Have you stayed true to your roots?

[Keropi]

My production artwork collecting has drifted all over the place:

1. My first year of collecting didn't have a focus. I just collecting anything from any anime that I liked or somewhat liked. I got a couple of Tenchi cels, a mediocre Iczelion cel, three Ranma 1/2 cels, eight Video Girl Ai cels, a Sailor Moon cel, an Armitage cel, a couple of You're Under Arrest cels, a Birdy Hayamiya cel, etc. I was into collecting and nothing was going to stop me....until my money rapidly drained out.

2. I decided it was best to focus on acquiring only my favorite anime so I mainly stuck to getting Maison Ikkoku and Video Girl Ai cels for about three years. There weren't many decent Video Girl Ai cels around back then (this was pre-Yahoo Japan), but I think I managed to acquire some decent Maison Ikkoku cels during that time span.

3. By mid-2001, the hobby felt like it was growing stale. I had been collecting from mainly one show for too long. After watching Maison Ikkoku thirteen times because of my searching for cel related aspects of the series, I was in a rut and I decided to make a change.

I never much enjoyed collecting from the mainstream popular series. Those shows were expensive for me in comparison to my interests in them. They were usually sold out by the time I placed an order them. That lead to frustration at ever being able to get something decent from them. I didn't like falling to the Dark Side of the Force.

4. In late-2001, I started getting into ren'ai gaming. On their message boards, the posters often commented on the anime that were adapted from ren'ai games. I rented these anime from a Japanese video rental store. I decided to concentrate on the genre because the artwork was less popular, fairly abundant and relatively cheap.

But I don't like collecting from the same shows forever. If I obtain enough from a series in comparison to my interests in the series, it's time to move on to something else.

5. For a number of reasons (some of them mentioned above) my interest in cels almost completely died off in 2006-2007. Since I don't often see artwork that interests me these days, I've switched back to being a "generalist" collector. Now I collect from any show whether I liked the anime or not.

[ReiTheJelly]

My main focus has always been CLAMP-based series, so I have definitely stayed true. I have never stopped buying cels from the two main focal points of my gallery (CCS & Miyuki-chan) and probably never will.

[toonybabe]

When I first started collecting I sat down and made a list of every series or animated feature that I would like to own production art from. My top three favorite cartoons (Sonic the Hedgehog, Scooby-Doo, and Inspector Gadget) form the core of my collection. I also collect from mainly two Don Bluth features (All Dogs Go to Heaven and Secret of NIMH). When it comes to anime since I am not familiar with a lot of it, for now I only collect from Inuyasha and Unico In the Island of Magic. Everything I collect from is from the 80's and early 90's and its all stuff that I grew up watching as a kid, with Inuyasha as an exception. I've given my gallery an 80's theme for this reason (the title of my gallery comes from an 80's song called Obsession).

Recently though, Unico In the Island of Magic cels are my top priority. Since I have more Unico cels than any of the other titles I can easily say that it is the focus of my collection.

I have really unique/high standards as to what kinds of animation I like. Unless I discover some new series/feature that totally fall in love with, the animation titles that I collect from will pretty much stay the same.

Of course there are those Disney, Miyazaki and Last Unicorn cels that I would be collecting if I had the income.

So I would say that I have been very very good at focusing and sticking to my wishlist and my original intentions when I first started collecting. I have aquired 13 wishlist cels in about two years (two of them to be added to my gallery soon). That would have never happened if I bought every cel/sketch/layout/model sheet that came along and caught my eye. I am confident that my wishlist cels will turn up so I save my money, and oh baby its sooooo worth it!

[crackpot27]

Yu Yu Hakusho's probably the only series that fully survived my early days of collecting, so in a way at least one of my roots still lives (if not always grows ) Other series like Escaflowne, X/1999, or Samurai Troopers I still collect from, but not often and only when it's something of a certain character or scene. And some series like Naruto I've dropped altogether in favor of other series. So for the most part I haven't

I've always been flighty when collecting though, and as my interests grow, so too do those things that get put to the side (too bad my wallet stays the same size ) And with almost every well liked new series comes the thought "I wonder if I can find artwork from this" It's an ongoing trend with me, so maybe I just haven't put too many solid roots down yet .

[moonrabitt]

NOPE I have not stayed true to my roots

My first items where bought from anime chaos ^_^
So I started collecting:
Mon Colle Knight and a bit of Inuyasha....
Now look at the list @_@
The thing is that I've been collecting on and off....so I just collect whatever that I find pretty....I also broke 3 of my strict rules that I had...
1).No Sasuke....
2).Don't collect from stuff I have not seen.....
3).No Dude love items (since I probably won't see the show....)
But I guess I broke all three rules ^^;....

