New to collecting and forum

[oxypetalus]

Well, I figured it's about time I posted an intro here. I just started collecting this past November. I've been stalking the forums since and even purchased cels from a fellow collectors. My first thought is that this is a terrible hobby to get sucked into for a struggling college student. I also think it's funny that I've never really seen that much anime before but but when I browse cel collections I notice really nice artwork or interesting descriptions and then I end up watching the anime, really liking it and then wanting to buy cels from it. It's turned into a viscous cycle There are sooo many great animes to collect from and soo much nice art out there. It's hard to stop browsing and hunting etc for cels. I've been taking it a bit more slowly lately and have been trying to focus on pieces that I reallyyy like instead of sort of like but it's so hard to watch auctions pass by that are decent prices but still prettty nice but not perfect. I always get the feeling of "what if it never comes back or better ones never show up?" How do you guys do it?

I'm also interested in doing my own fancels. Does anyone have any info on that? I do have drawing and painting experience so I was thinking maybe I can just make my own "dream cels"

[cutiebunny]

Welcome to Beta. You have a lot of nice AnC cels

[eyes0nme19]

Well, I figured it's about time I posted an intro here. I just started collecting this past November. My first thought is that this is a terrible hobby to get sucked into for a struggling college student.

Welcome to beta!
How crazy that you also started about the same time I did And like you I'm also a college student so I totally
understand how you feel! This hobby is so addicting especially for us students with no money...I've been
broke more times than I can count But you have an awesome collection of cels so far, I really like
your Ayashi no Ceres. Unlike my gallery yours is much more higher quality. I guess I'm not qualified to give you
any advice since I myself am sucked into the whorl pool of cel collecting but I know for sure you'll have an awesome
time in this hobby, I know I do! Happy cel-hunting!

[oxypetalus]

Thank you guys :3 I actually got some of my nicer AnC cels from other members here during their sales. I also looked at a lot of galleries and cels before I even made my first purchase.

[theultimatebrucelee]

can't really say welcome since you've been here longer, but its nice to see fellow poor college students here currently I'm having the hardest time to try not going overboard with cel hunting, but its takin every last ounce of my once strong will, so I'll just wish you good luck

[Cordelia]

Welcome to this crazy hobby! I started when I was in college too and it wasn't easy. I ended up taking extra tutoring jobs to support my cel collecting. Yea, whether to buy or pass up a cel is a constant question but hey, that's part of the fun!

Btw you have a pretty AnC collection

[Massacrist Manslayer]

Welcome to AB an have a great time.

[animeobsessed]

Welcome to beta!!

Your question is a common one and has several answers depending on the individual situation.

You have to figure out what works best for you - whether it's limiting your collection to a few series, going with quality over quality, limiting your searching time, or not looking at all for a period of time, buying only cels or buying only paper. This list goes on and on!! As you can see by my gallery, I'm still working on it.

Good luck and remember to enjoy yourself. It's a hobby.

[Keropi]

Welcome to Beta!

Yep...it's usually very hard to control your spending when you first start out collecting. I had a difficult time of it also. I had to cut down on the number of shows I was looking for in order to stop spending so much. I picked my favorite shows and tried to limit my spending to those shows.

[sensei]

Dear oxypetalus:

Welcome to Beta! While no AnC collector, your cels are a good sampling of the very distinctive art of this series. And what's not to like about VHD?

Probably the best solution is to set a tight monthly budget for your hobby. It's still a very good time to start a collection, so have faith that if you pass something by, something even nicer will come along later. The worst thing to do is to try to buy it all, and then get yourself into a fix where you have to sacrifice parts of your collection, often at a loss, to pay for a necessity.

A budget doesn't mean that you force yourself to pass up a once-in-a-lifetime chance because you spent your month's allotment already. But it does encourage a good habit of asking, "Do I really want this piece, even if it means giving up browsing for the next month?" And the more you ask this question, and honestly answer it, the more you will feel good about your collection in the long run.

And that, I think is the goal: to value things you already own more than something you just acquired. Yes, winning an auction is a tremendous rush. But for some people, the joy of acquisition becomes the primary joy, while to have a healthy collection, the joy of possessing (and sharing what you possess) should be your primary reason for collecting.

Pretty night-blooming cereus! Do you have one? When I had a greenhouse I used to have these arching all over inside, and it was wonderful to go down on the nights when they would bloom.

[Maiko]

Hi- your answer to fan cels really depends on how much you want to invest in supplies. Several artists have cut corners and still made really nice fan cels.

I went to school for animation and personally, I prefer using all 'real' animation supplies. The store I drive into town to use does sell online.

Check out www.cartooncolor.com. They sell hole-punched cel acetate ( mostly 12 field and 16 field ) and cel vinyl paints.

[Sky Rat]

Heh, I got sucked into the hobby when I was a college student as well, and that's defintitely a challenging time to be temped by an expensive addiction!!!

I personally let myself get really absorbed by collecting for about a year or two and then had to force myself to step back and take a break from collecting for a few years because I just couldn't afford to keep up with all the things I was tempted to buy until I got a better job (which unfortunately wasn't my first out of college job.)

However, even several years after I started collecting, I'm happy to say that I've had no trouble at all still finding more things I'm interested in buying than I can actually afford to buy. People continuously sell things, like your experience picking up stuff from other collector's sales here.

I personally found it easiest to control my spending by narrowing the focus of what I collect. I like to save all of my money for putting towards cels fom my very favorite show. But different things work for different people, others perfer to have a broad variety of a few things from lots of different interests. You'll find something that works well for you. (Just remember that you don't have to aquire everything a once!! More stuff will come along if you're patient and keep looking!)

I have to agree that your AnC collection is quite impressive (esp for so little time in the hobby.)

Welcome and good luck. ^___^

[otakusin]

Knowing your limits and sticking with them!! Seen many come and quickly go by overextending their wallets. My personal saving grace in hard times was (still is) not looking, you cannot miss what you do not see!!

[Belldandy16]

welcome!
you have a beautiful gallery!
my advice would be to not go for (what YOU deem) mediocre stuff but only shoot for the cream of the crop… youll never be disappointed in what you buy that way.

have fun and good luck!

[sugarcels]

Welcome to our world

You have a great collection!