Advice for people new to cel collecting.

[quote]Also, there is a 3 digit number in addition to the cel number (to the left), and my research hasn't (a) uncovered other cels that also have this number or 9B) explained what on earth it could be. I was thinking it could be a scene number? [/quote]

I can't speak for Ghibli, but it is a common (though not universal) practice for studios to add the "cut" number to the left of the sequence number. In Japanese animation lingo, "cut" means a single planned sequence of cels that run together. "Scene," when it's used, means a closely related series of shots in the same place and with the same lighting/color qualities. So if you see a storyboard, it will often give indications like "Scene 14, cut 7." (The first "Cardcaptor Sakura Movie" is a good example.)

But many movies run the cuts consecutively from start to finish. Generally TV series have 300 cuts per 25 minutes, and movies more. Most of my "Tree of Palme" cels, especially the A1s that would be at the top of the stack to go under the camera, have cut numbers added to the left of the sequence numbers, and as this was a long long movie, they run up to cut 2118 at least. (That's from near the final moments of the movie.)

It would help if you shared the handle of the seller offering the item. Some of these are well known to collectors as being highly reputable sources. The quality of the marker pen is, IMHO, not definitive, as lots of different flunkies wrote this info on cels using lots of pens in different states of running out of ink.

However, as Ghibli cels have been forged, your caution is well advised. Good luck!

Don't be disheartened if you dream cels come up for sale and you don't have the funds to buy them or you find your dream cels in someone else's gallery and they are not willing to sell them to you.

Make friends and be thankful that you know where you dream cel is located. If you get lucky the person may eventually decide to sell off their gallery or they may have a quick sale to cover some bills or maybe their dream cel has come up and they need to sell to provide the funds for that purchase and when they do they can keep you in mind.

Also if your cel is sold and it doesn't pop up on a cel website don't lose heart. Someone out there has it and it will eventually resurface in time. Don't get discouraged!

Cel collecting is supposed to be fun, not heart breaking.

Hi,

We have written an article to help collectors who are just starting out explaining exactly what cel-ga are.

Cel-ga is the Japanese term for Celluloid Picture. This refers to the transparent material used to make frames of animation in the production of Japanese Anime shows. Each cel is one frame. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it, then the completed cels are photographed one-by-one against a painted background by a rostrum camera onto motion picture film to produce the final animation. To read more: http://www.cel-ga.com/content/6-what-are-cel-ga

I'm sure this has been posted here before, but any newbies looking for help with Anime cels or any type of production art really...

Go to Anime-Beta.com

This is the forum where collectors have been meeting for well over ten years, sharing info and chatting about cels in general!

How do you get an invite to anime beta? Id love to sign up but i think its invite only.