Do you ever feel like you're the 'evil' collector?

[sensei]

Honestly, I really wonder if having an RS gallery is worth it. Rubberslug just seems to bring the worst out of people rather than just being able to enjoy animation art.

I'm sorry you've had a string of unpleasant experiences, Mackettric. While I've had a few (similar to some reported above but not really worth relating), I've also had more than enough good experiences to make up for it. After winning my CCS Syaoran "first appearance" pan cel, I had a long and friendly correspondence with the Japanese underbidder, who lived in an interesting place and had a husband (who was a little disconcerted by her collecting habits, just as my wife is about mine), small children, and other hobbies. While we do not send "pen pal" notes any more, we still exchange calendars every New Year's.

As others have noted, animation art is different from other collectables. With figurines, cards, special edition plushies, you can own "a" very desirable item in excellent condition. But with animation art, you own "the" image, the single, unique, irreplaceable item that was used by the studio to generate a brief and often intensely important moment in the series. If you lose an auction for "an" item, you sigh, wipe away a tear, and wait for the next one to come along. If you lose an auction for "the" item, your despair is total, for there is no guarantee that you will ever know where that piece of art has gone or if you will ever get a second chance. And that despair can make people do desperate things. It's very much like fine art collecting, and I'm constantly bemused by what these folks do with amounts of money that make Mitt Romney look like a vagrant.

One can only try to embody what I called "restitution" in my academic essay on Anime-Beta (due out next month!). That is, one must understand that your owning something that no one else can have (or even view except by your permission) predictably causes stress within the community of collectors, and so it brings with it the responsibility of providing an acceptable form of service to others. In my opinion, that's one factor that tends to make the Betarian bunch very tightly knit. On one level we hate each others' guts for having the cels and sketches we'd slit our grandmothers' throats to obtain. And on another level, we try to react to that understandable reaction by responding with productive activities: conservation, research, creative display, advising and encouraging newbies.

[zerospace]

I had a deputy service send me an 'offer' from another cel collector about a cel I'd won on YJ.

Wow... I have to admit, this is a new one for me -- I've never heard of a deputy doing something like this before *face/palm*

[ReiTheJelly]

Rubberslug just seems to bring the worst out of people rather than just being able to enjoy animation art.

Maybe I just collect the "wrong" series, or something, but I can't really think of a single experience where a stranger has (in earnest) e-mailed me via Rubberslug and made a nuisance of themselves. And even within the community as a whole, I think I've only had maybe 1 or 2 bad experiences with other collectors in my 10 years collecting.

I would be curious to know exactly how many nasty e-mails people have received from unique senders (anonymous ones cannot be tallied as unique, since the could hypothetically be sent from the same person). When I first joined Rubberslug, I had dozens of people tell me they received nasty messages "all the time," but I don't believe I've ever received a single one (other than the fake one a friend of mine sent me as a joke, per my request).

[Gonzai]

I agree with you Rei. Even back when I collected more popular series
such as Dragonball, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter. I
never received a single nasty email or feedback from Rubberslug. Of
course now, I only collect that what others don't, so I never hear a
word out of anyone on anything.

[sensei]

I once got a "miffed" letter from a close friend who had helped me collect from a particular series. I'd seen a nice pair of cels from that series on Mandarake, bid on them, and won, all without letting her know about them. When they went up on RS, she opined as how I should have told her about them and discussed the possibility of giving her a chance to go for one of them. I could see her point of view, especially as I had been in her debt on some previous sets that we had split between us. But in truth the items were contested on Mandarake, and even if I'd given her advance word there was no guarantee that either of us would have outbid the other interested parties. Anyhow, others from the same sequences soon appeared in YHJ, and the matter died a natural death.

There was another nuisance who "owned" a given episode of CCS, but as we eventually came to terms and I got some very nice items in trade from said pest, I think that too was less evil and more part of the game.

