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A Few Questions.
All this is still new to me, so I was wondering if anyone could provide some clarity in regards to the subject:
- Firstly, how did these sellers obtain them? Did the animation company freely give them away or did people have to buy it from them? Or is it a possibility that some of these sellers were animators which helped create a specific anime and got to keep some of the original cels/production art for it?
- Is there only one cel of a specific frame of a scene in an anime out there, or are duplicates always created for them, giving the chance of more people to obtain the cel of the same image? Does the same go for other production items (storyboards, settei, etc.)?
- Stuff like storyboards and settei/character designs seem a lot rarer than cels. Where are the best places to look for these specifically?
Uchiha_Itachi
Jul 11 at 3:44 AM
Hi Itachi,
On your first question there are verious ways cels can make it to market. The studio could sell them in batches, some could have been given as gifts whose receipient chose to then sell them. I would also think that some of staff might have been allowed to keep some.
On your second question, by nature each cel is unique and are made for the production process of frame by frame animation. Now there are sometimes test cels or rejected cels in which there was a flaw and the cel that made it to camera was remade. They do not purposely make additional cels of a cel with the exception of the reproduction or serial cels made in batches specifically for sale. Story boards and settei are normally have one original that is then copied for use by the staff. You do need to be carefull for a lot of what shows up for sale tend to be just photocopies.
On your third question, the best places are Mandarake Japan , Yahoo Japan as well as dealers like Asylum Anime or Anime Link.
Hope that helps.
JWR
Welcome to Rubberslug!!
In regards to your first question, to list all the ways that animation art, including cels, makes to the secondary market would be impossible. Some companies, like Toei, officially sold their artwork, while other companies destroyed theirs. Artwork is sometimes smuggled out of companies, often involving someone with inside connections. The reasons for this vary - a while a lot of it is for financial gain, there are many who take artwork out of the company simply because they don't like where the company is heading(ie. company is financially strained and the animators don't like the potential studio buyers..).
As has been said, a good place to buy animation artwork is Mandarake, Yahoo Japan, Anime Asylum and E-bay. There's always a lot of stuff out there for all sorts of price ranges. It's a myth that you can't be an art collector if you're not earning a 6 figure income(though, it does help).
Edited Jul 12 at 12:22 AM
Thanks guys, the answers were much appreciated.
You're right mahoro, I collect only as a personal hobby, not for anyone else or other trivial purposes. The main series' right now which incite my interest are Naruto and Dragonball/Z/GT. I'm avidly searching for specific settei and cels of certain scenes from DBZ in order to solve a very debatable subject regarding a certain character, and I'm hoping they may finally hold the answers.
As far as prices go, I've seen cels that cost up to $1000! Would you think they are really worth spending that much? That is definitely out of my spending range right now, but that could change in the future, who knows.
Uchiha_Itachi
Jul 13 at 8:30 PM
