telling the difference

how can you differenciate a fancel from a test cel?

Is there a way to distinguish the difference at all?

I have a new cel with no sequence number but it does has registration holes. Its holes line up *perfectly* with my regular sized cels; but, it shows that this piece in question is slightly oversized. It has minimal line fading and looks finely painted--seriously it does; but, there is small chips of paint missing on the shoulder and inner eye of the character.

Or, should I throw in the towel and forget about it?? I am operating on hunches here anyway and I don't think that the information I've given could help tell the difference.
*torn*

So.. can you tell the difference between the two? ^_^

If it has line fading, I would guess that it's the real deal. The vast majority (if not all) of fancels are hand-inked, so the lines will not fade. At least, they won't fade and turn brown the way production cels do. There is most definately deterioration in the cel, since it is a thing and prone to that, but not the same kind of deterioration as in a production cel.

I don't know much about test cels. I've never seen SM test cels, though. Or from any other studio besides Madhouse. What series is the cel in question from?

I know you are not familar with the SM series; but, it came from the third season. :)

I managed to scan it; would you like to view it and make a judgement? May I send you an email?

I have a cel with no sequence numbers, but it appears to be an authentic production cel.

http://cat.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=48064

It's a Tenchi in Tokyo cel and another kind collector (Gabriel) found it and made a screencap that exactly matched the cel. If you can find the cel in the show, you can compare the scene to the cel and see if it matches up. There is always a chance it is actually a production cel.

Hi!!

Like klet, I've never seen a Sailormoon test cel either so I don't know much about them. I highly doubt it is a test cel, though. I thought about the possibility of your cel being a reproduction cel, but I don't think it is for two reasons. First, I've never seen/heard of repro cels from the S season (I've only seen ones from the original, R and Stars seasons) and second, I've never seen a repro cel that is oversized.

My best guess is that it is a real production cel that possibly had some blank space on the ends and someone carefully trimmed it, therefore trimming off the sequence number. I've seen that a lot over the years - Sailormoon is particularly bad about that type of thing. Also, the sequence number could have been removed by a previous owner. Sometimes cel numbers are on an additional piece of acetate that is taped to the top of the cel and then someone comes along a removes it to make storage easier.

If you would like me to take a look at it and give you a better opinion, just shoot me an email.

Hope this helps a little. ^_^