Advice for people new to cel collecting.

Flippy made a good point about being patient and polite. I couldn't have said it any plainer than that. The cel community is very small and exclusive compared to some other hobbies. Reputation as a buyer and seller can get you a long way. Make sure that you are responsible and polite as a seller and buyer. If a problem occurs, be cool about it and be patient. I think I've bought and sold over 300 cels so far without a single problem. That may not seem like much, but one bad transaction can start a lot of trouble.

Also, be patient about buying. For example:

1. If you find a dream cel on another gallery, let the owner know you admire their cel and make them an offer. Most people will take it well either say "No thank you" or(hopefully) make a counter offer. If they don't want to sell, simply reply letting them know that if they want to sell it in the future to keep you in mind. I've got a bunch of emails stored in my folder from folks who have made offers.

2. Be patient when you see a cel on YJ or on a website if you feel it is overpriced. I've been really tempted to buy a cel for a huge price, but decided to back off. Later, the cel went up again for nearly half the price. It's a risky game, but it can pay off.

Enjoy collecting!

pogo wrote:

'So many people are collecting cels from DBZ, Inu-yasha, Sailor Moon, and others that you may feel pressured into buying one or more that you really don't want or need.'

--wtf?!? You don't need to buy cels that you don't want! What the hell?! It's bad enough being able NOT to afford cels from shows you truely like, let alone feeling pressured by group popularity to buy cels from series I don't really like! That's the dumbest thin I've heard. SURELY YOU MUST BE JOKING, an d I've been collecting cels for 30 years now (my eyes are all red)

Hi Framer94,

Welcome to Rubberslug. I think you are taking Pogo's post (March 2004) slightly out of contex.

You left off the lines before which read.
"The thing I wish to add is your collection is your collection. It's not mine or E's or Flippy's. As long as you like it, other opinions don't count."

When taken in full Pogo is stating that one should collect what they wish and not feel pressure to go with what is deemed popular due to the fact that there are a lot who collect from certain series. Most of us collect from series that we have a conection to a story , character or love of an artwork style. What make Rubberslug great is that we have so many who collect from many older or obscure series that most would not have a chance to see if not for the gallerys here. I know that I have discovered many new series that I would not have ever known about by checking what others collect.

Yes! I agree immensely! Despite being fairly new to the community, I find that there are alot of convincing fakes out there--especially, for Sailor Moon. Before I even decided to open a gallery, I researched for a while and then decided to purchase a cel from Luna-Art. After several communications, I thought that I was receiving a real anime cel--but, I was wrong. [Luckily, it wasn't expensive--$20]

It turned out that the person I was communicating with wasn't acutally the owner at all--they lived in Canada and the real owner lives in Kansas. I don't know how that happened when I clicked on the link to place an order on her wonderful website--it still boggles my mind! The person hasn't talked to me since...until a few days ago..I just ignored the email. [u]Please be careful and take this to heart too[/u]:

1) I highly reccomend visiting other galleries and checking out their Links page. Thats how I discovered Mandarake Auctions and got my first real anime cel [Princess Serenity].

2) If you're not sure..just ask! Network, Network, Network. And, if it seems to good to be true or questionable on Yahoo Japan or Ebay.....avoid it completely or just ask really really tedious questions to the seller about it to the point that you've got the truth and the seller's pinned to the corner of your wall. hehe

3) Always read everything! Knowledge is an important aspect that contributes to your collection and protects you too.

4) AND WHEN YOU'RE BROKE, DON'T GO BUY CELS--JUST GO WINDOW SHOPPING INSTEAD!! hehehe--went in the "hole" twice before I learned that lesson.

I'd like to ask a question about being 'polite' in making offers.

I don't understand why someone would get mad about you making an offer on their cel?

Whenever I make offers, I try to be as curteous as possible, and I NEVERNEVERNEVER state a price or trade in the introductory email. Instead I ask the collector if they would consider taking an offer for ____ cel, and that "I hope I'm not offending you by asking" Because you just never know when someone's got THEIR eye on a wishlist cel and would be willing to part with something in their gallery. If they say no, I never argue, and tell them I hope they have a great day.

I think it's really in how you approach a collector. :)

Also, I have to admit, when I started collecting four years ago, I just picked up anything that looked pretty to me. It wasn't wrong to do so, but I collected from shows I never [i]seen[/i]. Now I'm starting to get wiser and just focusing on things that will make me happy regardless. I was JUST focused on AMG, then it spread to Escaflowne, then Cowboy Bebop. Those are still my main collection points, but I don't particularly feel bad if I pick up a Ryo-Ohki cel or something.

I really do just try to focus on certain cels from AMG right now, instead of just going to Anime-Gambit and buying it up (I reaaaally want to sometimes, but alas, I need to *focus*). I learned my lesson.