Twelve Years

[sensei]

Today I'm quietly celebrating the twelfth anniversary of my first animation cel purchase (a CCS cel, on eBay). A somewhat louder celebration will take place at the end of the month to recognize the tenth anniversary of my Rubberslug Gallery, Sensei's Anime Gallery which is August 3. The new "Quirky Tour" will revisit those first two years of collecting, when I went from that singleton cel to "about fifty." I've been digging back into my dusty text-only email archives and recalling what it was to be a newbie at that time. It's interesting to come across those September 2000 messages from "Parrallax" at "home.com" (now defunct as an email service) that drummed up business for

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| ANIME CHAOS!!!!! http://www.animechaos.com
| Anime Production cels for Sale!!
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And some of those first purchases were interesting: not what I'd choose now to add to my existing collection but all very special and very enlightening at the time. I recall getting out the USPS Priority Mail envelope where my little clutch of cels lived for the first six months and looking at each of them, fascinated by their brightness, their gem-like beauty. And I recall how startled I was when I put a certain colored mat behind one and the character's expression seemed to change. Yes, yes, an optical illusion, but an eerie one nonetheless.

So ... in the name of great nostalgia ... what do other long-term collectors remember about their newbie days that now are part of the past?

[tex-chan]

Happy anniversary, Sensei!! Your gallery has always been a favorite stopping-off point for me, as well as a wonderful source of information and inspiration. I'm looking forward to visiting your new Quirky Tour, once you get it all uploaded.

I'm not sure if I qualify as a "long-term" collector ... but the main thing I remember from my earliest collecting days is that giddy rush of happiness at opening packages of new cels as they arrived at my house. I still rather feel that way ... but I don't buy nearly as much or as often as I did back then. (Partially because I've become much pickier over the years. But, also because my purchases tend to be more expensive now. )

[cutiebunny]

Congrats on hitting the 12 year mark.

I haven't hit my 10 year mark yet, but my first cel did indeed come from E-bay as well...and, I still have it. At the time, I thought it would make for some neat room decoration for my room while in school. So high tailed it to the local Wal-Mart and bought a picture frame to hang the cel in. Then I hung it on my wall on a side that didn't face the sunlight...and promptly took it down after a couple of weeks after my training ended. I had no idea that light was bad for cels

I remember buying my first Itoya (an 11x14) and wondering if I'd ever be able to fill it up, and how long that would take. I now have several more Itoya now..

I didn't join RS until 2005, partially because I only had a couple of cels at the time, and also because I didn't want other collectors to target me because I had won something they wanted. But, seven years later and despite having to deal with a new crop of arses who think that's it's awesome to try to ruin another collector's life out of jealousy, I'm still around, albeit collecting different items than from when I first started collecting. And despite said jerks, there's a lot of good people around. I've met a lot of nice people at conventions, and I like that we're willing to help each other out.

I would have loved to have been around for the late night updates at Anime Taro, but that ended by the time I started collecting. I remember Anime Chaos and their sales, even though I never bought anything from them. I guess I should be thankful that I was around to enjoy the spectacular exchange rates that we had in 2005. I wouldn't have had half the collection I do now without them.

I think the community has changed quite a bit too in the span that I've been collecting. Perhaps it's just my experiences at the time, but think the competition amongst collectors was a lot nastier in 2005 than it is now. There were lots of petty collectors who would take it personally if they lost an auction and would bid on items just to make you pay more. But even though the cel supply has dwindled since 2005, I think, overall, people take auctions less personally now. Maybe it's because we've all matured or because we already have several items in our collections that we already love and appreciate that losing an auction doesn't hurt as much as it used to. Hard to say.

[Rekka Alexiel]

Oh yes, the great Anime Chaos days. When you think of the date, 2000, it doesn't seem all that long ago, but then when you add in the "You know, it's been 12 years now!!" bit, it's a weird feeling! Where has the time gone!?

