Cutting back on cel time

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:44 pm

Have you ever felt like you're spending too much time searching for cels/sketches?

What have you done to cut back? Stop searching for a few days? Eliminate some of your cel/sketch links?

EternityOfPain · Post by **EternityOfPain** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:48 pm

I know the feeling all to well.. I sometimes check YJ 10 times for around 10 different series daily... Then I check Mandrake a few times a day along with ebay... Then when I think i have checked and rechecked I go and check the dealersites... I even catch myself checking the dealersites that werent even updated just in case I missed something... Its bad.

What I have found is I try and distract myself with other things so i dont have a "oh i am not doing anything, lets recheck these sites..."

kamidake · Post by **kamidake** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:08 pm

Yup, I agree with EoP. If you find yourself something else to do, a hobby of sorts that takes you away from your computer, your cel searching time will naturally decrease. I do that generally after I made a big purchase so I won't get tempted to spend more.

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:09 pm

EternityOfPain wrote:I know the feeling all to well.. I sometimes check YJ 10 times for around 10 different series daily...

Ten times a day? That's a lot.

Then I check Mandrake a few times a day along with ebay... Then when I think i have checked and rechecked I go and check the dealersites... I even catch myself checking the dealersites that werent even updated just in case I missed something... Its bad.

This reminds me of how I used to check for cels before - always wondering if I might be missing something.

What I have found is I try and distract myself with other things so i dont have a "oh i am not doing anything, lets recheck these sites..."

I usually turn the radio music on to relieve boredom. Although if my mind begins to dwell too much on the other things I could be doing, I think it's time to trim my cel/sketch time some more. Sometimes I feel like adding links and sometimes I feel that it's time to taketh them away.

sugarcels · Post by **sugarcels** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:11 pm

It's a cycle for me. I search OBSESSIVELY on Yahoo! Japan almost daily (this doesn't mean I buy anything, mind you - it's like I'm afraid to miss something and a "rival" will snatch it up - I can actually go a very long time without buying anything if nothing pops up) for awhile, then after I spend some money and get "sick" of buying cels, I stop for awhile to maybe once or twice a week, or, though rarely, a month or so. I don't check dealer sites. They never add what I want, and updates are rare.

Thankfully I have other hobbies that I go back to in cycles.

kymaera · Post by **kymaera** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:30 pm

I usually just check YJ and Mandarake once a day, ebay maybe twice and the keep track site a few times. Since updates are rarer than when I first started, I've cut back on my checking since it's mostly wasted effort.

kittens · Post by **kittens** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:18 am

If I cut off my time for cels, prob I would work in stead

So actually this is kinda healthy for me (at least not working when I am looking at cels

)

Krafty · Post by **Krafty** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:49 pm

Keropi, you had me worried with this topic. When I read the title "Cutting Back On Cel Time" I envisaged YOU giving up on anime art!

Ok, now I've regained my composure...

Like the others mentioned, the best way to curb cel addiction is to have other interests. Aside from spending time with my friends/family, my interests circulate between anime art, music and film with 'the internet' being ever present as a constant, *heh*
I spend a concentrated time in each area giving it my full attention but then like to move on to the next hobby with the same enthusiasm. It doesn't take conscious effort to do this, it's just the way I naturally enjoy each of my hobbies.
Still, I do monitor the cel uctions each day on YJ and Mandarake for an hour or so and don't feel that's excessive because I know I'd kick myself if something special passed me by because I simply neglected to check.

dude_moose · Post by **dude_moose** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:40 pm

I don't spend nearly as much time searching for cels anymore now that I'm in college.. Plus I know I don't really have the money either

I need to get a job once I'm back on campus

Caroline · Post by **Caroline** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 3:24 pm

i may not be much help, but my only other hobbies are clothes and my little ponies, both equally addictive and expensive. still, i spend relatively less money on them than TLU cels. so logically, it sorta makes sense.

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:53 pm

Krafty wrote:Keropi, you had me worried with this topic. When I read the title "Cutting Back On Cel Time" I envisaged YOU giving up on anime art!

Can't say I haven't given that any thought, but it's more like "trimming down" than anything else. For a lot of the older shows I'm either:

1. Pretty satisfied with what I have.
2. Not as interested in the anime as I used to be.
3. or...I never expect to see much decent material from them so I've fairly well given up on them. "You can't always get what you want" as the song says.

For me there comes a time when I'd rather collect from something new than add onto what I already have. It may take five years, but eventually I feel like moving onto another anime that I like.

For the newer shows:

1. They're sort of uh...taking the roundabout way of showing up this year so by the time I see them I'm not as interested in the original show anymore (which is good in many ways because it saves me a lot of money \o/).

2. The uh...type of stuff coming out lately makes me feel a little less like getting them.

3. The stacks are continuing to build in my room and my free space continues to plunge.

4. I lacking free time (relaxation time) from all the other stuff I'm doing (stress) so some things wear me out that didn't before.

Look...up until today I still hadn't opened up most of my packages from this year:

http://terencepage.tripod.com/a520.jpg

I took the challenge to see what was in them:
http://terencepage.tripod.com/a521.jpg

Time to create a new stack since the one on my desk is growing too high. I'm going to have to figure out where to put them.

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:00 pm

I check a few series on Y!J once a day. I check eBay once every few days. I try to remember to check Mandarake, but usually forget. I don't even bother with dealer's sites anymore.

klet · Post by **klet** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:13 pm

I have been cutting back recently, but mostly because I'm a little low on funds and I haven't seen as many things that I want.

Last November, I got a car, so that has been eating up some of my money in gas and insurance.

I don't even really check auctions sites daily anymore. I'm too stressed out from normal life.

duotrouble · Post by **duotrouble** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:42 am

I've been cutting back a lot on my cel collecting and searching. I think I look about once a month now. I have animes to watch, videogames to play, vet bills to pay and plane tickets to buy. There's just far too much going on in my RL anymore to worry about snagging the latest piece of celluloid.

I may have been selling a lot off but don't think I'm leaving the hobby.

aernath · Post by **aernath** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:11 pm

I used to check all the time.
Then I found the dolls.
I used to check all the time for them, and things for them.
I've cut back on both now.
I think a big hindrance is not really having the time. My husband was feeling a bit neglected, so I've been making an effort to make time for him as well.

Plus, it makes him a little more amenable when I DO jump into purchases.