'Coming Soon' Good or Bad?

I think it's a good idea. On my page I put a thumbnail of a part of the cel. If someone clicks on the image for info I just say it's not there yet. If I have info to any of my new cels I just post it up. When I get the cel in, I just post the image up and more information if needed.

"Coming Soon" & "Cels No Longer Owned by a Collector" Updates

At first, I really didn't mind so much when gallery owners posted "Coming Soon" or "Gone But Not Forgotten" as categories in their galleries. At most, there used to be only 1 or 2 of these types of updates listed on the "10 Most Recently Updated Galleries" page. But lately, it seems as if the "Coming Soon" and "Sold, But I Still Have A Scan" updates have basically ousted galleries that actually have the new acquisitions in their possession out of the 10 coveted feature spots. Sometimes, I feel as if the only way to view new cels is either to visit the Rubberslug homepage frequently (especially over the weekend), to be informed of a Rubberslug update via a forum, to be contacted by e-mail from an excited gallery owner about a new cel acquisition, or to type in each and every series that you hope has updated some new cels. However, with the latter method of searching the galleries, I think that I am missing some stellar cels and updates, especially from series that I don't actively collect from or from series that are brand new to me.

I do understand that collectors are excited about acquiring a new cel or cels, but could not a collector patiently wait until the cel or cels are IN their possession before posting it to their gallery. I, myself, have had days where I would have loved to post a wishlist cel even though the cel wasn't due to arrive for a couple of weeks to a couple of months from a deputy. However, I restrained myself from posting cels in transit because I don't feel that a cel is truly owned by me until I actually have it in my possession and have made my own scan or have taken my own photo.

I can also understand how some collectors could miss cels that have been sold or traded from their collections and would still like to remember them. But, couldn't the cels that a collector no longer owned be viewed just as well from his or her own computer? I, too, miss the cels that I once owned, but they now reside on my harddrive as a screensaver slideshow. I still get to enjoy them. And more importantly, I have politely removed the cel/cels from my gallery so that there is no confusion or conflicts with the new collector/collectors about ownership.

I very much enjoy the laid-back approach taken by Rubberslug in its conception and I hope that it doesn't change all that much, but I do think that there should be some basic ground rules. Some of these ground rules have already been addressed and noted on the Resources page (i.e. selling, non-cel items, fancels). However, I am still a bit confused on the topic of possession and posting. I thought that the policy on cels (and fancels) being posted via Rubberslug revolved around the idea that a) you actually own the cel and b) that you actually have the cel in your possession.

Any thoughts or comments on this topic would be helpful.
Kindest regards from Drakonia.

You said:

"However, I am still a bit confused on the topic of possession and posting. I thought that the policy on cels (and fancels) being posted via Rubberslug revolved around the idea that a) you actually own the cel and b) that you actually have the cel in your possession. "

Reply:

Well, 95% of the rules regarding possession are primarily directed at one specific group of gallery creators that have, in the past, posted stolen, fake, or even "screen caps" of cels/images that did not belong to them. There was a constant problem with Dragonball. So there had to be "rules" that were laid out to protect the majority of honest collectors of this series in particular (notwithstanding that this could occur elsewhere) and others in general.

"I do understand that collectors are excited about acquiring a new cel or cels, but could not a collector patiently wait until the cel or cels are IN their possession before posting it to their gallery."

This is soley personal preference. It would not make a bit of difference to monitor or try to stop someone from posting "coming soon" sites, because only the seller and buyer know to what extent of a cels geographical or physical location and/or ownership is. And it is actually, better that the cels are not posted as "here" and as a part of the gallery, when it may be actually in transit or on hold. Some, people do make payments for cels over time and still like to display what is in the "works".

As long as disputes do not arise regarding ownership, collectors should be given the benefit of doubt, that those cels are treated as a possession.

Otherwise there is no need to dictate what collectors cel-wise should or should not be allowed to display on their cyber-gallery.

If you are annoyed by these gallery titles you can always avoid them.

I hope that that helps.

I think coming soon sections are fine, in fact i usually post my 'coming soon' cels along with my others. If i've paid for a cel, doesn't that make it mine? Even if it's not in my hands quite yet? Of course there is always the possibility of it being lost in the mail, which is just sad . . . LOL Anyway, something else that was mentioned was the 'gone but not forgotten' section? I actually don't think people should have these sections, i mean they don't own the cel anymore, so how is that any better then just taking scans of cels off ebay or something and saying you own them? Well, at least they say that they don't own them anymore but, what if the person they sold them to wants the exclusive right to have their new cel posted on their site only? I just don't think it's a good idea . . . with the way some cels change hands it could be on ten different sites . . . Oh well, don't mind me

I also prefer not to see "gone/traded/sold" sections, simply because it's no longer their cel, and the person that purchased/traded for it might not want to have the image up for all to see. Not to mention it's kind of tacky- I feel like they want everyone to know "I had it first!" Well, it's gone, so get rid of it on your site.

As for the coming soon business, I don't mind that at all. However, I am annoyed when people add coming soon stuff and don't add an image (even a thumbnail) or they show a blurred image. What's the point of that? Seems really stupid, and I try to avoid the sites that I know practice this.

I have a coming soon section, and as someone else mentioned above, I often leave out larger scans or specific cels that I wait to receive before posting.

When people actually post real images in their coming soon section, I'll take a look. I sometimes wonder where specific cels/drawings went, be they purchased from eBay, YJ, or through private or public dealers.