It's still great to see some of us from that time still around, although I know I come and go as the cel obsession carries me... Really hope everyone is doing well and congrats at hitting that 12 year mile marker with your gallery!! I'll have to take a celebration tour though your gallery again! XD

EDIT:
Ah, almost forgot. What do I remember from those days... Well, although I shopped at Anime Chaos a lot, I think my main place used to be Anime-Cel. I believe that's where I acquired my first cel in 1998 or '99, which was of course a shot of Ryo from Samurai Troopers. I no longer have that particular cel, but I'll always remember it. I remember at the time I didn't really know what it was all about but so many people were talking about cels and such that I bought that one just to see what it was...and to actually have something physical from the show. From that point on, the obsession grew much larger and expanded to several other series, although the main series at the time was still Samurai Troopers.

I didn't head over to Rubberslug until later. I liked having my own Web site, hosted on Geocities, where I could play around with the design and such. I know one of my sites still lives on as "reocities" but the others are long gone. Looking through some of the old saved image from those sites, though, can be quite painful. There have been many cels that I let go that NOW I wouldn't have ever considered if I still had them. WHY DID I LET THEM GO!? *sob* XD

That's about all I can recall right now, though.

[graymouser]

Congratulations on reaching the 12 year mark. It is amazing how fast the time goes by.

My first cel was a freebie from The Right Stuf when I bought a VHS set. I don't remember the exact date, but it was somewhere in the mid-90s. I did not know what a cel was and spent a lot of time looking at it and trying to figure out how it was used to make an anime. It even came with a stuck sketch, which I damaged when I accidentally removed it while trying to get a closer look at the back of the cel. I have no idea what show the cel is from. It really is just a junk cel, but I still have it due to sentimental reasons. After this cel, I casually looked around for more cels, but did not buy anything since I was not in a very stable financial situation at the time. It was not until about 2000 that I felt comfortable enough to spend money on artwork. My first purchase was a Fushigi Yuugi cel off of ebay. I remember I overpaid because had to use "buy it now" to get it. I had tried a few times to buy cels off of ebay but since I was a newbie with no feedback, sellers kept cancelling my bids.

There has been so many changes. I can remember when Animanga was such a busy forum. It also had a rival forum that I think was run by Anime Chaos. Anime Chaos sold cels and was not a deputy yet. Anime beta and Rubberslug did not exist. If you wanted your own gallery, you had to create it yourself. I remember going to the bookstore and teaching myself HTML. My first gallery was a disaster. It loaded really slowly, had ads (it was a freebie from geocities) and the scans were horrible.

BTW here is my first cel.

[glorff]

August 3, 2002 was the day I joined a small cel forum called Anime Beta run by one Sith Krillin. I hardly seems possible. I ended up here because I was bidding on a cel on eBay that they were discussing here and had decided that it was probably a fake. I was warned and joined immediatly. I had a private collection for years and many here thought I did not really collect until I started adding 4-5 cels a day to Rubberslug and the announcements went on for over a month until I finally got tired of the event and posted the rest. I started on August 28 2003 and finished on October 25 2003. I have not added since March 12 2009, over three years ago. It has been a long downturn and I miss the persuit of cels, but I still have every one I ever purchased. I had arrived just in time to watch the glory days fade and all the old sellers drop away one by one.

Sensi and I will share our aniversary datein slightly different ways, but with the same heart. Heres to all the Beta memories made possible by our cel collecting!

Thanks for the Memories!

[sensei]

the main thing I remember from my earliest collecting days is that giddy rush of happiness at opening packages of new cels

I remember that the receptionist at the faculty mail room used to come around the side of her cubicle and watch me take them apart. Some of it was fascination at how cel collectors and their enablers put together packages, and some was sharing what was clearly a peak experience. It never does go away, though I find that it's balanced over time with the quieter joy of looking closely at things you've had for years and still love.

Perhaps it's just my experiences at the time, but think the competition amongst collectors was a lot nastier in 2005 than it is now.

I think you're right in sensing a growing maturity among a lot of collectors. I probably was nastier then, too, and, as you say, the exchange rate was so favorable that it fostered a "gotta catch them all" attitude. Now, with a row of cel books and sketch boxes visible from my keyboard, I'm more apt to pick my battles carefully and step back more often to watch new arrivals build their collections.

I'll have to take a celebration tour though your gallery again!

Do the "Only You" Quirky Tour, as that's going to get taken down in a few days to prepare for the "Return to the Past" tour that will go up ca. August 1. I liked that tour idea (and thank Betafolk for suggesting and voting for it) and think it gave several unfamiliar but eyeworthy series a much needed shout-out. The new one won't be 100% CCS (my second cel, which I still have, was Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo) but pretty close.