If I could I would make my main focus Athrun and Tamaki, but items are hard to find

I do still collect from Inuyasha (just added Movie 3 items) and I also have some Mon Colle Knights Items...so maybe I've stayed 2% true ^^;

[D123]

I think I stayed true to my roots collecting Black Lady cels I have collected other cels from other series that I really love and like (I think that should be the point of cel collecting) but she has always stayed my main focus.... ( focusing ) Now I can only really stick to cels of her and wishlists I’ve done a good job so far…

[Arrow]

I would say sort of. I started out collecting Sailor Moon and Akazukin Chacha cels, and that is pretty much where I have stayed, with a few minor detours that I now regret (don't love any of my other cels as much as my SM and ACC cels, and when I can get off my ass I'll probably sell them). When I detour, I regret it later, so I now don't, basically.

I would collect cels from other series I adore like Nodame and Honey and Clover, but they don't exist and I have had no luck finding sketches.

I hardly ever collect SM now as I am astronomically picky and dislike line fading, so now I'm back to the beginning collecting mainly Chacha (or more specifically, Shiine).

I like it that way.

[samiamew]

Well, the heart of my collection -- and my only cel love for the first few years -- remains the same:

INUYASHA

I've branched out into a few other series that I actively collect -- mostly due to the fact that IY cels have become harder to come by and I must feed the cel need somehow

But I still only search IY daily -- and 'browse' for the others -- and sometimes I get lucky and am able to add to my dog-boy obsession

*sigh*

I miss those days when you had to obsessively check websites for updates 20 times a day to make sure you got 'the good stuff' when it was first updated -- and then your fingers couldn't type fast enough without mistakes to shoot your e-mail out asking if your 'prize' was still available .... and then waiting on pins and needles and checking your e-mail every 5 minutes for a reply......................

Aaaaahhhhhh! Good times, good times

[syan]

I started with Fushigi Yuugi, with specific desires for Hotohori, and wanting Escaflowne. I watched Trigun a year later, and started in on that one. I still look and collect from those, while expanding to others along the way. There have definitely been other series I've flirted with collecting, only to sell them later on (or else they're sitting in the books still).

[kizu]

Focus... Well I haven't been in the hobby that long only 2 years. I'd say I've kept my focus which is Voltes, Daimos, Rurouni Kenshin and Shinsengumi theme. It's a weird combination of robots and samurai, past and future. Haha. But yes I do have lots of others series, I wouldn't necessarily say I've strayed since I still largely collect the above. In fact I'm even getting more focused now... I rarely buy anything outside of the series I mainly collect, but the problem remains it's hard to consistently find really nice cels within my budget for the series I mainly collect. But I've since realized the buying to satisfy something that's missing is really working against me rather than with me... So enough of that. I'm even thinking of letting go of those artwork that isn't my main collecting theme/subject. Right now though, it's not really a good time so maybe I'll just keep them for now since I do like them... And since I think they are all nice cels, I usually find someone willing to do trades too.

[miz ducky]

Generally I would say "Yes".

My first cels ever were 2 Noir cels, but until a friend showed me a sale site that had some FB sketches I was just a person with 2 cels. When I started collecting FB, then I think I became a "Collector". That has been my main focus this entire time. Even though I have added a few other things from other shows, FB is still my only obsession.

[JWR]

Well in my case I started out collecting from 3 series, Ah My Goddess , Ranma 1/2 & Inuyasha.

I still collect from the 1st 2 series but have greatly expanded my collection as I discovered new and fun shows over the last few years.

My True roots are dug in the Comic Art field and my love there has never wavered.

[cutiebunny]

I guess I would say "Mostly".

Back in 2003, when I puchased my first cel while at basic training, I had two main goals.

1) To buy things that I really liked so I would not feel guilty about spending lots of money on them

2) To own Sailormoon artwork that was not used for any card set.

I never really limited myself to Sailormoon, or at least, never told myself that all I was going to collect was SM. However, until about 2007, all I really collected was Sailormoon.

Now I've added Cardcaptor Sakura and Inuyasha. And the ocassional whatever.

[duotrouble]

I have in the sense that I'm a true Gemini. We constantly change our minds. However, we are also known for being very loyal.

I bought my first cel 8 years ago. It was from Fushigi Yuugi. I still own that cel and love it. I also still actively collect from Fushigi Yuugi but I'm extremely picky when buying. However, my original goal in collecting was to own only 1 cel from each of my favorite anime. Well, one look in my gallery shows you how well I kept to that. I've also dissolved several series I thought I would continue to collect. But my tastes change over the years as I get exposed to more things. So I just evolve.

[HotIce]

I started with Outlaw Star, YuYu Hakusho and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust... I still collect Outlaw Star, and I'm hoping to make it pretty much just Outlaw Star, but with the way times are I cannot sell off my YYH and VHDB collections, so I guess I still collect them as well. I have also started moving towards some original art/fan art pieces.

so I guess my answer is yes and no? ^_^