Mysterious Sources ?^_^?

[Keropi]

Has anyone ever known a collector who acquired artwork from somewhere and you really had no idea where it came from?

Just wondering.

It's happened to me off and on through the years, but I try not to think about it much. Sometimes I THINK I know where they're come from, but I don't recall ever going out of my way trying to figure it out or anything.

[mako]

same here....

[MidniteKitten]

My friend and I were just talking about this!

[Keropi]

The way I look at it - if it's there, it's there. I don't want to think about it too much because it'll just get me frustrated. If I was in their place I probably wouldn't want to say what it was either. I can only control what I know if you know what I mean.

[darksuzaku]

When i started collecting i sometimes thought there was some kind of conspiration going against me in the form of secret sources for cels that everybody else knew except myself.

Later on it didn't concern me. It became funny when years later i received e-mails from people aking for my secret source for the cels in my collection. And even more funny when they didn't believe me when i told them the short variety of places i get cels from (YJ, a few deealers etc...).....

So you see, in the minds of some people i'm some evil foe that doesn't want to reveal a super secret and exclusive source of cels.

[EternityOfPain]

I'll be honest. I use all the resources available to the Obama administration for my sketches / cels. I got the hookup. When he receives that 3 AM call.. He knows whats going on.. Time to hook me up with new cels / sketches.

[iceman57]

We all have the same sources, the studios...
The more you're close to studios, artists, main right owners, local right owners, the more you've access to premium items.

Fact is that items left studios on different ways, volunteerly or not
What about writing about to Mandarake, who takes the mission ? Agent 00Keropi ?

About knowing "sources", well, in a competition universe I may call this "intelligence". Fortunally the ovale desk is not decorated with anime cel frames

[cutiebunny]

I would think that all of us, at one point or another, purchased items from mysterious sources. The majority of items on YJ are from mysterious sources because when you buy the item, they don't tell you the pedigree of the item. I know that it was made by a studio, but I don't know who owned it first, second, third, etc. For all I know, they could have broken into the Mandarake vault, stolen some goods and then put them for sale on YJ.

Which, I remember...did happen, or something similar. I recall that, several years ago, there was a lawsuit where a woman who's apartment was broken into sued Mandarake after having seen that several of her cels were up for auction on their site. Mandarake lost that lawsuit.

So, who knows where those cels are now...maybe some are even in my collection?

Only a handful of items I own are not through mysterious sources represented by third party services(ie. Mandarake, YJ, etc) or I can at least tell you how the item originated. Those are generally items that I acquired myself like signed convention shikishi or those that came with all their original packaging.

[sensei]

Yes, though one had to be a much higher roller than I was to play that game. I once did work with a dealer who had a cozy relationship with a mysterious source, and once worked out a deal where I promised to spend [a large sum of money in sensei's estimation] if he could find me some things on a wishlist I gave him before one of his trips to Japan. He did return with some nice things, and I was happy with what I got. But other times he came back empty, and in time he simply stopped getting stuff that way.

But, truth to be told, I got even nicer things by being vigilant in watching Yahoo Japan and carefully picking lots that either weren't being noticed or (my favorite) were going up alongside other high-end items that were attracting more attention from the high-rollers. Either that or being good to other curators and so getting private notice of a gallery offer opportunity and then offering a fair price for something good.

In sum, I think the "mysterious source" conduit exists but tends to become much more mysterious and attractive in imagination than in reality.

The whole matter reminds me of "Pocket," the mysterious dealer of past years who supposedly had amazingly good items for sale, but whose sale site was kept secret, and so you had to get it from another collector who had passed "the test" of being worthy to pass the gates. In time, I learned the secret URL (IIRC, it was www dot newpocket dot com) but never saw anything there that made it seem any different from any other sale site and so never did order anything.

[Sky Rat]

The whole matter reminds me of "Pocket," the mysterious dealer of past years who supposedly had amazingly good items for sale, but whose sale site was kept secret, and so you had to get it from another collector who had passed "the test" of being worthy to pass the gates. In time, I learned the secret URL (IIRC, it was www dot newpocket dot com) but never saw anything there that made it seem any different from any other sale site and so never did order anything.

That’s exactly what I was thinking of when this thread started. But I was afraid to bring it up because I remember all the drama it used to incite on another forum.

I was finally given that URL too but al I ever got was a pink and white checked page with a ‘will update later’ notice on it. I eventually gave up trying. Was just wondering the other day if that dealer was still around… searching back on here indicates they’re not (unless of course the in the know people have just gotten better at being quiet about it, heh.)

Ah, oh well.

[iceman57]

Money opens locked doors

[Keropi]

Later on it didn't concern me. It became funny when years later i received e-mails from people aking for my secret source for the cels in my collection. And even more funny when they didn't believe me when i told them the short variety of places i get cels from (YJ, a few deealers etc...).....

Lol. Borrowing a phrase from what we say while watching the Jeopardy game show - "Even the simplest thing can be difficult when you don't know the answer to the question".

I'll be honest. I use all the resources available to the Obama administration for my sketches / cels. I got the hookup. When he receives that 3 AM call.. He knows whats going on.. Time to hook me up with new cels / sketches.

Lol

By the time Pocket became popular, the quality of their items had declined considerably (especially their last two updates)...or at least I thought so. It all depends on what kind of things you collect though.

There have been "hidden" pages through the years as well as YJ links. Why is Japanese so difficult to search YJ with? Is it because of the kanji/kana/English, spaces between characters issue? Some things don't show up unless you use Search Method #14a.

[jcaliff]

By the time Pocket became popular, the quality of their items had declined considerably (especially their last two updates)...or at least I thought so. It all depends on what kind of things you collect though.

There have been "hidden" pages through the years as well as YJ links. Why is Japanese so difficult to search YJ with? Is it because of the kanji/kana/English, spaces between characters issue? Some things don't show up unless you use Search Method #14a.

I found some nice stuff from Pocket back in the day. It's still one of the only places I've ever bought Ninpen Manmaru cels. I remember how excited I was, and she said that the seller had more and might be interested in selling others, and that she would get back to me if so. Since I never heard back, I assume that any other Ninpen cels are still in that mysterious owner's hands.

As for Japanese search problems, I think a lot of it is the same problem you run into on ebay - mistyping. They'll use an extra space where there shouldn't be any, or a dot or tilde or dash. They'll use a small kana instead of a large kana without noticing, or a number written in western style instead of Japanese text. or vice-versa. Yahoo Japan Auctions isn't a very smart search engine, and doesn't always include "ï¼

[ReiTheJelly]

Yes, I have known individuals who had contacts within Japan and therefore had access to previously unknown items. But I don't particularly care -- I can neither afford time or money in tracking down items not available via traditional means. And with the amount of turn-over in this hobby, I figure that if I am patient enough, I'll eventually be given the opportunity of obtaining the pieces I want.

[Keropi]

As for Japanese search problems, I think a lot of it is the same problem you run into on ebay - mistyping. They'll use an extra space where there shouldn't be any, or a dot or tilde or dash. They'll use a small kana instead of a large kana without noticing, or a number written in western style instead of Japanese text. or vice-versa.

Yeah, I think knowing at least a little Japanese goes a long way in figuring certain things out. I'm surprised how many things I didn't notice eight years ago when I knew less Japanese than I do now.

Every now and then I run across YJ listings that aren't even listed according title. That just makes things more difficult.