There have been many cels that I let go that NOW I wouldn't have ever considered if I still had them.

Interesting: as I did my time capsule crawl through my old email, I found mentions of cels I once had and traded or sold. Maybe I'm more practical or maybe I made good choices of what to keep, but I don't miss any of them. In fact, it was eerie how much effort it took to remember what they looked like.

I can remember when Animanga was such a busy forum. It also had a rival forum that I think was run by Anime Chaos.

Yes, I hung out at Animanga a lot in the very early days, when my gallery was new. Many of my old friends I met there, some of which are still here, and I learned most of my basic knowledge of cel terms (genga vs. douga, bank vs. book, etc.) from asking clueless questions there. But one problem is that the ads got very annoying: they'd hop up and down, flash at you, etc. And then the place got infested with spyware. It is still live but it's a ghostly shell of the busy marketplace it used to be.

I had arrived just in time to watch the glory days fade and all the old sellers drop away one by one.

A lot of enjoyable things have a "dying fall," as the Bard would have it. It's certainly true that 2002-03 was an astonishing year for cel collecting as the last wave of cel-based series had only recently wrapped and the inventory was still working its way to market for the first time. But in truth I've found little runs of "glory days" afterwards, like the spate of super-high-end Rozen Maiden sketches that probably had been used for rilezu and then were released to the market in 2010-11 when that repro cel series wrapped. True, I don't expect to see droolworthy stuff appear on YHJ Monday morning like it used to. But with the exchange rate now relatively unfavorable and my budget trimmed by retirement, maybe it's just as well to think of four updates a year rather than four a month.

I do hope that the collectors can stick together for the long haul and give the newbies good reasons to hang out with them. When I began collecting, I was seriously bummed out about my career and my future. Overall, a new activity and a new bunch of practical-minded acquaintances were both good forms of therapy, and I think I'm a much more positive-minded person as a result. (Still bitter and cynical, I grant you, but golly, read that Freeh report about how my old place of work was run and you'll see why.)

Parts of me have softened a bit over the years, like some of the lines in my oldest cels. But with TLC and regular bag changes I think I'm good for another 12 years.

[jcaliff]

I'm at almost exactly 16 years. Scary thought. I remember that my earliest cels almost all came from convention dealers rooms. Back then, there were multiple dealers with cels. I remember sorting through piles. I regret not buying some of the Macross and Sailor Moon cels I remember seeing back then, but I was still figuring out prices and having to be careful with my budget.

There weren't a ton of online shops at the time, and I remember being very nervous buying my first one online since I was worried about the condition and possibility of misrepresentation. It came out okay, but in retrospect I probably overpaid. I remember when Kiki (first iteration of Taro/Museum) first appeared with massive updates and fighting to be the first one to claim certain cels.

Going to AX in 1998 was my first time really meeting other cel collectors. It was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had at a convention. Later, while living in Japan, I got really into the #anime-cel irc chat. It was nice to be able to converse with like-minded English-speaking insomniacs during the day. Those friendships are some I still treasure. The main thing I miss sometimes is the sense of community. Beta is nice, but it's not like it was back then.

[Drac of the Sharp Smiles]

But in truth I've found little runs of "glory days" afterwards, like the spate of super-high-end Rozen Maiden sketches that probably had been used for rilezu and then were released to the market in 2010-11 when that repro cel series wrapped. True, I don't expect to see droolworthy stuff appear on YHJ Monday morning like it used to. But with the exchange rate now relatively unfavorable and my budget trimmed by retirement, maybe it's just as well to think of four updates a year rather than four a month.

I hear you here. I brought in more before than I do now.... but it's mostly for lack of what I would be wanting. I would love more genga from Blade of the Immortal, for example, but it's just not available. Then there are the whole litany of shows for which I would also like pieces, but there's nothing of quality available. Black Butler, for example, is one I would collect from VERY heavily, if I could find anything really worth collecting, but all you can usually find are low-grade roughs or borderline messy layouts. I remember at one point in the past replying to a post on a forum (Yann's or this one, I can't remember) and saying that, for me, "low grade" pieces were fun to have when I also have higher quality art from the same show.... but that if there was no high quality art to be had, or if it was prohibitively expensive, I generally didn't bother with the low grade pieces. That mostly remains true for me and has become one of the reasons I don't buy much anymore.

