Hanken cels

I'd like to get some opinions (or even facts!) on what hanken cels are.

My understanding is that these are individually copyrighted because they are used for some purpose - as book illustrations, DVD covers, manga covers, whatever.

But I have frequently seen the term used more generically. For example, there is a cel on eBay right now that is advertised as a hanken cel, one of 200 or so copies. To my mind, that is a reproduction cel, and I doubt that AIC obtained a copyright for each and every one. Although I suppose it is possible.

I have one true hanken in my possession. I also have another couple that were described as hanken, but I didn't believe it when I bought them, so I'm not out anything if they aren't.

But I'd sure like to know what you guys think when you see the term "hanken."

You are right about that "True Hanken" cels are one off's used for some sort of advertizement , magazine or production item like a wall scroll , poster , phone card or other item.

These Limited production run "Hanken" cels are to me in truth post production cels and not "True Hankens" by defination. It seems that because these cels were done not for production in the show but are not normal cel sized that the sellers lump them into the Hanken catagory rather than a normal sized post production cels such as a Rilezu or the limited edition Naruto cels out there.

I am not an expert but thats how I see it.

Thanks for your take on this subject. I guess that everybody else's silence on this question means that they agree with us. :)

Well, if it *just* says "hanken" it should BE a hanken. Meaning the original piece used to make the DVD cover/advert/poster/etc. I don't think you'll find any disagreement on that.

That auction on eBay (the AMG one, right?) was listed correctly as a hanken reproduction. Key being the repro part of the description. After all, its not a relizu or fantasy piece, its a reproduction of an actual hanken cel, so it seems the most accurate label you can get. Now, if someone would try and drop the "reproduction/limited edition" part of the description...then that would be misleading.

It's true that I was thinking of the AMG cel that I had seen some days before, and I should have gone back to verify the exact wording. That cel is clearly a reproduction, since the seller lists the number made.

On the other hand, the AMG cel is described this way: "You are bidding on the Original Hanken Reproduction Cel..." [capitals are as given in the listing]. Actually, you are bidding on a reproduction of the original hanken cel.

Maybe we're just getting into semantics here, but I think the expression "hanken reproduction" is misleading. If it's a "reproduction of a hanken cel," it ought to be worded that way. To me, "hanken reproduction" means a reproduction that has been copyrighted. Which is sort of how I got going with this topic.