioningly at. But I purchased them because I like them (for whatever reason). They may just be tiny cels of potentially insignificant characters, but I still adore them.

So for me, it's more a combination of availability/finances/personal preference. I like nicer images, but I also know my limits for what I can feasibly afford.

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Mon May 07, 2007 10:09 pm

Both if financially possible, if not then quality first.

SME · Post by **SME** » Mon May 07, 2007 10:16 pm

As some others have already mentioned, I don't think it matters what you prefer - quantitatively or qualitatively - as long as you are happy. I have a mixture of cels, ranging from high-end to the freebie cels, and I'm happy with all of them. If I feel I don't appreciate the artwork of a certain cel anymore, then I sell it. Otherwise, whatever I have in my gallery will more than likely stay there, unless my tastes change. Sure, it's nice to have quality, but I find many cels out there that I enjoy having and do not mind adding it to my collection.

Quality or quantity? Doesn't matter to me, as long as you love what is in your gallery.

miz ducky · Post by **miz ducky** » Mon May 07, 2007 11:36 pm

I think I'm a quantity person... but only when it comes to Fruits Basket. I would honestly like to own every piece of Fruits Basket that is in existence. There are enough of you here that won't let that happen, but a girl can dream right?

That said, I don't think that I am completely insane, and price does sometimes bring out the more sensible side of me and that side prevents me from getting Everything.

When it comes to cels, it's a balance of what I'm willing to afford and how much I like it. I definitely don't try to have a massive amount of them.

kizu · Post by **kizu** » Tue May 08, 2007 12:16 am

Hmm good question. Initially I thought I would try to collect cels from series I liked. I found out quickly that i "like" too many things and have this weird tendency to want to get a cel of each character... I thought I would sacrifice quality over quantity and for a very brief period i probably did. But as time went on, I try to look for quality while still keeping my wallet... But now, I'm leaning more towards, quantity and quality, not really the object but how much I love the cel, the scene or the character. I have cut down drastically on the quantity, you know those "lots" where really I was bargain buying or something. As for quality, it really depends on the price. I really can't generalize anymore. It's such a personal thing... for example Saito's butt would mean more to me than ah well a centered front shot, vibrant piece of some other character... But then again I think any part of Saito is smexy...

Yep and although I'm trying to be funny I'm also dead serious in illustrating my humble opinion. So bottom line I guess is collect what you love.

Xelloss · Post by **Xelloss** » Tue May 08, 2007 12:47 am

In anything other than Slayers, I'd have to go whole-heartedly with quality.

The exception? Well, Slayers, to a minor degree. I still go with quality 99% of the time, but I'm also trying to get a cel of every named or speaking character in the series. When you are down to the level of "the shopkeeper in episode 6" or "the nameless masked demon in episode 16" .... you take what you can get. I'd prefer high-quality shots, but some characters are so completely unknown to 99.99% of collectors, even those who collect Slayers, they are REALLY hard to find.

But with that exception... I go with quality ^^; Main point is that I collect what I like.

- Karen

usamamo · Post by **usamamo** » Tue May 08, 2007 1:35 am

Quality differs from me to you. What you consider crappy I might consider it quality.
I love all my cels, from the dirt cheap to the ones that have my credit card running for the hills. I love my cheap cels, sometimes they give me more pleasure because I know I could afford them. So I have more quantity that quality. But I consider my cels to be of some quality to me. After all, I did buy each one of them for a reason.

toonybabe · Post by **toonybabe** » Tue May 08, 2007 1:39 am

Even though I have only been collecting cels for a little while (I started less than a year ago) I quickly figured out that it is much more satisfying for me to focus on quality, especially focusing on cels on my wishlist.

When I first started collecting, I compulsively bought some cels (mostly Inuyasha) and production drawings. Later on when I discovered Rubberslug and took a peek at some peoples galleries, I realized that there are some damn fine Inuyasha cels out there. When I purchased my Kikyo cel, even though it was expensive, when it came in the mail, it was such an amazing feeling to own a cel from one of my wishlist scenes.

I knew from then on that I just needed to save my money and go for the big ones. Because I am still getting my BFA, and can only work part time, there is a real limit as to how much I can spend. If I go for a $1000 cel, it really is more than a month of my pay!

Now my litmus test for whether I should buy a cel or not is this: I ask myself, if one of my wishlist cels would come along would I being willing to sell this cel in order to get that wishlist cel? If the answer is yes then I don't buy it. This can get tricky because I collect from a lot of different shows, anime and western, and really how can I compare a Scooby Doo or Secret of NIMH with an Inuyasha? I always worry about spending money on cels that are not Inuyasha, because you never know when that dream cel will come along!

To make it worse, I am on a quest to find original art from the first 50 issues of Archies Sonic the Hedgehog Comic. When I find art from Sonic comics, it always takes precedence over cels because there is less to go around. With cels, there are at least more than one cel available from a particular sequence. With comic art, there is only one original master page hand drawn and inked.

A hobby really shouldn't be this complicated! But the fun of it definitely makes up for it!

Amsterdam781 · Post by **Amsterdam781** » Tue May 08, 2007 5:31 am

I try for quality, but quality for me. I may think a cel is wonderful and someone else may see it and think its just a waste of plastic and paint. I just won a cel that doesn't look like much but it is all about the moment, and I loved the moment in the series. Thankfully the cel was cheap (I have spent more on a single cel this year than ever before

) so it gave me a nice break from my other more expensive purchases.

Cordelia · Post by **Cordelia** » Tue May 08, 2007 5:41 am

Definitely quality over quantity

I started out buying cheaper and more cels but I also sold them off fast. Over time, it's the nicer cels that stay with me. Of cse, everyone's definition of quality is different so juz buy whatever that turns u on

For me the gauge to whether I buy a cel is if my heart skips a beat the instant I see (usually the faster my heart beats, the higher the price too

)

ashenfairy · Post by **ashenfairy** » Tue May 08, 2007 7:34 am

That's a tricky question given the different perceptions of Quality. Also having half stake in a shared collection makes things a bit weird too as my tastes are slightly different than Jen's are. In my mind though I tend to go for what I consider to be quality shots.
I usually collect cels more for their art than the importance of a particular scene (though getting quality and a emotional scene togther is the ideal) so I get less tempted to hoarde. I also dislike having a large collection so that kind of stiffles the quantity thing as well.

That being said my number 1 collecting rule is buy what I like. That usually ends up as something high quality but, occassionally something perfectly silly. Because, as much as I love hearing compliments about my cels but, I can deal with the not so nice things too. I bought and collected them for myself not anyone else.

jcaliff · Post by **jcaliff** » Tue May 08, 2007 9:38 am

For most of the series and/or characters that I love to collect, cels are hard to come by. So I take what I can get. I'd love to have quality as well, but I'm not too picky. If it's a cel of a character or scene that I've been looking for, I'll probably buy it even if it's not ideal. That, and I'm poor. I don't have thousands of dollars to spend on high-end cels from popular series. And you know, a lot of times I think the "low quality" cels have more personality and character to them than an a1 shot of somebody's head staring straight at you. I have a couple of those too, and they're not my favorite cels.