I know one place I miss out on things is in not being able to attend the "good" cons. Anime Expo is a no-go for me... I can't afford a trip to CA, plus hotel. Anime Boston is here near me, but no one brings cels. Asylum Anime sometimes has some but rarely brings anything that wasn't already on the website. Honestly, I've recently started to wonder if I simply am out of the loop. If the answer is that collecting has gone underground and people are no longer willing to share information about dealers with others in an effort to reduce competition. I've become quiet here so I've fallen a little out of the clique. (*LOL*)

HOWEVER! Your post made me curious and I looked back and see when I first started collecting. The best I could come up with was mid-1999, probably June. I know my first cel, from Master of Mostquiton OVA, came from Ebay and it's remains one of my favorites. ^_^ My second (a cel from Violinist of Hameln) was also bought from Ebay shortly thereafter, and that is the one for which I found a recognizable feedback in my Ebay profile (around July 1999) that specifically stated the item received was a Hameln cel. I remember exactly which one this one was too, still have it and still love it. ^_^

The really amusing thing is that I began collecting cels due to a series that I'm NOT known for collecting. I am a big fan of Sailor Pluto and was going to find a doll of her, but was never able to find one I thought resembled her well. Then, milling around the web one day, I saw some anime cels and thought: "What a good idea! A cel would look exactly like her because that IS her. I'll go get a cel instead!" ^_^ Oddly, it was a while before I found a cel of her I liked enough to pay what people were asking and she's still very under-represented in my collection, given the relative availability of cels of her and how much I like her. I DO always perk up when I see a nice cel of Sailor Pluto come up for sale. ^_^ (BTW, if anyone HAS one....... *^_^*) While I was looking for a Sailor Pluto cel, a lot of other cels came into my possession and thus the snowball started. Said snowball has become 85 Itoya books of cels for which my husband made a special bookshelf that EXACTLY fits the 11x14 Itoya. Pretty scary!

All the memories over the years.... Staying up late for Anime Taro or Anime Chaos updates. Does anyone remember THE big Anime Taro sale that had a bunch of us on Teamspeak.... waiting.... HOVERING... trying to help each other stay awake to place our orders right when it started? ^_^ Both Stephen and Nick were/are a pleasure to deal with and amazingly trustworthy. I remember when Animanga was the place to be and I often wonder how Yann is doing. I still have a few of the boxes he used to mail out cels, along with my "Taroboard". I remember a lot of nights spent staying up to snipe Yahoo Japan auctions... then the wonderful new "convenience" of a cell phone! It had nothing to do with calling anywere. I could set it's vibrating alarm and tie it to my wrist with a scarf, which meant I could get some sleep and still be woken up for the auctions in a way that wouldn't wake my husband. ^_^

All I know is, no matter how many are or aren't coming in now, I'm lost for many happy hours when I open my cel books. ^_^

[star-phoenix]

I bought my first cel (a Fushigi Yuugi OAV Tomahome cel) around June/July 1998 from Ebay. I paid $35 back then for it. I remember thinking, "wow! This cel is so expensive!" I remember when I first saw it, I was so amazed as I have never beeen able to literally touch and look at a cel in person, and thought this was the coolest thing in the entire world. I no longer have that cel, but my 2nd cel I bought back in 2000/2001 (from Anime Taro) was this one of Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha shortly after the Anime came out in Japan:
http://starphoenix.rubberslug.com/galle ... mID=110381

Back then, I was so excited to get packages in, and would literally drive the poor postman nuts! Now, it is a different kind of excitement, one that is achieved after a lot of patience and a lot of research. I definitely still see a lot of fierce competition in the art that I collect, but, int he end, definitely well worth it!

Here here to many long years of great art!

[sensei]

The main thing I miss sometimes is the sense of community. Beta is nice, but it's not like it was back then.