[pixie_princess]

I would be curious to know exactly how many nasty e-mails people have received from unique senders (anonymous ones cannot be tallied as unique, since the could hypothetically be sent from the same person). When I first joined Rubberslug, I had dozens of people tell me they received nasty messages "all the time," but I don't believe I've ever received a single one (other than the fake one a friend of mine sent me as a joke, per my request).

Only happened once, but it was a real doozie... viewtopic.php?f=13&t=22069 I am guessing that with that one event I met my weirdness quota for a few years XD

[sensei]

I miss Cloud!

[zerospace]

I agree with you Rei. Even back when I collected more popular series
such as Dragonball, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter. I
never received a single nasty email or feedback from Rubberslug. Of
course now, I only collect that what others don't, so I never hear a
word out of anyone on anything.

Same here. My only nasty messages have actually come from my NON-RS gallery sites -- the worst one was many years ago (early 2000s).

Most of the RS feedback I've ever gotten has been spam or random out of the blue offers to buy things. Granted, sometimes these offers are weird, but nothing I'd term "nasty".

[Mackettric]

I've only gotten a couple really nasty RS feedback from RS galleries. Most of my experiences on Rubberslug have been positive.

More often I get RS feedback from people who are new to cel collecting and don't understand that cels in RS galleries aren't for sale. One time I got 25 emails in one day from this person freaking out that I wouldn't sell her one of my favorite cels in my collection. I guess that's why I think having a Rubberslug gallery kinda sets you up for that kind of email. Also, it's amazing when selling cels on eBay, how people will contact you saying they don't want the cel you're selling but want to buy other cels in your gallery.

[zerospace]

Also, it's amazing when selling cels on eBay, how people will contact you saying they don't want the cel you're selling but want to buy other cels in your gallery.

I've definitely had this happen on many occasions -- most of them seem to understand that it is a gallery, though (if I need to link to extra images in my gallery, I always am careful to note that my gallery isn't a storefront).

Having a gallery online does seem to encourage people to do all sorts of both pleasant and unpleasant things. It's a case of the good comes along with the bad. I've had an online gallery for a long time now, and haven't had too many issues either way -- I closed my RS gallery years ago, after I made my own semi-automated gallery software, and haven't really looked back. RS was (still is, really, perhaps even more so now) too buggy for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I think what Jason does is great, but I also think he doesn't have the time to devote to it anymore (nor the heart to simply shut it down), hence the half-finished state it's currently in. My community participation is then entirely left up to me to actually visit places like here or RS, of course, and I only get found by people who are generally pretty serious about finding artwork, which I don't view as a bad thing.

[moonrabitt]

...One time I got 25 emails in one day from this person freaking out that I wouldn't sell her one of my favorite cels in my collection.

That is the funniest thing I've ever heard. Can't believe people are so stupid though, if you where selling it, youd say so and list a price.

[Mackettric]

...One time I got 25 emails in one day from this person freaking out that I wouldn't sell her one of my favorite cels in my collection.

That is the funniest thing I've ever heard. Can't believe people are so stupid though, if you where selling it, youd say so and list a price.

I don't understand it. I use throw away email addys for RS feedback so if I get slammed with email from someone, I can just delete the address. Just seems like a small vocal minority of collectors think anyone who has a cel they want and won't sell it to them is an 'evil' collector.

[Keropi]

Yeah, I've gotten a couple of those. One guy offered about a third of what I paid for a cel and then talked as though I should be honored to be receiving such a nice offer from him.

"I give you the honor of selling it me." is what he was implying. I got a kick out of that one.

[ladydouji]

And yet another advantage of collecting less popular series. You can get nice cels cheaper, and people don't bug you for your collection.

[sensei]

I recently got an email out of the blue coveting one of my Tonde Buurin cels. I was so surprised and bemused that there was another serious "Pig Girl" collector actually out there that, while I didn't sell the specific one coveted, I did counteroffer with a sequence-mate I had and suggested she make offers on other things I had. And even sent a bunch of extras with the ones she bought. Collectors with peculiar tastes have to stick together, after all.