I feel somewhat the same way. In my hacking in past records, I found that all the past messages on Animanga, back to May 1997, were still live and searchable. I did some looking around and found, among other things, Jason's original roll-out of Rubberslug (24 July 2001) and this post promoting the brand-new animation art forum, Anime-Alpha (12 Nov. 2001; the responses are well worth reading). Alas, I did not find any chatter over the formation of Anime-Beta, and I evidently joined the forum after I'd created my gallery.

Still -- what a chatter! People demanding "Show me!" and selling things, and asking questions (e.g., biggest cel you own) and generally mixing it up. It reminded me of the brony forums I looked into. I can see reasons why this chatter has died down, though. Some of it is that anime and anime art are no longer such novelties, and so the "shock of recognition" that was so dramatic in the 1997-2002 period now has become a well explored topic. Also, it's clear that the community has matured quite a bit, with jobs, family, and finances taking priority over enthusiasms (with exceptions of course). And then there's...

there are the whole litany of shows for which I would also like pieces, but there's nothing of quality available. Black Butler, for example, is one I would collect from VERY heavily, if I could find anything really worth collecting, but all you can usually find are low-grade roughs or borderline messy layouts.

Yes, I hear you. One of the things that drove the community was that there was art available from nearly everything that was making a reputation for itself. One learned to love something that was totally new (like my early passion for CCS) and -- gosh! -- you could own a piece of it. Now it continues to be cool that RM art is still coming on the market, and that so much of it is really good in quality. But I feel Drac's frustration that there are other shows that I would collect from more intensively if I could access art that was more than a practice drawing fished out of a trash can. It was sad to see a major collection of Kobato art appear, with many sketches and backgrounds heavily creased because it was salvaged by a dumpster-diver outside of Madhouse Studio.

Back then, I was so excited to get packages in, and would literally drive the poor postman nuts! Now, it is a different kind of excitement, one that is achieved after a lot of patience and a lot of research.

I have to admit that I'm still all a-dither when I know something's on its way to me. I check the USPS tracking site over and over, and watch the street for the mail truck. And opening packages is still special, as is the relief when something I'd bought on the strength of a scan really is top quality. Or that there was more to a sketch set than appeared from the scans ... not just partials and mouth layers but something really dramatic.

But it is true that the "trap line" is longer, and that I spend lots more time researching things that catch my eye but which I honestly don't know what they are -- except that I like them. Two things that came in today's package were the complete Japanese DVD set of Maeterlinck's Blue Bird and a glossy companion book for the series with lots of screen grabs that came out when it first aired. It's sad that there's no significant art for recent series, and so (like star-phoenix) I'm starting to look farther and farther back to see what was good that came before CCS -- and for which there is also good art!

Thanks to all who shared their nostalgia. You've given me interesting things to think about, and so you've enriched my Quirky Tour to come. (But the "Only You" will be around for another week or so, so if you want to go give poor unwanted "Space Loser Yamato" a reassuring pat on his lonely rump, please do so.)

[Keropi]

My early memories were that in many ways it was a lot simpler back then. There weren't as many anime titles to deal with because not as many anime were known. It was much harder to watch anime so a lot of collectors were collecting the same shows and were familiar with many of the shows that other collectors were trying to get. That made things more competitive, but it also made it easier for collectors to relate to one another. That was lost as time went on.

I remember checking cel dealer websites a lot and keeping track of when they updated to better guess when another update might happen. I missed a lot of cels just because my timing was off. I had more luck with auctions. I liked auctions. I didn't like Anime Assault's auctions though.

I had only finished six anime TV series when I purchased my first cel. My collecting interests would change because the more shows you watch, the pickier you tend to become. Those late night Taro updates were fun. It was a lot of refreshing and speed typing. It was enjoyable reading people's comments as they were waiting for the updates and trying to stay awake. A friend at work gave me a cel that he had gotten from Anime Expo 97. At the Pioneer Panel they were giving away cels to the people who were asking questions and he got an El Hazard cel of Makoto when the panel was completed. Kind of neat to think they used to give away cels at convention panels.

That first AX convention I attended in 1998 was pretty crazy. Everyone rush in the door and squash in front of Anime Wink's table trying to look through cel books and buy the good stuff before anyone else could. I was like a kid in the candy store. If was fun that one time, but I never wanted to do that again. It was too much Kung Fu Cel Fighting for my taste.